Archives for June 2009

A correspondent in Iran sent along these thoughts, written as Khamenei was speaking on Friday: “Rough notes…The event is like the old Red Square May Day parades. We look to see who is there, and who is not. Dr. A, Larajani, Haddad Adel, the top leadership is all there. Karrobi and Mousavi are not…but Rezaei […]

The owner of this site is tidying affairs in preparation for dying Saturday at the hands of the Iranian security forces. Mousavi supporters are planning another big afternoon demonstration despite the threats issued today by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against such protesters. NIAC translates: “I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn […]

Jonathan Lyons writes in a guest op-ed for IC: As the latest political drama unfolds in Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei may yet come to rue the day, in 1999, that he sought to muzzle one of the nation’s most important constituencies – the handful of most senior clerics who provide spiritual and personal guidance […]

The USG Open Source Center Translates Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s sermon on Friday regarding the finality of the presidential election results and the impermissibility of further protest. Iran: Leader Urges End to Protests, Says Poll Results Can Be Investigated LegallySecond Friday sermon delivered by Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, leader of Iran’s Islamic revolution, at Tehran University […]

Thursday’s march in Tehran was just enormous, several hundred thousand strong. AFP writes, “Many in the huge crowd walked silently and lit black candles as night fell. Others wore green wristbands or ribbons and carried flowers as they filed into Imam Khomeini Square, a large plaza in the heart of the capital named for the […]

This was posted to an email list; since the author says it can be used any way we like if it stays anonymous, I’m putting it up. From a Mousavi supporter in Tehran Again, thanks to all for their messages and support. 1 — Mobile phones are working very intermittently 2 — Sms services have […]

Mir-Hosain Mousavi, who maintains he won last Friday’s presidential election despite official assertions that he lost 2 to 1 to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is calling for another rally Thursday, this time in part to honor the persons killed by hardliners or security forces in the course of previous demonstrations. Mourning the martyr is as central to […]

Mansoor Moaddel, a valued colleague, is a sociologist and an important interpreter of the contemporary Middle East who has done a lot of work with polling and statistics, often finding counter-intuitive results. His response to Ballen and Doherty is therefore authoritative and since some continue to cite that op-ed in support of Ahmadinejad’s claims, I […]

The USG Open Source Center translates articles from the Iranian press on disturbances in Shiraz and Isfahan. I conclude that the protests are not just in Tehran; I’d take the charges of ‘vandalism’ with a grain of salt, but some of the protesters might well be angry and attacking government buildings. A third piece alleges […]