Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year! 
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”
Posted on 07/08/2004 2:46:43 AM PDT by DoctorZIn
The US media still largley ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” Most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.
There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.
We are now just a few days away from the anticipated July 9th demonstrations.
The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.
In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.
This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.
I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.
If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.
If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.
DoctorZin
I had a great time with a few thousand of my Iranian friends in Los Angeles, California.
The loved President Bush! And there were lines of people changing their registration.
The people were chanting "Thank you President Bush... Shame on You Tony Blair."
They were asking people to support the imprisioned students in Iran.
They had a plane flying the Iranian flag.
They staged a mock execution as they are preformed by the Iranian regime.
I had my own sign calling for the world leaders to take a stand, and gave a plug for the FreeRepublic.com.
I saw lots of friends.
And a lot of support by the followers of the Shah and his son Reza.
They even had Iranian currency (Rials) in anticipation of a change of regime.
Finally, I ended the night on XTV where I did an interview that was broadcast into Iran!
I even spent some time chatting with Iranians in Iran
All in all, it was a great evening.
I just pray that the people of Iran will be able to stand up to the regime in the next few days.
DoctorZin
This just in from a student inside of Iran....
"DoctorZin,
Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger do not work at the moment. I think regime doesnt want people to communicate through these messengers.
Students will hold a rally inside the Tehran University Campus today."
The Movement's Leader's Letter to the World's Rights Activists and Free Thinkers
SMCCDI (Public Statement)
Jul 7, 2004
On July 8th, Iranians are planning to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the student uprising of 1999. Many of the western nations, especially the U.S. and Israel, are paying close attention to the outcome of the event. Its short or middle term outcome will determine these two country's policies in reference to Iran's nuclear activities and its interference in the Middle East region's peace process and democratic evolution.
Many of us that live in democratic nations might not apprehend the importance of a date such as July 8th, or the significance of its struggle for the Iranian youth that are seeking secularity and modernism. After all, we were under the impression that the majority of Iranians supported the regime of the Islamic Republic under one of its factions, whether it is the hardliners or so-called reformists. However, with the passage of time and consistent protests made by the Iranian people these injustices cannot be ignored. The student uprising in 1999 was filled with shocking footage, but no image was more symbolic than the young Ahmad Batebi raising the bloodied shirt of a fallen comrade to signify the quest for Justice. We can no longer ignore the existence of a deeper political malaise in Iran and this is evident in the consecutive nightly riots of 2003 and the mass boycott of the regime’s last two sham elections. The ever-increasing gap between government officials and the people has reached explosive levels. This apprehension has brought some of the lucid western leaders,
such as President George W. Bush, to acknowledge publicly the plight of the Iranians and to offer his moral and diplomatic support for their right to freedom and self-determination.
We must understand that Iran and its people are fed up and exasperated with a quarter of a century of backward, barbarian, oligarchic, theocratic rule, notorious for human right abuses, widespread official corruption and sponsorship of terror. Now, Iranians want simply a radical regime change in their country, which can be qualified as a firm support of western democracy and the free world in general. Everyone should remember 1997 that Iranians rejected hardliners and voted massively for canalized “reforms from within”, with hope of changes with a "lesser human cost". Finally, deceived by the empty promises of so-called reformists and Mr. Khatami, Iranians reached the final stage of understanding that ideological regimes simply cannot be reformed. They found the less costly way to show their deception by preferring to abstain from voting in the 2003 and 2004 elections. Iranian perseverance for a "democratic regime change" is increasing drastically; Iranians have become more equipped with the technology of the satellite and Internet which is contributing to a better apprehension of the outside world and a rapid and less monitored exchange of information.
Also by witnessing the consecutive falls of two brutal and backward dictatorships in their immediate and eastern and western borders, Iranians have became more eager to than ever to come hand in hand to defy and bring down the Mullahcracy. This unity has occurred in order to in stature a western-liberal democracy, mixed with Iranian valuable cultural tradition that have often been rejected and referred to as “pagan” by clerics.
We should be aware that there have been recent alarming reports from Iran, on the massive deployment of security forces that consist of Middle Eastern and African Islamists acting as foreign mercenaries. There have been mass arrests and constant harassment as well as official threats warning the freedom lovers, often referred to as “foreign spy,” “drug addict,” “bandit,” or “hooligan,” on the consequences of opposing the Islamic State. It is ironic to see how the current Iranian regime deals with any type of dissent at a time that democracy is trying to be instilled in the Middle East region.
