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Basij Commander: Next crisis much more complex

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Basij Commander: Next crisis much more complex

April 25, 2011

Government run Fars news agency reported on April 21 that Naqdi, the criminal commander of the paramilitary Basij Force, expressed his fear of people’s uprising against the clerical dictatorship and warned that the next crisis will be far more complex and deeper than the 2009 crisis.

According to government controlled media, speaking at a meeting of a number of Basij functionaries, Naqdi said:

“…The 2009 crisis that the enemy had planned for it for a few decades, was a difficult test… However, we must know that the fabric and structure of next crises will be different from what we saw in 2009. But in the next crisis, the situation will be quite murky and it will be very difficult to distinguish the right from the wrong…”

 

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander surprised by magnitude of protests

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander surprised by magnitude of protests

April 25, 2011

General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), has admitted that he was taken by surprise by the sheer “magnitude” of protests that erupted following the announcement of the 2009 presidential election.

Speaking to the semi-official Fars news agency on the anniversary of the formation of the elite fighting force in April 1979, the IRGC commander said that in guarding the revolution “we do not have any constraints or limitations.”

Jafari argued that his organisation’s role was not limited to military activities, while adding, “the IRGC is not merely a military organisation, but a security, cultural, ideological, political and military one, which means that the IRGC is expected to have many types of functions in order to be able to protect the Revolution and its results in the domains of culture, politics, economics, society, security and intelligence.”

 

Speaking about the Green Movement—or “sedition” as referred to by regime officials—the commander continued: “Imam [Khameini’s] efforts were directed at placing Velayate faghih [the leader] above everything in the Islamic system, but it’s very clear that the 2009 sedition’s opposition was towards Valayate Faghih, and this was very evident in their disregard for the decisions of the leader who should have the final say.”

The General also claimed that the aftermath of the rigged 2009 presidential was “foreseeable … but nobody predicted it to be in this form, shape and magnitude.”

“Our goal was to inform the people and to put the leaders of the sedition [Mousavi and Karroubi] on trial, because they were doing their best to influence the opinions and beliefs of the people. Therefore confronting them with firm judicial action would not have made their supporters, who had accepted them, to see the light and would instead have backfired.”

Jafari argued that “firm judicial action” against the leaders of the Green Movement would go against the principles of fighting what he called a “soft war,” adding: “perhaps in the beginning, a share of the people, who accepted the framework of the regime but were against certain policies and methods [adopted by the government], supported them [Mousavi and Karroubi], but these did not constitute more than 10 to 15 per cent; however, following the events of [the Iranian year] 1389 [21 March 2010-21 March 2011], this section of the population also ceased their support, and in reality, this was the outcome of a good and appropriate measures against this soft war.”

“In a city like Tehran with millions of inhabitants, it’s not so surprising to find two or three thousand individuals who are in essence either anti-revolutionary, or members of the Mujahedin Khalgh Organisation (MKO), communists, their remnants, monarchists or Baha’is.”

During the interview with Fars, Jafari acknowledged the role of the internet in organising the post-election protests and the opposition Green Movement’s actions, and spoke of the IRGC’s increased efforts in cyber space for quelling dissent in the country.

Regarding the military threat against the country, Jafari, who also is also a member of the Supreme National Security Council, pointed to the massive military buildup of the trans-regional forces during the last eight years (since the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq), and said during the same period Iran has been able to prepare itself and promote its capabilities, specially in military arenas.

“Now and at the end of this eight-year period we are in such conditions that many people, including our enemies, have realised that posing a military threat against Iran is no more effective,” the IRGC commander stressed.

“The cause of this deterrence is the high speed of our increased capabilities, including our missile capabilities,” Jafari underlined.
He pointed out that the IRGC has increased the range of its missiles so much that it can now confront trans-regional enemies. “Although we are capable of increasing the range of our missiles, we don’t think it would be necessary because today our main trans-regional enemy, that is the Quds occupying regime (Israel) is within the range of our missiles,” Jafari reiterated. “And if the US wants to back up Israeli threats, a major part of its forces are even closer to us and are within the range of our firepower as well,” the IRGC commander added.

