NUR
2009-09-06 01:27:09 UTC
http://iran.whyweprotest.net/green-brief/43108-green-brief-67-68-september-3-4-shahrivar12-13-a.html
I'm NiteOwl AKA Josh Shahryar - twitter.com/iran_translator on
twitter. I'm a journalist and a human rights activist and NOT Iranian.
This is a compilation of news from Iran that I've gathered through
twitter and Iranian sites that were advertised on twitter. Remember,
this is all from tweets. (My work is released under Creative Commons
(CC) under the condition that you provide a link to the original
source.)
These are the important happenings that I can positively confirm from
Thursday-Friday, September 3-4 - Shahrivar 12-13.
Protest / Unrest
September 3
1. It can be confirmed that the September 18 protest, now has the
endorsement of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi
and they will all be joining the protest. Where and when exactly, on
that day, the protest will be held and the scope is not yet clear.
2. It has now been confirmed that a few days ago, families of
detainees who had gathered outside Evin Prison, to break their fast,
were attacked and scattered by security forces. Reports indicate, the
attack took place on September 1. Some sources, however, also cite
September 2 as the day of the attack. As yet, we cannot confirm the
exact date.
3. As more news of dissent amongst laborers reaches across Iran,
economic reasons are being cited as the driving force behind the
dessent. According to several websites, the cost of living, since
Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, may have risen by more than 100%, yet
many workers are vocally complaining about not being paid their meager
wages in the past several months.
4. The Mourning Mothers Association will be holding another vigil at
Laleh Park on Saturday, September 5.
September 4
5. For the first time in 20 years, nightly vigils at Imam Khomeini's
shrine will not be held. It was feared the Greens would flood the
premises and try to get their message out using this gathering.
Opposition
6. Karroubi in response to IRGC Commander Ali Jafari's allegations,
that reformists were attempting to weaken the Supreme Leader, hinted
that certain people should stop meddling in politics, as politics were
a totally different area than the military - a clear indication that
IRGC should stay out of politics.
Karroubi who was at the mourning for the deceased Iraqi cleric Abdul
Aziz Al-Hakim, also added he had met with the three-member commission,
set up by the Judiciary and had explained to them the evidence he had,
at hand, of the instances of rape. He said they would be holding more
meetings in the near future.
He also added, one of the victims, that had been referred to the
authorities, had gone missing for several days. He did not clarify
when the victim had returned or what had happened while he was
missing.
7. Hasan Rohani, a member of the Assembly of Experts and a former
national security chief - said that attacks on prominent
personalities, during the trials, were against Islamic Sharia and the
national interest of Iran. Rohani also added that Jafari's statement -
mentioned above – and the IRGC press secretary Sardar Javani's
statement calling Mousavi a hypocrite, would only hurt the regime and
weaken people's trust in it.
Reza Tabish - the Secretary General of Imam's Way faction of MPs - had
earlier also blasted such accusations against reformist leaders.
September 4
8. Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, in an
interview today, said that the health of the election was still very
questionable and what happened after the election, while very
important, should not overshadow the importance of what happened to
the election. She also strongly condemned the “show trials” and the
crimes committed after the election. She went on to stress that all
these were indicative of a “velvet coup” and it was clearly a
deception, that people were being accused of starting a "velvet
revolution' instead.
Faezeh Hashemi added that an independent commission, to investigate
the election, should had been set up instead of leaving it up to the
Guardian Council to decide. She also added that only investigating
what happened at Tehran University or Kahrizak was not enough and the
killings and havoc that was wreaked during the protests should be
investigated as well.
She also blasted the IRIB for its one-sided coverage of events and
added that what has happened, in the aftermath of the election, were
signs that the system was about to become both undemocratic and
unIslamic.
9. Reports indicate that Karroubi has openly encouraged people to join
the Qods day Friday prayers. Keyhan had earlier reported that
Rafsanjani was going to lead the prayers on that Friday. This could
not be confirmed through independent sources.
(However, should Rafsanjani lead the prayers, I will be live-blogging
his sermon in English on Anonnet and later release a transcript.)
10. Partially confirmed reports indicate that Grand Ayatollahs Sane'ie
and Montazeri have held another meeting. Both clerics have expressed
concern over the current crisis and showed their displeasure over the
continued arrests of political activists. Both later prayed that the
country could come out of the crisis sooner and that all prisoners be
released.
