Free Republic

(CNN) -- Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi and their wives were placed in a safe house for their own welfare, but they have not been arrested, Iranian government sources told CNN Saturday. "The opposition movement is very much looking for martyrs so if this is true it's for their own safety," one source told CNN. The pro-reform opposition movement "is always looking for an excuse to create something, so this may be done to keep someone from doing something to them," the source added. But the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expressed concern for...

A main leader of Iran’s opposition was reported missing on Thursday and both the opposition “green movement” and Iran’s hardliners issued calls for street rallies, escalating tensions after the reemergence of street protests and their brutal suppression on Monday. The daughters of the missing opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, told an opposition Web site that they had had no word from either of their parents since Tuesday and feared they had been detained. Security forces have surrounded their home, and all communications have been cut. On Wednesday, the Web site of another opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi, reported that the house...

ANDREW APOSTOLOU Slow Clean in Tehran The limits of an Iranian purge 4 December 2009 Half a year after Iran’s disputed presidential election, the Islamic regime is suffering from partial paralysis. Despite thousands of arrests, scores of killings, widely publicized show trials, and the closure of independent-minded newspapers, the regime is seemingly reluctant to launch the kind of full-scale purge that could remove its opponents, who demand a new election and an investigation into the deaths and torture of detainees. The hesitancy of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s “Supreme Leader,” and his ally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is understandable. While a purge...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Iranian opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi announced the formation of a new social and political movement on his Web site on Saturday, following through on a promise made last month and defying a renewed government campaign of intimidation aimed at him and his supporters. The movement is not a political party — which would require a government permit — but a “grass-roots and social network” that will promote democracy and adherence to the law, Mr. Moussavi wrote in a statement on his site. It is to be known as the Green Way of Hope,...

TEHRAN — Tens of thousands of protesters massed in central Iran again Wednesday to demonstrate against the disputed presidential election, as the government expanded its crackdown on journalists to try to block their coverage of opposition activities. The protesters marched silently down a major thoroughfare, some holding photographs of the main opposition candidate in Friday’s vote, Mir Hussein Moussavi. Others lifted their bare hands high in the air, signifying their support for Mr. Moussavi with green ribbons tied around their wrists or holding their fingers in a victory sign. The scope and description of the demonstration was provided by participants...

I`M SICK AND TIRED OF READING BARRY-HUSSEIN`S NARRATIVE THAT THERE ARE SOME SORT OF FREE ELECTIONS TAKING PLACE IN IRAN AND LIBERTY HOPE AND CHANGE IS ON THE WAY. BACK TO REALITY: On Friday, President Obama had this to say about the election in Iran: "We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place in Iran. Whoever ends up winning the election in Iran, the fact there has been a robust debate hopefully will advance our ability to engage them in new ways. " This was an extremely foolish comment for at least two reasons....

Protesters who claim the vote was rigged clash with police for a second day. The government denies that two of the president's challengers are under house arrest.Reporting from Tehran -- Protesters angered by alleged vote count fraud erupted in street violence for a second day today, throwing rocks and setting fire to storefronts as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his reelection as "free and real" in a press appearance before local and international journalists. Vigorous and assertive, Ahmadinejad vowed to maintain his tough foreign policy posture in his second term. Afterward, he appeared before a massive rally in his support...

Ahmadinejad plays to the rural constituency almost exclusively. His own family migrated to Tehran from the provincial village of Aradan, and--as embarrassing as Tehranis find his rural accent, clothes, and demeanor--to villagers, the presence of one of their own in high office is nothing short of empowering. Ahmadinejad has literally handed out money in the provinces, even printing extra currency to do so. He has the undying loyalty of many of these villagers, and he is going to need it.

“Over the last six months, we have witnessed free and fair elections in Iraq and Lebanon, in which millions of people peacefully went to the polls, and in both cases, the Iranian-backed forces of extremism were decisively rejected at the ballot box. “Unfortunately, on Friday, the Iranian people were denied this right, enjoyed by Iraqis and Lebanese and so many other peoples throughout the world, to determine the future of their country for themselves. Instead, through intimidation, violence, manipulation, and outright fraud, the Iranian regime has once again made a mockery of democracy, and confirmed its repressive and dictatorial character....

Bloggers updating from inside Iran: http://crowdstatus.com/iranelectioncrowd.aspx

Liberals who claimed Lebanon’s recent election rejecting Hezbollah as a referendum on Obama and his Cairo speech (here, here) had their fingers crossed for a second big win in Iran this weekend. One report in the New York Times published Thursday breathlessly suggested we may be on the verge of a “Sea Change” even though the so-called “reform” candidate Moussavi had the same views of Iran’s nuclear development as Ahmadinejad.Obama himself contributed to this mythical idea of an “Obama effect” brought about by his Cairo speech: “We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place...

Reverberations as Door Slams on Hope of Change By BILL KELLER TEHRAN — It is impossible to know for sure how much the ostensible re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad represents the preference of an essentially conservative Iranian public and how much, as opposition voters passionately believe, it is the imposed verdict of a fundamentally authoritarian regime. But for those who dreamed of a gentler Iran, Saturday was a day of smoldering anger, crushed hopes and punctured illusions, from the streets of Tehran to the policy centers of Western capitals. Iranians who hoped for a bit more freedom, a better managed economy...