Last week, the commander of the Iranian army’s ground force warned that attacking Iran would be suicidal. “Today no enemy has the requirements and the desire to carry out a military attack against the powerful Iran and military aggression against Iran is highly unlikely and even impossible and is synonymous with the suicide of the aggressor,” Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

 

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Green Movement urges support for Iran workers

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Green Movement urges support for Iran workers

04/24/2011

GVF — Just days ahead of International Worker’s Day (May 1st), the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope has expressed its support for Iranian workers and once more voiced previously voiced concerns by Green Movement Mir Hossein Mousavi regarding the workers’ right to organise, mobilise and protest.

In its statement, the Council, which is the Green Movement’s highest decision-making body said that in recent years, “instead of privatising, the government has been carrying out a monopolisation, and has been giving away firms and businesses to quasi-governmental and quasi-military bodies for trifling sums, and thus through the concentration of power and wealth in their own hands, they persist in their monocracy.”

The Council, whose members have been chosen by the leader of the Green Movement Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi prior to their house arrest, has also urged the media and social networks to play support the demands of Iran’s workers and sympathise with the country’s labour force which has been hard hit by the Ahmadinejad administration’s disastrous economic policies, in particular its recent subsidy cuts which have had a devastating effect on the country’s most vulnerable.

“Having in mind the economic hardships and demands of hard-working labourers, and under the status quo where the state does not tolerate any level of criticism towards the current situation, the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope urges all media and social networks to reflect the heart rendering tragedies which have made life more difficult for the various groups in people. While stressing the indisputable rights of workers to voice their demands and fully supporting [the right to hold] demonstrations and assemblies, in accordance with annual custom, the Council calls on all the supporters and activists of this pervasive popular movement not to hesitate in supporting the demands of this land’s brave workers as well as sympathising with and aiding them.”

The statement also argues, “without resolving the flaws in the country’s political system, it is not possible to speak of any economic revival.”

Referring to the false promises made by Ahmadinejad during the 2009 presidential race, the council added: “If at that time, there were still those who did not believe the government would deceive, today the state’s lies have become so apparent for all, that not only farmers, workers and labourers, but everywhere in this poverty stricken country filled with misery despite having the largest amount of underground resources and social capital, they no longer believe their empty promises.”

“The country’s hard workers saw how the problem of housing and unemployment not only remained unresolved, but intensified,” the statement said. “The people of this land have witnessed how the oil revenue not only didn’t find its way into their dinner tables, but their dinner tables shrank by the day.”

“Strikes and protests by workers are taking place everyday and across the country, despite the [government’s] violent action,” the council noted. “A charity-like economy, whose harmful and undignified consequences government critics had warned about, is shattering the hopes of workers and employers and has brought the wheels of the country’s economy to a standstill these days.”

The Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope also criticised the Ahmadinejad government’s irresponsible mismanagement of oil revenues of the past six years, which has been more than 500 million dollars, more than Iran’s oil revenues under all the previous administrations put together. It also said the income had been “used for the unrestricted import of low-quality goods.”

“It is as though the goal of this great Revolution [in 1979] was to become independent of one superpower, but to become reliant on another.”

The council also dismissed the unemployment and growth rates announced by the Ahmadinejad government as “baseless,” arguing that “out honourable workers feel the country’s critical economic situation with their flesh and bone and the baselessness of the government statistics about economic growth are comprehensible for them, more than any other social group.”

“It is natural that in such circumstances, the 850,000 jobs per year that were to be created under the fourth development programme are not created, but rather, we’ve had a rise in unemployment. Can one imagine the hiring of new workers by a production unit that hasn’t received any new investment and its sales and profits have also remained the same?”

