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Iranian security forces quash more protests in Tabriz, Oroumiyeh

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Iranian security forces quash more protests in Tabriz, Oroumiyeh

 

Iranian security forces descended on demonstrations against the drying of Lake Oroumiyeh in Tabriz and Oroumiyeh in northwestern Iran on Saturday, making numerous arrests.

News outlets linked to ethnic and human rights activists as well as eyewitness reports indicate that security forces were on alert in various Azerbaijan cities in Iran and confronted the crowds with tear gas and batons.

According to HRANA (the Human Rights Activists News Agency), dozens of people were arrested. Some reports indicate that police used plastic bullets, which led to several injuries among protesters.

The Fars semi-official news agency confirmed the unrest but wrote that the demonstrators were rallied by “ethnic” groups, adding that the demonstrators numbered only about 50 people.

The Islamic Republic does not let independent and international media cover social and political protests; therefore, it is not possible to confirm details of the published reports.

Protesters maintain that government policies and mismanagement at the local level are the main causes of the rapid decline in the water levels of Lake Oroumiyeh.

Parliament recently voted down a plan to redirect water from the Aras River to Lake Oroumiyeh, which has led to a new wave of protests by environmental and Azerbaijani activists.

 

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Sporadic Protests in Tabriz and Urmia

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Sporadic Protests in Tabriz and Urmia

 

HRANA News Agency – On Saturday, September 3, 2011, protestors in Tabriz and Urmia demonstrated in streets again to save Lake Urmia.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian security forces were on alert since early Saturday morning throughout Tabriz and Urmia to confront protestors. As a result, clashes broke out in both cities.

Eyewitnesses in Urmia reported that Motahari and Taleghani streets were blocked by protestors, and a motorcycle was set on fire. Furthermore, clashes were reported in Atahie Street.

Other reports indicate that demonstrations have begun in Tabriz, and hundreds of protestors have poured into streets throughout the city. Clashes have been reported from Mohammadi Bazaar and Raste Alley, and fighting has spread into Qongha Bashi, Golestan Garden, Sayat Qabaghi.

Eyewitnesses have told HRANA that anti riot forces have shot tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at people in both cities in order to disperse the crowd.

 

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IRGC resumes attacks against PJAK

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IRGC resumes attacks against PJAK

 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps has announced the launch of new operations against PJAK forces, Iranian media report.

The announcement indicates that the IRGC had given the PJAK forces a month-long opportunity to withdraw from the border regions of northwest Iran, during the month of Ramadan. The new operations are aimed at pushing the Kurdish group back from the mountain region of Sardasht county.

Iranian forces say the operations will continue until security is established in the region.

The IRGC began widespread operations against the Kurdish militant group, Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), in July. Since then, both sides have reported inflicting heavy casualties on each other.

Iran accuses Iraq of failing to monitor the security of its border region with Iran.

Meanwhile, Turkey has begun air raids in the Kurdish region of Ghandil, firing on the PKK, a Kurdish separatist group in Turkey.

Human Rights Watch has warned that Iran and Turkey may not be taking the necessary precautions to avoid civilian deaths.

 

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Hossein Ronaghi Maleki refuses to sign 15-year prison sentence

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Hossein Ronaghi Maleki refuses to sign 15-year prison sentence

 

Rahana: On Tuesday the court prosecutor at Evin prison demanded that imprisoned blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki sign his 15-year prison sentence that was upheld by the appelate court.

According to Human Rights House of Iran, despite heavy threats by the court, Hossein refused to sign the document with his sentence that had been upheld by the appellate court.

On October 5, 2010, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court handed down a 15-year prison sentence to Hossein Ronaghi Maleki. At that time the court demanded that he sign the court documents and when Hossein refused, he was severely beaten up by the head of the court office and his accompanying officials.

This blogger who is serving his sentence in prison while suffering from kidney disease has endured 2 operations in the past two months. Despite his poor health and his operations, intelligence officers of the Revolutionary Guards have refused to allow Hossein furlough to recuperate.

Ronaghi was arrested on December 13, 2009 and transferred to Evin prison, where he has since been behind bars without any time off.

 

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Security Forces Destroy Public Property in Urmia Bazaar

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Security Forces Destroy Public Property in Urmia Bazaar

 

HRANA News Agency – Iranian security and anti riot forces have attacked an indoor market on Mosom Street and destroyed public property.Earlier, this bazaar had been closed because of demonstrations.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian security and anti riot forces entered the indoor market on Mosom Street and intentionally destroyed public property while this bazaar had been shut down earlier, and there was no reason for the security forces to enter the grounds.