Other problems still exist for Iran’s aspiration to become a responsible and accountable element in the family of nations. However, many Iranian people are increasingly blaming the economic support offered by the main EU members: France, Germany, Austria and the UK. Iranians believe that dealing with the clerics is contributing to extend the political lives of their oppressors, and is causing more damage and pain. The Iranian people and many outsiders cannot understand how respectable governments, claiming the championship of democratic principles, inherited from the Century of Enlightenment and last century’s opposition to Nazism and Communism, can close eyes on the misdeeds of a much dangerous and brutal “Ism”-Islamic Fanaticism and its sour fruit known as the Islamic Republic regime. Iranians cannot comprehend how countries are continuing to deal billions of dollars to the notorious Iranian mullahs, their corrupt technocrats and brokers. The Iranian people cannot understand why a double standard exists when their husbands, wives, mothers, brothers, sons and daughters are murdered or arrested in a total international disinterest.
After all, weren’t most of these countries denouncing these incidents and other smaller abuses during the Shah’s time? So why is there such silence now? Was it just a matter of bribery amounts? Why were individuals like Milosevic accused for crimes against humanity, and not the Iranian Ayatollahs of whom warrants exist in Germany and France for the extra judicial killings of their opponents on foreign soils?
The commemoration of this year’s anniversary of the Student’s Uprising might not lead immediately to a drastic change inside Iran, or to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. But one thing that is sure, the days of the regime, which has reached an unprecedented stage of unpopularity and rejection, are ending. More time will pass with the regime’s dark package of repression and the outcome will be bloodier, but at the end; the losers will be the ruling mullahs and all those who beat for a short time on a very ill horse.
If the EU would change its position and adopt a clear stand by backing, as Bush has done, the Iranian people to push for a smoother change of power, as it happened in South Africa, it might have time to weld back some of the broken Iranian sentiment. In such time, maybe, the United Nations will finally force the Islamic regime to comply with the Iranians’ wishes, or the current Iranian regime may be banned from this international institution.
Iranians are moving fast toward the final showdown and it will be wise to support them, instead of trying desperately to block them from reaching their legitimate goals.
* Aryo B. Pirouznia is the coordinator of the "Student
Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran" (SMCCDI).
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6989.shtml
Tense situation in Iranian cities
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 8, 2004
Tense situation and an intense military control are reported from most Iranian cities, such as, the Capital, Esfahan, Hamedan, kermanshah, Ahwaz and Oroomiah (Former Rezai-e).
Symbolic and strategic places are occupied by military forces ready to attack. Security forces are stopping cars and brutaly searching them by placing the vehicles occupants by the walls.
Many will try to show their rejection of the regime.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_6993.shtml
Great work. Truly you are an inspiration to any American who supports freedom in Iran.
Rights Group Calls On Iran To Release Student Detainees [Excerpt]
July 08, 2004
Dow Jones Newswires
The Associated Press
CAIRO -- Iranian authorities should release student protesters detained in violent demonstrations at Tehran University that began five years ago Thursday, killing one student, a New York-based human rights group said.
Human Rights Watch, in a statement obtained by The Associated Press in Egypt, said an unknown number of students remained in custody out of the thousands it claimed had been initially arrested.
"Five years after the Tehran University protests, it's time for the Iranian government to release the peaceful protesters," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Division, said in the statement.
"The government also needs to hold plainclothes militia accountable for the attacks on students that year."
Security forces raided a student dormitory following a peaceful student demonstration, the statement said, beating students and trapping many in their rooms. The demonstrations lasted for a week, involving more than 25,000 people.
Human Rights Watch said several students had been sentenced to death, but authorities later commuted their punishments to time in prison. It also accused Iranian security authorities of torturing many imprisoned students and preventing them from seeing their lawyers.
"While many of those initially detained were released, an unknown number of student protesters remain in prison," the group alleged, including Ahmed Batebi, Abbas Fakhravar, Manouchehr Mohammadi, his brother Akbar Mohammadi and Mehrdad Lohrsabi.
http://www.wsj.com/public/us
'Azadi' Is More Than Just a Word For Iran's Students [Excerpt]
July 08, 2004
The Wall Street Journal
Mariam Lau
When Iranian students took to the streets a year ago, it seemed a far cry from the uprising in July 1999 that quickly spread across the country and lead the world to believe the days of the Islamic Republic might be numbered. All they wanted, this time, was to protest against the regime's intent to privatize university studies and charge tuition. But at night, paramilitary forces of the Basij and the Ansar-e-Hezbollah stormed into the dormitories just as in 1999, attacking students in their beds with baseball bats and razor blades, throwing books and computers out of the window and wrestling drivers out of their cars who had honked in support of the demonstrators. In the following days, protests resumed on a larger scale, demanding regime change, democracy and the resignation of the Iranian president Muhammad Khatami.