“The reality is that the militarisation of the economy and politics in recent years has crippled the Iran’s economy,” the statement went on to add. “Tens of thousands of workers across the country have not received their wages in months. Their basic rights such as the right to carry out union activity, the right to protest against working conditions, the demand for a wage increase that matches the increase in inflation, the ability to earn a living through working for a single shift per day and the right to influence their destiny are being neglected through [the government’s] resort to all types of cunning measures. Iranians see their greatest asset; the hope for a better future, shattered and their greatest God-given gift, their human dignity, stumbled upon.”

“Iran is a great country with massive natural resources as well as experts, workers and creators of job opportunities who can return the country to the position it deserves, should their right to determine their own destiny be returned to them.”

 

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Political activist Alireza Rajaei in prison

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Political activist Alireza Rajaei in prison

04/25/2011

GVF — Iranian political activist Alireza Rajaei has been arrested for “committing security crimes,” reported the semi-official Fars news agency.

The agency reported on Sunday that security forces have arrested Alireza Rajaei, a member of the Religious-Patriotic faction. Rajaei was arrested once more during the protests that erupted following the rigged 2009 presidential election.

Rajari has been an editor in a number of reformist publications including Irane Farda, Jame’e, Tous, Khordad, Neshat and Asre Azadegan.

 

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Leading human rights lawyer detained on spurious charges

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Leading human rights lawyer detained on spurious charges

04/25/2011

The Iranian Judiciary and Intelligence Ministry should immediately release  prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The Campaign expressed serious concern regarding Seifzadeh’s baseless detention and reported ill health.  He has been denied access to his attorney, and other internationally guaranteed due process rights.

“The arrest of Mohammad Seifzazeh is yet another illegal assault on Iran’s human rights defense community,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign.

“Seifzadeh is being prosecuted because of his adherence to professional ethical standards, and his praiseworthy defense of those denied their human rights,” he said.

Mohammad Seifzadeh is an internationally recognized lawyer and a founding member of Center for Human Rights Defenders. A lower court sentenced him to nine years in prison and a 10 year ban on legal practice in October 2010.  His case is currently under review by Appeals Court Branch 54.  His charges in the case are “collusion and assembly with the intent to disrupt internal security,” “propagation activities against the regime,” and “establishing the Center for Human Rights Defenders.”

In an interview with the Campaign, Marzieh Nikara, Seifzadeh’ lawyer, said that he has been in detention inside the Intelligence Office of the northwestern city of Orumiyeh for the past two weeks on charges of attempting to leave the country illegally.  Nikara told the Campaign that Seifzadeh had gone to Orumiyeh for a research project, adding that she did not know how and when her client had been arrested.

“Unfortunately, when I went to the Orumiyeh Intelligence Office with Mr. Seifzadeh’s son on 23 April, they did not allow me to visit with my client.  I don’t even know on what day and where exactly he was detained, and I wasn’t allowed to read his file, either.  Only his son was allowed to see him for about two minutes.  He said his father has lost a lot of weight, he was limping, and that it was quite clear he was under pressure,” said Marzieh Nikara.

“We had no news of Mr. Seifzadeh for two weeks.  It appears that he went to Orumiyeh for a research project on 6 April.  He contacted his home on 21 April, and informed [his family] that he is inside the Orumiyeh Intelligence Office.  But what the investigative judge in the case said was that Mr. Seifzadeh was detained on 11 April.  The investigative judge said that when his case arrived in the branch, he ordered [Seifzadeh’s] interrogator to allow him to contact his family that same day, but this did not happen until 21 April,” said Nikara about how they found Mohammad Seifzadeh in Orumiyeh.

Many Iranian human rights lawyers, including Nasrin Sotoudeh and Mohammad Oliaifard, have been in prison for months.  Other prominent lawyers such as Mohammad Ali Dadkhh, Abdolfattah Soltani, and Khalil Bahramian  have  also faced prosecution.

Since the disputed election of June 2009, Seifzadeh has been forbidden to take political cases. A number of former prisoners of conscience have told the Campaign that judiciary officials denied their requests that he serve as their lawyer. The Iranian Judiciary and intelligence agencies systematically and illegally have prevented Seifzadeh and other prominent lawyers from practicing law. Weeks prior to his arrest, Seifzadeh told the Campaign that he was interrogated for hours by intelligence fierce who asked him to stop accepting political clients.