Government / International
11. The parliament voted on Ahmadinejad's proposed cabinet and
approved 18 of 21 ministers. Here is a list of the approved cabinet
members and their posts:
Agriculture: Sadeq Khalilian
Commerce: Mehdi Ghazanfari
Communications and IT: Reza Taqipour
Cooperatives: Mohammad Abbasi (Retains his post)
Culture and Islamic Guidance: Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini
Defense: Brigadier Ahmad Vahidi
Economy and Financial Affairs: Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini
Foreign Affairs: Manouchehr Mottaki (Retains his post)
Health: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi (Female)
Housing and Urban Development: Abdolreza Sheikholeslami
Industries and Mines: Ali Akbar Mehrabian
Intelligence: Heyder Moslehi
Interior: Mostafa Mohammad Najjar
Justice: Morteza Bakhtiari
Labor and Social Affairs: Ali Nikzad
Oil: Masoud Mir Kazemi
Road and Transportation: Hamid Behbahani (Retains his post)
Science, Research and Technology: Kamran Daneshjoo
These proposed ministers failed to get the required vote of
confidence:
Education: Sousan Keshavarz (Female)
Energy: Mohammad Aliabadi
Welfare and Social Security: Fatemeh Ajorlou (Female)
12. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar, has
disclosed that Khamanei had sent a message to the parliament, stating
that he wished to see Ahmadinejad's cabinet passed - although no one
should feel any pressure. It has been indicated, by unnamed MPs, that
many more ministers would have been rejected, if Khamenei had not sent
the message to sway the opinion of the Parliament. "If we had not
received the leader recommendations, probably eight or nine ministers
would have failed to win the vote of confidence, and that would not
have been a good start for the government," he added.
13. Reports indicate that the newly appointed Minister for Labor Ali
Nikzad's work plan, that he submitted to the parliament, shows
unemployment numbers that are vastly different from those claimed by
Ahmadinejad. According to confirmed sources, the numbers actually
match those provided by Mousavi and Karroubi during the election
campaign.
14. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi,
the former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, together with
many hardliners who have been accused of having a direct hand in the
violence against peaceful protesters, joined the 40th day mourning
ceremony of Mohsen Rohulamini at his house. Rohulamini died under
torture at Kahrizak.
15. The live broadcast of the cabinet vote was disrupted when a
parliamentarian was overheard saying, "If anyone cheats [in counting
the votes for the cabinet member], we'll send them to Kahrizak." The
live broadcast was promptly cut after the remark was made. The
broadcast resumed later.
September 4
16. The Czech Republic reportedly declined to sell pepper spray and
taser guns to Iran last year, over fears that these might be used, by
the government for torture, according to Al-Arabiya.
17. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Tehran early Saturday
morning to meet with the Iranian Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad.
Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture
September 3
18. Partially confirmed reports say the body of a teenage detainee has
been returned to his family after more than a month. Alireza Azadpour
- a reisdent of Kermanshah - disappeared on July 19 while attending a
rally. His family was unable to find him, even though they had tried
to inquire about his whereabouts from the various security agencies.
His body was handed over to his family on August 23 on the condition
that they would not hold a funeral.
September 4
19. A list of the 72 people, that can be confirmed, who have died
during the protests or in prison, has been released by The
Participation Front and published on Norooz.com. (I am going to
translate and release the list after writing this Green Brief later in
the day.)
20. Unconfirmed reports suggest that reformists, who have been forced
to confess, are being tortured at one of the IRGC headquarters in
Qasre Feirouzeh, a locality in eastern Tehran province. Further
details are ambiguous at this point.
21. Amnesty International has confirmed that Caspian Makan - the
fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, is in detention and might be facing
torture. (This was reported by media organizations weeks ago including
GB.)
22. Abbas Mirza Aboutalebi has been released from prison after nearly
three months in detention. He was arrested on June 12 and is a top
campaign manager for Mousavi, as well as an important reformist.
Miscellaneous
23. Scroll down to see more Marg Bar Dictator and Marg Bar Khamenei:
http://bit.ly/NHNmg - http://bit.ly/gjWXL
24. Green graffiti for Quds Day celebrations: http://bit.ly/6RwhP
International Protests / Events / Warnings / Efforts
25. A petition to be signed and sent to ambassadors as well as their
contacts: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnj8jzc_8dxb9vbgf
26. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: http://tinyurl.com/r2ow2c
27. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US:
http://protests.sharearchy.com/
28. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please
visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/nbzacj
29. A to the point website for help traumatized Greens:
http://healingthegreensoul.blogspot.com/
(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events,
protests or doing something else related to the Iranian election
internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give
you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is:
[email]***@gmail.com
To Helpers
- Info on republishing the Green Brief: http://tinyurl.com/mjxrz3
- Information on Tor: http://torir.org
This page contains a listing of external mirrors of the GB, as well as
various information about the GB. Links to translations are also
encouraged: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief
- (A list of all the Green Briefs): http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html
- A hearty thanks to S joon for helping me out with proof-reading and
very valuable tips. Also, a BIG THANKS to all the translators who're
spending their precious time on getting this to as many people as
possible.