Another report indicates that detained demonstrators from today’s protests in Urmia have been taken to the Police Station #11 located at Modares Square, Peleh Dentention Center #9, and Intelligence Agency’s Detention Center on Imam Musa Sadr Alley.

Today, thousands of demonstrators poured into streets of Tabriz and Urmia to protest against Lake Urmia drying up. During the majority of these protests, clashes broke out when security forces interfered with the demonstrations and confronted the crowds.

Furthermore, Tehran is under tense military and security measures, and police forces have been present heavily in a number of main squares throughout the capital including Baharestan Square and streets around the Parliament.

 

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Iran Watching Syria With Increasing Concern

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Iran Watching Syria With Increasing Concern

 

RFE/RL – Iran is keeping a wary eye on Syria, where antiregime protests have been going on for the past five months, despite a crackdown that has reportedly left more than 2,000 dead.

Syria is Iran’s main strategic partner in the Middle East. Analysts say the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime would be a serious blow to the Islamic republic.

The rebellion in Syria has led Iran to take diplomatic measures — and reportedly financial and military steps, as well — to help Assad remain in power. Assad’s troubles are also fueling internal debate in Iran about how to deal with the uprising in Syria.

Earlier this week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called for Syria to recognize the “legitimate” rights of its people — a sign of Tehran’s growing unease. Salehi’s statement on August 27 echoed comments by Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad two days earlier, who said that the Syrian people and the government should come together to reach an understanding.

Paris-based analyst and researcher Mohammad Javad Akbarein believes Iran is not worried about the rights of ordinary Syrians, however. Akbarein says Iran’s shift is motivated by concern about its own interests.

“The fall of Assad will create a strategic vacuum for the Islamic republic that will not be easy to fill,” Akbarein says. “The Islamic republic prefers at any cost — as much as it can economically and militarily bear — to stand with Bashar al-Assad and undermine those opposed to him.”

Tarnished Image

The Iranian officials’ comments are also aimed at improving Tehran’s tarnished image among Syrians.

Protesters in Syria have reportedly burned Iranian flags and chanted slogans against the Islamic republic in retaliation for its steadfast support for Assad. The YouTube videos of those protests have been widely circulated among members of Iran’s opposition, who have shared them on social networking sites, including Facebook.

“[The Iranian authorities] want to decrease the hatred and anger that has been created in Syrian society toward Iran because of its unequivocal support for Assad,” Akbarein says. “They also make these comments to protect their interests in the event that Assad’s regime collapses.”

 

Antiregime protesters hold a banner during a demonstration in Syria’s Edlib Province on September 2.

 

On September 1, Ahmad Avaei, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, criticized his country’s support for Syria.

“The fact is that our unconditional support for Syria was not right, since those who staged the protests were religious people, and their protests were legitimate,” Avaei said in an interview with the Khabaronline website.

Tehran initially passed over the antigovernment protests in Syria in silence. Iranian officials publicly ignored the protests while praising the revolts in other Arab countries as part of an “Islamic awakening.” The Iranian state media also remained silent about the street demonstrations against Assad.

But the scale of the protests and the criticism at home forced Iran to change its stance. Iranian officials began acknowledging the demonstrations in Syria, while claiming that they were the result of a foreign conspiracy.

Fluid Policies

If the situation in Syria deteriorates and Iran’s position appears to be endangered, then the country’s policies could change, says Meir Javedanfar, an Iran analyst based in Israel.

“For the Islamic republic, the priority is the interest and the well-being of the regime,” Javedanfar says. “And if the situation becomes intolerable and Assad definitely seems to be on his way out, then I think the Iranian establishment will start try to reach out to the opposition members in order to have some kind of a dialogue with them.”

Iran cannot afford to have a postrevolution Syria which is its enemy, he says.

Iranian journalist Shahram Rafizadeh believes that, for now, Iran’s main policy is to make sure the embattled Syrian president remains in office.

“Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards are very much willing to support Assad and keep him in power with any kind of support,” Rafizadeh says. “It seems that they’re even ready to pay a heavy price to [reach their goal].”

Yet he predicts that Tehran could also make overtures to the opposition as a way of hedging its bets.

Last week, Iran announced the appointment of Mohammad Raouf Sheibani — a deputy foreign minister for Middle East affairs and a former ambassador to Lebanon — as Tehran’s new ambassador to Damascus.

His appointment is seen as an attempt to strengthen Iran’s presence in Syria and to boost its support for Assad, who is facing international calls to step down.

“[Sheibani] has close ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which means that [Iranian leaders] want to support Assad’s regime right up until the last moment,” Rafizadeh says. “Given his background, it seems that his second mission is to find a foothold for the Islamic republic among the opposition in case Assad falls.”