As one of Iran’s most prominent lawyers, he courageously defended a large number of political prisoners in court. He has a reputation of being persistent and against compromising the integrity of his clients in political deals. Over the past years he has exposed a wide range of human rights violations committed by the Judiciary and the Intelligence Ministry.

According to his attorney,  Marzeieh Nikara, “Seifzadeh’s  charge is ‘acting against national security through illegal exit,’ and he is currently at the Intelligence Office on temporary detention orders.  So far, no arguments in support of Mr. Seifzadeh’s intent to exit the country have been presented.  If the arguments are presented, I will react accordingly.  Otherwise, I will seek to convert his temporary detention orders to release on bail.”

Asked how Seifzadeh’s presence in Orumiyeh could have been construed as exiting the country, she said: “This is exactly what our argument is, but the case’s investigative judge argues that Orumiyeh is a border city that has a border with Turkey.  His whole argument is why didn’t Mr. Seifzadeh go to central cities for his research projects, and instead went to Orumiyeh.”

“When Mr. Seifzadeh’s activities as a lawyer became limited, he did more research projects.  In his interrogations, Mr. Seifzadeh stated that he did research activities in Orumiyeh.  I don’t know what the research projects were about, as I have not seen my client yet, but what I could surmise from in-between the words of the case’s investigative judge, was that Mr. Seifzadeh said during his interrogations that he has interviewed about 20-30 Afghani nationals for his research project,” she added.

“The important thing is that my client went to Orumiyeh for a research project and Orumiyeh is a part of Iran, and there are no limitations for any Iranian citizen to enter any city inside Iran.  It is questionable how such a treatment has come about,” said Marzieh Nikara, objecting to the charges against her client.

“His son talked to him in an atmosphere dominated by security agents.  His interrogator was present in the room and they were unable to talk freely, and only greeted each other.  But when his son came out, he told me that his father’s beard had grown, he had lost a lot of weight, and when he got up to embrace his son, he had a limp in one of his legs.  I asked him whether he could see any signs of physical abuse in his face or hands, and he said that there were no marks on his face or hands, but there was a limp in one of his legs,” said Seifzadeh’s lawyer about his sbrief visit with his son, lasting no more than two minutes.

Nikara stated that Seifzadeh’s wife thought that her husband’s sentence must have been upheld, and that he must have been transferred to prison, as an explanation for his disappearance.  “Now what is important is that my client is ill, he has a heart condition, and if this situation should continue, his life could be in danger,” she concluded.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran calls for the immediate release of Mohammad Seifzadeh, and for the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights to intervene to protect his rights and physical safety.

Intentional Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

 

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Karroubi wife allowed to leave house for medical attention

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Karroubi wife allowed to leave house for medical attention

04/25/2011

GVF — After 71 days of house arrest, the wife of opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi, has finally been allowed to leave the family home to receive medical treatment.

According to Saham news, the official website of Karroubi’s National Trust Party, security forces enforcing the illegal house arrest have granted Fatemeh Karroubi permission to seek medical attention.

The Karroubis have been under house arrest since 10 February, after Mahdi Karroubi and fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called for demonstrations in support of the uprisings in the Arab world.

According to Mojtaba Vahedi, an advisor to Karroubi, since her release from house arrest five days ago, Fatemeh Karroubi has been busy seeking medical attention which means that Karroubi is alone in their home. “He is under house arrest by himself and we’re hoping that they keep the promise they made to Ms Karroubi and allow her to meet with the Sheikh.”

In an interview with the reformist Rooz Online website, Vahedi said that according to Fatemeh Karroubi “Mr Karroubi is in very good spirits and despite his firm stance in the face of the state’s shameful and illegal conduct, he has been caring and friendly towards his prison guards and contrary to the claims made by the Keyhan daily, there’s been no sign of any ‘aggressive’ behaviour [on the part of Karroubi].”