I'm NiteOwl AKA Josh Shahryar - twitter.com/iran_translator on
twitter. I'm a journalist and a human rights activist and NOT Iranian.
This is a compilation of news from Iran that I've gathered through
twitter and Iranian sites that were advertised on twitter. Remember,
this is all from tweets. (My work is released under Creative Commons
(CC) under the condition that you provide a link to the original
source.)
These are the important happenings that I can positively confirm from
Thursday-Friday, September 3-4 - Shahrivar 12-13.
Protest / Unrest
September 3
1. It can be confirmed that the September 18 protest, now has the
endorsement of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi
and they will all be joining the protest. Where and when exactly, on
that day, the protest will be held and the scope is not yet clear.
2. It has now been confirmed that a few days ago, families of
detainees who had gathered outside Evin Prison, to break their fast,
were attacked and scattered by security forces. Reports indicate, the
attack took place on September 1. Some sources, however, also cite
September 2 as the day of the attack. As yet, we cannot confirm the
exact date.
3. As more news of dissent amongst laborers reaches across Iran,
economic reasons are being cited as the driving force behind the
dessent. According to several websites, the cost of living, since
Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, may have risen by more than 100%, yet
many workers are vocally complaining about not being paid their meager
wages in the past several months.
4. The Mourning Mothers Association will be holding another vigil at
Laleh Park on Saturday, September 5.
September 4
5. For the first time in 20 years, nightly vigils at Imam Khomeini's
shrine will not be held. It was feared the Greens would flood the
premises and try to get their message out using this gathering.
Opposition
6. Karroubi in response to IRGC Commander Ali Jafari's allegations,
that reformists were attempting to weaken the Supreme Leader, hinted
that certain people should stop meddling in politics, as politics were
a totally different area than the military - a clear indication that
IRGC should stay out of politics.
Karroubi who was at the mourning for the deceased Iraqi cleric Abdul
Aziz Al-Hakim, also added he had met with the three-member commission,
set up by the Judiciary and had explained to them the evidence he had,
at hand, of the instances of rape. He said they would be holding more
meetings in the near future.
He also added, one of the victims, that had been referred to the
authorities, had gone missing for several days. He did not clarify
when the victim had returned or what had happened while he was
missing.
7. Hasan Rohani, a member of the Assembly of Experts and a former
national security chief - said that attacks on prominent
personalities, during the trials, were against Islamic Sharia and the
national interest of Iran. Rohani also added that Jafari's statement -
mentioned above – and the IRGC press secretary Sardar Javani's
statement calling Mousavi a hypocrite, would only hurt the regime and
weaken people's trust in it.
Reza Tabish - the Secretary General of Imam's Way faction of MPs - had
earlier also blasted such accusations against reformist leaders.
September 4
8. Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, in an
interview today, said that the health of the election was still very
questionable and what happened after the election, while very
important, should not overshadow the importance of what happened to
the election. She also strongly condemned the “show trials” and the
crimes committed after the election. She went on to stress that all
these were indicative of a “velvet coup” and it was clearly a
deception, that people were being accused of starting a "velvet
revolution' instead.
Faezeh Hashemi added that an independent commission, to investigate
the election, should had been set up instead of leaving it up to the
Guardian Council to decide. She also added that only investigating
what happened at Tehran University or Kahrizak was not enough and the
killings and havoc that was wreaked during the protests should be
investigated as well.
She also blasted the IRIB for its one-sided coverage of events and
added that what has happened, in the aftermath of the election, were
signs that the system was about to become both undemocratic and
unIslamic.
9. Reports indicate that Karroubi has openly encouraged people to join
the Qods day Friday prayers. Keyhan had earlier reported that
Rafsanjani was going to lead the prayers on that Friday. This could
not be confirmed through independent sources.
(However, should Rafsanjani lead the prayers, I will be live-blogging
his sermon in English on Anonnet and later release a transcript.)
10. Partially confirmed reports indicate that Grand Ayatollahs Sane'ie
and Montazeri have held another meeting. Both clerics have expressed
concern over the current crisis and showed their displeasure over the
continued arrests of political activists. Both later prayed that the
country could come out of the crisis sooner and that all prisoners be
released.