Unpredictable Implications

Iran’s concern about the violence in Syria seems to have been exacerbated by the international military intervention in Libya that helped rebels there end the rule of Muammar Qaddafi.

Iran’s foreign minister warned on August 27 that the power vacuum in Syria could have unpredictable regional implications.

He also said that NATO will get bogged down in a “quagmire” if it launches a military attack against Syria.

A commentary posted this week on Irdiplomacy, a website run by former senior Iranian diplomats, said that Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea are involved in efforts to “neutralize moves” against Assad. The report said the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, who is due to travel to North Korea and China over the weekend, plans to discuss the crisis in Syria with officials in Pyongyang and Beijing.

 

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Iran stirs up new conflict: Its Iraqi terrorist arm shoots Scuds at Kuwait

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Iran stirs up new conflict: Its Iraqi terrorist arm shoots Scuds at Kuwait

 

Three Scud missiles flying from Iraq to Kuwait early Friday, Aug. 26 were launched by the Iran-backed Ketaeb Hizballah of Iraq, the first such attacks since the US invaded Iraq in 2003. It was also the first time any Middle East terrorist group had used Scud missiles.
They exploded on open ground, but DEBKAfile’s sources report that this round was meant as a warning for Kuwait to halt construction of the Grand Mubarak Port opposite the Iraqi shore – or else it would be followed by a massive volley.
In the second week of August, Kuwait massed troops on Boubiyan Island just across from Iraq to defend the huge $1.1 billion Grand Mubarak Port under construction there. The force was composed of Military Police of the Amoun Defense Organization, units of intelligence and air defense, the 35th Company, the 6th Brigade and naval forces.
This appeared to be rather a disproportionate reaction to Iraq’s demand that Kuwait freeze construction of the Persian Gulf port until guarantees were provided that the new facility would not hinder the operations of Iraq’s own planned harbor in the southern region of Basra. Iraq also fears it will block the main Persian Gulf gateway for its oil exports to reach the world’s shipping lanes from the Shatt al-Arb.

A government spokesman in Baghdad demanded assurances that free and safe navigation would not be affected by the Kuwait port which is scheduled for completion in 2016.
This dispute did not account for Kuwait’s heavy military deployment on its largest island.
What did is another factor DEBKA-Net- Weekly’s military and intelligence sources reported on Aug. 12: A threat from the Iraqi Shiite radical Ketaeb Hizballah, an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al-Qods Brigades, trained by the Lebanese Hizballah, to strike the new port with Scud missiles, a threat they started carrying out this Friday.

This followed Tehran’s discovery that Mubarak Port was also projected to house a large naval base to serve the fleets of Kuwait, the US and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, a project Iran is determined to put paid to by any means.

Until Friday, there was no confirmation of the group’s claim to have recovered most of the inventory of 250 Scuds held by Saddam Hussein before the US invasion of 2003. But now, is clear to Kuwaiti and Western intelligence officials in the Gulf that the Scud cache has indeed fallen into the hands of the Ketaeb Hizballah of Iraq and that there is a real danger of Tehran using Iraqi Shiite extremists to sabotage the Boubiyan Island project.

Last week, Iraqi Hizballah activities staged a demonstration against the port on the Iraqi-Kuwait border. Kuwait warned it would show zero tolerance for any border incursions.

 

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Student Activist in Solitary Confinement on Hunger Strike

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Student Activist in Solitary Confinement on Hunger Strike

 

To protest his conditions inside Babol’s Matikola Prison, imprisoned student activist Ashkan Zahabian embarked on a hunger strike on 31 August. Zahabian’s father, Hassan Zahabian, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that prison staff moved his son to solitary confinement after he began his hunger strike, even though, according to other prisoners, he was in a coma. Zahabian has had stomach bleeding since two weeks ago, and prison authorities have refused his requests for treatment outside prison. The prisoner’s father also said that Zahabian’s mother will start a hunger strike in solidarity with her son.

“My son’s conditions are critical. He fasted for 31 days [for Ramadan] and instead of breaking his fast at night, he started a hunger strike two nights ago. I learned that he has been moved to solitary since yesterday afternoon, though he was in a coma,” said Hassan Zahabian. “Ashkan is on a hunger strike to object to this condition and the state of limbo pertaining to his case.  He has served half of his sentence and he is now legally eligible for a conditional pardon.”

“Please carry my voice to the Head of the Judiciary–the life of a young man in Mazandaran Province is in danger. My question of the Head of the Judiciary is why couldn’t he release one political prisoner in the vast Mazandaran Province [among the recently released prisoners]? As a political prisoner, should my son be placed with hardened criminals, thieves, and murderers? We maintained silence despite all of these concerns, but I can see that our silence will lead to my child’s death. What is my son’s crime that makes him guilty again? For what crime? If it was for the [2009 presidential] election, he has already served his sentence. Why was he sentenced to prison again?”continued Hassan Zahabian.