According to Vahedi, Karroubi’s sons, who were able to meet their parents five weeks into the house arrest, also spoke of their mother’s loss of weight and “visible” signs of the pressure she had endured under house arrest.

The Karroubi advisor had previously voiced concerns over the authorities’ refusal to allow for much needed medication to get through to the Green Movement leader and his wife for two whole weeks.

 

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Tense Security Measures in Mahabad for Days

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Tense Security Measures in Mahabad for Days

MONDAY, 25 APRIL 2011

HRANA News Agency – During the last few days and while simultaneously celebrating the Army Day in the Islamic Republic of Iran, tense situation and tight security measures have been imposed in the city of Mahabad [Northwestern Iran, Kurdistan].

 

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the city of Mahabad has witnessed an increased presence of military and security forces throughout town in the past two days.

 

Police forces, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the local Basiji militia, and plainclothes officers have been positioned on and around Hekmat Bridge, streets leading to Koohsar and Madar Squares, stations 1 and 2 of Farhangian region, Mokhaberaty Farhang Street, Salehi Farhangian Street, the hills around Melat Park and the region surrounding this park.  The heavy presence of security and military forces has created a tense atmosphere of fear and apprehension.

 

Additionally, the presence of military and police vehicles throughout the city has caused heavy traffic and is interfering with the daily lives of the residents.

 

Unlike previous years, simultaneous maneuvering of military troops and police forces has been conducted between Koohsar and Madar Squares.

 

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‘Leaders of sedition have a popular base’

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‘Leaders of sedition have a popular base’

04/24/2011

Two months after the house arrest of the leaders of Iran’s Green Movement Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, along with their wives, ayatollah Khamenei’s representative in the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) spoke of the futility of confronting the leaders of the Green Movement.

Speaking at a seminar on the IRGC in Mashhad, ayatollah Khamenei’s representative Ali Saeedi mentioned the condolence messages that were sent by individuals and groups to Mousavi for the death of his father and confirmed the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders. “The manner in which the leaders of the sedition have been confronted and their house arrests are the best ways of dealing with them. Unfortunately Messrs. Saneie and Mousavi Ardebili, and others sent (condolence) messages (to Mousavi),” he said. Sedition is the term Iran’s ruling regime uses for the massive protests that erupted following the announcement of the 2009 presidential election in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Saeedi also criticized Hashemi Rafsanjani by name for sending a condolence message to Mousavi. “This is a very troublesome. Even though the leader had tried hard to separate Mr. Hashemi (Rafsanjani) from that event (the Green Movement protests), we still see that Mr. Hashemi sent a message to the head of the sedition, i.e., Mr. Mousavi and used such words as serving (the people). So it is not clear what thoughts Mr. Hashemi has,” he said.

Saeedi had some cautionary words for those devising the policy towards the Green Movement. “Today, conditions are not right for confronting the leaders of the sedition. The problem is that some individuals continue to support them and issue statements. The leaders of the sedition must be dealt with thoughtfully as a way to avoid more complicated problems, while also paying attention to the conditions in society,” he said.

Speaking to Revolutionary Guards, Saeedi also spoke the problems the current administration faced and said, “In view of the direction the government was moving, it was best not to challenge or oppose it as other groups will take advantage of this.”

Saeedi also criticized Mohammad Khatami’s administration and said that at that time the supreme leader spent all his time preventing the “derailment” of policies that were taking place.

Leaders of the “Sedition” have a public base

Saeedi’s remarks about the absence of the right conditions for the trial of Mousavi and Karoubi are not new. Earlier in March 2010 when a number of hardline individuals inside the regime had called for the prosecution of Mousavi and Karoubi, while others had called for a tougher approach towards them, Saeedi opposed this and said that the leaders enjoyed public support.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative in the IRGC further said, “Two obstacles have existed for confronting the seditionists: first, people have not understood the nature of the seditionists. In any case, before and after the 2009 election there were people who supported them. Time is needed to make them aware of the situation, and today public opinion is completely befitting.” The second reason that Saeedi had mentioned was that some groups and individuals, whom he called discreet individuals, would launch actions in support of the Green Movement leaders after they would have been arrested. He said the media would then focus world attention on this, something that he said they did not want to happen.

