Free Republic

...despite all the tough talk in Washington and Europe last week about Iran's nuclear program, the reality is that the diplomatic options are limited and, in part because of Iraq, the military option is almost nonexistent... The military option...is now all but impossible because of the problems in Iraq, Middle East specialists agree. Not only is the U.S. military tied down in and depleted by Iraq, but Iran has penetrated Iraqi police, paramilitary forces and Shia militias so thoroughly that it could easily make the situation in Iraq untenable for U.S. forces. ...The Israeli government has been particularly worried about...

Iran Reform Leader Urges Support for Rafsanjani in Second Vote Round By Gary Thomas /Tehran 19 June 2005 A leading reformer in Iran has called on those voters who boycotted Friday's election to vote in the runoff race. The runoff pits a moderate former president against a hard-line conservative. Breaking his silence about the election, human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi called on reformists Sunday to, as he put it, "hold their noses" and vote for former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Mr. Baghi said those members of Iran's splintered reform movement who boycotted the election should now unite behind Mr....

LONDON - If there is one man who can testify to the dangers of challenging Iran's clerical rulers, it is Hashem Aghajari -- the dissident who dared to say Muslims were not "monkeys" and nearly paid the ultimate price. "I had been in prison for four months when the intelligence men came to take me to the judge. Then he read the verdict," Aghajari recounted. His crime was a speech to students, saying do not "blindly follow" religious leaders like monkeys. For regime hardliners it was blasphemous. The court delivered the sentence: Death by hanging. The assistant judge even took...

Summary Iranian President Mohammed Khatami admitted defeat in his two-term goal to weaken the grip of the country's conservative Islamic clerics. Khatami bluntly advised the populace not to expect much from the presidency in the future, and declared his legislative efforts to reform the country's political system dead. With the conservatives clearly victorious, Tehran can now speak and negotiate with a single voice. That strengthens Tehran's hand in dealing with the United States and quickens the pace of the ongoing U.S.-Iranian rapprochement. Analysis Speaking to reporters after a March 17 Cabinet meeting, Iranian President Mohammed Khatami declared his efforts to...

February 26, 2004 C.I.A. Says Election in Iran Dealt Blow to ReformBy DOUGLAS JEHL ASHINGTON, Feb. 25 — With the victory of religious hard-liners in this week's parliamentary elections in Iran, the Central Intelligence Agency is warning of a new era of repression and inflexibility. A new C.I.A. assessment, shared with members of Congress this week and described by intelligence officials, says the election has dealt a severe blow to Iranian reformers and will strengthen the authoritarian rule of the country's clerical government. The assessment says the ascendancy of the hard-liners will make it unlikely that Iran will moderate...

Amir Taheri: End of the Reformist Itch May Ironically Be Healthy for Iran 25-02-2004 Gulf News Whichever way one looks at Iran's latest general election the result is a decisive defeat for the so-called "reformist" camp. The product of an illusion, the so-called "reformist" movement had deceived itself into believing it could deceive all the people all the time. It all started with Mohammed Khatami's election as president in 1997. Iranians turned out en masse to vote for Khatami not because they liked, or even knew, him but because they wanted to prevent the election of the establishment's candidate whom...

<p>TEHRAN, Iran -- Hardline conservatives opposed to reform are heading for a landslide victory in Iran's controversial parliamentary elections. CNN Correspondent Kasra Naji explains the background and suggests what may happen next.</p> <p>Why did the reformists lose after two big victories in the last parliamentary elections?</p>

<p>TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Reformist Iranian lawmakers on Sunday began submitting their resignations in protest over an unelected hardline body's move to bar hundreds of reformist candidates from standing in a February 20 parliamentary election.</p> <p>Prominent reformist MP Mohsen Mirdamadi, in a speech to parliament broadcast live on state radio, read out a resignation statement which he said was on behalf of an unspecified number of fellow lawmakers who were resigning.</p>

The upcoming election will be an important point for both Iranians and their regime. Most Iranians are against their suppressive regime. In the past few hours, around 80% of the so-called reformists have been banned from taking part in these elections as candidates. These reformists are children of the Islamic Revolution and the people of Iran no longer support them. I would like to say that I believe this crisis is a fake. It is just to get the Iranian people involved in their phony elections. Trust me, I fear that the hard-liners are planning on letting these banned MPs...

All of Iran's provincial governors have reportedly threatened to resign unless a move by powerful conservatives to disqualify large numbers of candidates from forthcoming elections is reversed. The 27 have imposed a deadline of a week, according to an open letter carried by the student news agency ISNA today. Earlier, Iran's interior ministry, the body responsible for organising elections, said that the move to disqualify candidates from next month's parliamentary election was "illegal" and would not be enforced. "The interior ministry regrets the massive rejection of candidates and affirms that a number of candidates have been disqualified outside the framework...