“I went to the prison several times and told them that my son was sick. They said we have doctors here. My son threw up blood yesterday. The last time I saw him was on Sunday. He has lost so much weight. The authorities are only throwing me from one side to another like a football. I tell the Prosecutor’s Office, they tell me to go to the Intelligence Office. I go there, they say to go to the case judge. The judge says that medical furlough is not in my hands. We don’t know whom to tell about this.’

ِRegarding his son being banned from pursuing his studies, Hassan Zahabian stated, “What is my son’s crime?  He was banned from continuing his education, banned from social activities. He is routinely sent to prison. Why don’t you cancel his birth certificate and tell him to go die? This is not life for a young man. They say we must act honestly and amicably, but what part of this behavior is related to honesty and amicability?”

Asked whether his son is abused inside prison or not, he said: “He was mistreated during the first days, but because I pursued the matter and filed a grievance and spoke with the Prosecutor, his situation has improved. Even so, each time I ask him about his conditions, he says he can’t talk about it. He said ‘there are no problems, and you mustn’t say anything, either.’ I don’t really know what happens inside the ward. Judging from his paleness and looks, it is clear that he is under pressure. He just said ‘Dad, I am willing to return to the solitary ward of Sari Intelligence Office again, but not to be here one more day.’  He says ‘I mind my own business and do not speak with anyone,’ because he has no one to talk to in prison. He says ‘I shouldn’t be in this prison; I have to be next to other political prisoners.’”

Background

Ashkan Zahabian was arrested on 16 June 2009 and sentenced to six months on prison on charges of “disrupting order,” “inciting people to demonstrate,” and “organizing Mazandaran University protests.” He was arrested for the second time on 5 November 2009 on charges of “acting against national security through forming the Islamic Associations organization in Northern Iran.” According to a source, if Zahabian was summoned to commence his prison term, he shouldn’t have been transferred to the Intelligence Office, but rather should have been taken to prison. Zahabian was a student campaigner at the campaign headquarters of Mehdi Karroubi in the city of Babol. During post-election arrests, he was severely beaten by security forces and in one instance was unconscious for three days. He was imprisoned for a total of 8 weeks.

In 2008, Zahabian was suspended for one academic term because of his student activism. Only four days after the disputed election of 2009, he was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence. Plainclothes forces known as Ansar-e Hezbollah severely beat him during his arrest. During Student’s Day protests on 4 November 2009, he was arrested for the second time. A Revolutionary Court in Babol sentenced him to six months in prison in his absence. In February 2009, while still suspended, he was banned from continuing his education based on an Intelligence Ministry decision, and was expelled from university just one term shy of graduating.

 

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Five Kurdish Activists Arrested

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Five Kurdish Activists Arrested

 

Rahana: Khosrow Jafari, Naser Jafari and Ebrahim Kachalani are 3 Kurdish activists who have been arrested since last month and there is no news on their condition.

Judicial authorities have not announced the reason for the arrests but sources indicate that their charges include collaborating with Kurdish parties.

Rahman Ghaderi and Matlab Nasou are two Kurdish activists who have been arrested by the security forces in the recent days for collaborating with illegal groups.

 

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Basiji Forces Opened Fire at Gonabadi Dervishes

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Basiji Forces Opened Fire at Gonabadi Dervishes

 

HRANA News Agency – Sources related to Nimatullahi Gonabadi Sufi Sect have reported that a few hours ago, Basiji Militia opened fire at the members of this sect in the capital city of Kavar County, Fars Province. The shooting lasted almost an hour until Special Forces Unit dispatched from Shiraz put an end to it.

According to a report by Majzooban Nur, Nimatullahi Gonabadi Order News Site, clashes began when Basiji Militia shot tear gas canisters and also bullets at the members of Gonabadi Sufi Sect. Basiji agents then raided houses and set stores on fire. Following the outbreak of conflicts in the Kavar County, security forces installed closed-circuit cameras in assembly halls where religious ceremonies were held and prevented the members of Gonabadi Sufi Sect to enter the city of Kavar.

This report also explains the reason for the outbreak of violence in Kavar County: Apparently, when a young Muslim seminary student distributed pamphlets and CDs amongst Basiji forces and chanted “Death to American Dervish,” militia members were incited to act against Gonabadi Sufi Sect and set dervishes’ stores ablaze.

During today’s clashes, a number of individuals on both sides of the conflict were injured. Kavar County is now under tense military and security measures.

 

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