Prior to Saeedi, Mojtaba Zolghadr, his deputy at the IRGC had a different view of the leaders of the Green Movement. Speaking at a seminar in Qom, he said that Mousavi and Karoubi were so unpopular that they do not dare leave their houses.

Support of the Green Movement Through Condolence Messages

The death of Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s father brought forth condolence messages from groups and individuals across the country at a time when Mousavi and Karoubi were both under house arrest. These condolence messages have been widely interpreted to be messages of support for the two leaders. A good number  of senior ayatollahs such as Mousavi Ardebili, Bayat Zanjani, Dastgheib, the household of ayatollah Montazeri’, Taleghani, Beheshti, and a number of senior former administration officials such as Mohammad Khatami, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Abdollah Nouri, seyed Hadi Khamenei (the brother of the current leader of the Islamic regime), seyed Hassan Khomeini (grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic), seyed Hossein Marashi, a number of former cabinet ministers, former Majlis deputies, a number of groups such as Majmae Rohaniyun Mobarez (Association of Combatant Clerics), Islamic Iran Participation Party, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Teachers and Scholars of the Qom Theological Seminary, the largest student alumni organization (Advare Tahkim Vahdat), and others sent condolence messages to Mousavi.

But the message that made headlines and was attacked the most was that of Rafsanjani. In his message, Rafsanjani called Mir-Hossein Mousavi a “serving” son of the late Mousavi, and wrote that the former prime minister had done great service to Islam, the revolution and Iran, words that had brought sharp criticism from pro government personalities. One of them was Yadollah Javani, the head of the political bureau of the IRGC who directly criticized Rafsanjani for praising Mousavi, who he said was in line with the enemies of the Islamic revolution.

 

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Another person executed in Iran

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Another person executed in Iran

April 24, 2011

One person has been executed in Iranian city of Kermanshah on Aprel 23, Trend reported with reference to Iranian news agency ISNA.
According to the information, the Kermanshah prosecution’s office said that person named A.Gol Mohammadi, accused of drug smuggling, were sentenced to execution.
The United Nations and Amnesty International have repeatedly demanded Iran to stop executions. Human rights activists say that the number of the executed in Iran is more than the figures of the official statistics.

 

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Leftist Student Activist, Nader Ahsani Issued Illegal Sentence of Two Years in Prison

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Leftist Student Activist, Nader Ahsani Issued Illegal Sentence of Two Years in Prison

April 23, 2011

According to Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran and other Iranian human rights groups, on April 9th, student activist Nader Ahsani was summoned to branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court to receive an inhumane and illegal sentence of two years in prison, issued by Judge Moghiseh, a member of the commission responsible for the 1988 political massacres in Iran.

Nader Ahsani’s first arrest by the Ministry of Intelligence agents occurred on December 2, 2007, days before the national Student Day ceremonies (December 7th). The leftist student activist was kidnapped from the front door of his home and taken to ward 209 of Evin prison. He spent 53 days in solitary confinement under interrogation and severe physical and psychological torture. On the 68th day, he was released on a $100 thousand USD bail. The torture marks were still visible on his body at the time of his release.

On February 8, 2009, he was arrested again at his home, this time along with his sister Elham Ahsani. The Ministry of Intelligence agents brutally attacked him physically,  then transferred him to ward 209 of Evin prison. During his incarceration, he endured interrogations and physical and psychological torture. However, due to the international pressures, Nader Ahsani was released from prison fourteen days later. Nader Ahsani was completing his military service at the time of his arrest and detention.

 

On February 12, 2010, with the excuse of building a new case file against Nader Ahsani, the Ministry of Intelligence interrogators (the torturers) tried him in branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh. Nader Ahsani was charged with, “Acting against national security”, “Propaganda against the regime and society”, “Conspiring against the regime”, and other charges.

He was previously charged with engaging in student activism by the same branch presided by Judge Moghi.

 

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