IRAN was plunged into political turmoil yesterday when it emerged that unelected hardliners had disqualified hundreds of reformist candidates from standing in parliamentary elections next month. President Khatami promised a legal challenge of the decision and warned of a “harsh reaction” within the country if the ruling was upheld. “I’m against such disqualifications. There are legal ways to fight,” he said after an emergency Cabinet meeting. Scores of reformist politicians walked out of parliament, which they dominate at present, in protest at what one called a “coup d’état”. Later about 60 MPs began a sit-in at the parliament. Muhammad Ali...

Reformists walked out of parliament on Sunday Hundreds of reformist candidates in Iran have been barred from standing in general elections next month by an unelected conservative body. Reformists walked out of parliament on Sunday to protest against the ruling - they also plan to hold a sit-in. Up to half the candidates registered were reportedly disqualified by the Guardian Council. They include the brother of President Khatami, who is head of the country's largest reform party, the IIPF. If this decision is upheld, there will not be elections but designations The 12-member Guardian Council, made up of six clerics...

Iranians Oppose their Islamic Republic The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Wednesday, December 03, 2003 hosted a panel of Iranian American democracy advocates. One panelist, a KRSI radio talk show host, involved Iranian democracy activists by calling Iran. The AEI called it “Voices From Inside Iran” and likened the event to an international town hall. KRSI Radio broadcast the meeting via satellite to Iranians all over the world. To safeguard Iranians willing to speak out, they were asked not to give their name or location just a vague description of their occupation. Each of the Iranian citizens that addressed the...

Iran's president offers to resign USATODAY 7.12.2003 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — President Mohammad Khatami unexpectedly said he will resign if people want him to go, amid growing public dissatisfaction over his failure to meet promises of democratic reform, a newspaper reported Saturday. It was the first time Khatami has publicly offered to resign. Iran's formerly popular president has come under increasing pressure in recent months to stand firm against unelected hard-line clerics and fulfill election promises of freedoms and democratic change. "We are not masters of people but servants of this nation. If this nation says we don't want you,...

To All: This is a little something I wrote several weeks ago when I just couldn't take anymore.. BTW - for those of who may be wondering.. I'm 1/2 Iranian 1/2 Irish - 100% American :) Take Care all! "We Are Coming!" by ActivistChat.com ------------------- This past week has been difficult not only for Iranians to deal with but also for citizens throughout the world who support the will of the Iranian people. We have yet again witnessed the brutality of a bunch of criminals whose primal instincts combined with the onset of fear, has led them to commit criminal...

There is often good reason to grumble about the selection of the Norwegian Nobel committee for its famous Peace Prize. Last year for instance, the honor was bestowed upon former President Jimmy Carter, at least partly in recognition of his criticism of the foreign policy of the Bush administration. The whole thing was most unseemly. This year, however, the committee managed to get it right when it chose Iranian layer-activist Shirin Ebadi. It must take extraordinary courage to be a human rights activist in a place like Iran, a female one at that. Yet, Mrs. Ebadi, a former judge, has...

A tendency within the Islamic Republic of Iran is to use misleading shortened versions of the names of Islamic organizations and personalities in order to sanitize and reactivate certain discredited entities. Heshmatallah Tabarzadi was one of the main leaders for the"Office of Strengthening the Unity of the University and theTheological Seminary" (OSUUTS), nowadays simply referred to as the"Office of Strengthening Unity". Prior to Khamenei's tenure as the "SupremeLeader" and the "Guardian Scholar" during the late 80s, college students did not have the right to form political groups. Khamenei declared that students should partake in political activities and allowed them to...

TEHRAN - Iran's main reformist party opened a two-day congress aimed at mapping a strategy for upcoming parliamentary elections, amid signs that voter frustration could deal the embattled camp a serious defeat. Addressing a gathering of some 200 top party members, Islamic Iran Participtaion Front leader Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of Iran's president, issued a stern warning to hardliners to stop blocking reforms. "Reformists are trying to prevent the present social movement from being transformed into a violent polictical revolt or into a scenario of an overthrow (of the regime) from outside the country," he said in his opening...

Washington -- Hossein Khomeini, grandson of the late Ayatollah Rohallah Khomeini, who led the Iranian revolution, called "freedom and democracy a basic means of life and living." During a September 26 appearance at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, he said there is no one in Iran at present to lead the Iranian people's struggle for freedom. Referring to the Iranian Revolution, he stated that "25 years ago the Iranian people hoped for freedom." "An important goal for the revolution was the creation of democracy and freedom," the younger Khomeini declared. "This was not achieved. There are no freedoms in...

A prominent Iranian reformer jailed after publishing an opinion poll stating most people wished to restore dialogue with the United States has gone on hunger strike in protest over prison conditions, according to his supporters. "In the last contact that we had with my father, he told us he intended to go on hunger strike, and he said he will keep it up until the end," the daughter of Abbas Abdi, Maryam, said during a reformist gathering in Tehran late Monday. "Judge Mortazavi does not allow us to meet my father or even phone him," she added, referring to Tehran's...