Government / International
11. The parliament voted on Ahmadinejad's proposed cabinet and
approved 18 of 21 ministers. Here is a list of the approved cabinet
members and their posts:
Agriculture: Sadeq Khalilian
Commerce: Mehdi Ghazanfari
Communications and IT: Reza Taqipour
Cooperatives: Mohammad Abbasi (Retains his post)
Culture and Islamic Guidance: Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini
Defense: Brigadier Ahmad Vahidi
Economy and Financial Affairs: Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini
Foreign Affairs: Manouchehr Mottaki (Retains his post)
Health: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi (Female)
Housing and Urban Development: Abdolreza Sheikholeslami
Industries and Mines: Ali Akbar Mehrabian
Intelligence: Heyder Moslehi
Interior: Mostafa Mohammad Najjar
Justice: Morteza Bakhtiari
Labor and Social Affairs: Ali Nikzad
Oil: Masoud Mir Kazemi
Road and Transportation: Hamid Behbahani (Retains his post)
Science, Research and Technology: Kamran Daneshjoo
These proposed ministers failed to get the required vote of
confidence:
Education: Sousan Keshavarz (Female)
Energy: Mohammad Aliabadi
Welfare and Social Security: Fatemeh Ajorlou (Female)
12. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar, has
disclosed that Khamanei had sent a message to the parliament, stating
that he wished to see Ahmadinejad's cabinet passed - although no one
should feel any pressure. It has been indicated, by unnamed MPs, that
many more ministers would have been rejected, if Khamenei had not sent
the message to sway the opinion of the Parliament. "If we had not
received the leader recommendations, probably eight or nine ministers
would have failed to win the vote of confidence, and that would not
have been a good start for the government," he added.
13. Reports indicate that the newly appointed Minister for Labor Ali
Nikzad's work plan, that he submitted to the parliament, shows
unemployment numbers that are vastly different from those claimed by
Ahmadinejad. According to confirmed sources, the numbers actually
match those provided by Mousavi and Karroubi during the election
campaign.
14. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi,
the former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, together with
many hardliners who have been accused of having a direct hand in the
violence against peaceful protesters, joined the 40th day mourning
ceremony of Mohsen Rohulamini at his house. Rohulamini died under
torture at Kahrizak.
15. The live broadcast of the cabinet vote was disrupted when a
parliamentarian was overheard saying, "If anyone cheats [in counting
the votes for the cabinet member], we'll send them to Kahrizak." The
live broadcast was promptly cut after the remark was made. The
broadcast resumed later.
September 4
16. The Czech Republic reportedly declined to sell pepper spray and
taser guns to Iran last year, over fears that these might be used, by
the government for torture, according to Al-Arabiya.
17. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Tehran early Saturday
morning to meet with the Iranian Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad.
Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture
September 3
18. Partially confirmed reports say the body of a teenage detainee has
been returned to his family after more than a month. Alireza Azadpour
- a reisdent of Kermanshah - disappeared on July 19 while attending a
rally. His family was unable to find him, even though they had tried
to inquire about his whereabouts from the various security agencies.
His body was handed over to his family on August 23 on the condition
that they would not hold a funeral.
September 4
19. A list of the 72 people, that can be confirmed, who have died
during the protests or in prison, has been released by The
Participation Front and published on Norooz.com. (I am going to
translate and release the list after writing this Green Brief later in
the day.)
20. Unconfirmed reports suggest that reformists, who have been forced
to confess, are being tortured at one of the IRGC headquarters in
Qasre Feirouzeh, a locality in eastern Tehran province. Further
details are ambiguous at this point.
21. Amnesty International has confirmed that Caspian Makan - the
fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, is in detention and might be facing
torture. (This was reported by media organizations weeks ago including
GB.)
22. Abbas Mirza Aboutalebi has been released from prison after nearly
three months in detention. He was arrested on June 12 and is a top
campaign manager for Mousavi, as well as an important reformist.
Miscellaneous
23. Scroll down to see more Marg Bar Dictator and Marg Bar Khamenei:
http://bit.ly/NHNmg - http://bit.ly/gjWXL
24. Green graffiti for Quds Day celebrations: http://bit.ly/6RwhP
International Protests / Events / Warnings / Efforts
25. A petition to be signed and sent to ambassadors as well as their
contacts: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnj8jzc_8dxb9vbgf
26. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: http://tinyurl.com/r2ow2c
27. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US:
http://protests.sharearchy.com/
28. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please
visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/nbzacj
29. A to the point website for help traumatized Greens:
http://healingthegreensoul.blogspot.com/
(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events,
protests or doing something else related to the Iranian election
internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give
you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is:
[email]***@gmail.com
To Helpers
- Info on republishing the Green Brief: http://tinyurl.com/mjxrz3
- Information on Tor: http://torir.org
This page contains a listing of external mirrors of the GB, as well as
various information about the GB. Links to translations are also
encouraged: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief
- (A list of all the Green Briefs): http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html
- A hearty thanks to S joon for helping me out with proof-reading and
very valuable tips. Also, a BIG THANKS to all the translators who're
spending their precious time on getting this to as many people as
possible.