Now that scenario looked familiar indeed. Angry young men, waving the blood-stained shirt of a fellow student, could not but remind TV audiences around the globe of the Islamic Revolution itself, which had also started on campus. "The revolution seemed to have gone back to its origin," wrote Islam scholar Navid Kermani, "the language of protest: emotionality, public grief for the victims in rituals deriving from the folklore of Shiite martyrdom, all that was exactly the same as in the days when the Shah was toppled."
With one crucial difference, however. Back then, students enthusiastically believed in leftist, Islamist or leftist-Islamist programs. Fierce ideological battles were waged. Later, many of them had even volunteered for the war against Iraq, only to return to a country that was becoming less and less interested in their holy war or their holy texts. "More than my secular students," reported Azar Nafisi, author of the bestselling memoir "Reading Lolita in Tehran," "it was this group that craved the banned Western videos and satellite dishes; they craved also to read works of Western literature, along with the heretical modern and classical Persian poets and writers."
Today's children of the revolution are even more modest in their demands. These days, unrest is about wearing lipstick, about not being flogged for a strand of hair or trendy sunglasses. A teenage friend of Mrs. Nafisi's daughter once was arrested by the virtue police when she and a couple of friends had lemonade on a porch in a private home, and had to undergo three "virginity exams" in different hospitals all night until being finally released in the morning. Reclaiming privacy from the political sphere -- an impulse that would have been condemned as bourgeois decadence in 1979 -- is a central issue for Iranians, 70% of whom are under 30.
Judging from the books that are in vogue on campuses today, the craving for privacy has affected religious beliefs as well. It is high time for an Islamist Reformation. There is even a Martin Luther at hand: Hashem Aghajari, who was a lecturer at the University of Hamedan and an active member of the Reformist Islamic Revolution's Mujahedeen Organization, was arrested in August 2002 and sentenced to death because he had argued that it was counter to the nature of Islam to have a mediating echelon of clerics that had placed itself between God and the believers.
Mr. Aghajari argued that these clerics blocked the people's access to the Quran and to understanding it, and preventing them from developing independent thought. "In Islam, we never had a class of clergy," he said. "The relationship between the clergy and the people should be like the relationship between teacher and pupil; not between leader and follower; the people are not monkeys who merely imitate. A cleric is not a divine being." When Mr. Aghajari went on to criticize their use of luxury cars, the inequality of women, or nonbelievers, his fate was sealed. Recently the death penalty against him has been lifted, but he is sure to spend the next decades in jail. After the students' desperate calls to the inept reformist president: "Khatami, Khatami, where are you?" have died down, it is Mr. Aghajari on whose behalf they are willing to march again.
It has often been argued that Iran is to the West what Poland was during the Cold War. It is one of the most pluralist, most organized, and most pro-American societies in the region. Unfortunately, Europe seems to repeat the mistakes that have been made with regard to the Eastern Bloc during the 1970s. Not one prominent European politician has spoken up for people like Mr. Aghajari and U.S. President George W. Bush was the only head of a Western government to defend the student uprising last year.
All France, Britain and Germany are doing is to hint at the possibility of economic sanctions to pressure Iran on the nuclear front. The mullahs aren't impressed: Two weeks ago they declared their determination to develop a nuclear defense.
Iran's liberation will have to come from within, yes. Still, the West can do more than just looking on in bewilderment. The Nobel Peace Prize for Iranian human-rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi is a case in point. Ms. Ebadi is a Muslim who explicitly says she believes Islam and democracy can and must go together; who was jailed after she had defended students of the 1999 riot in court, and who celebrated the prize as one given to all Iranians who believe in change. As soon as we understand that they are "neither with us, nor with the terrorists," we have found an invaluable ally in the war on terror: the freedom loving, Muslim people of Iran.
For these young, angry, restless, sexually frustrated and jobless people, there is one magic word: "azadi." It means "freedom," and it is still very much associated with the United States. It went nearly unnoticed in the West that on September 11, thousands of Iranians took to the streets to express their solidarity with the American victims, chanting "Death to the Taliban, whether in Kabul or Tehran," while being attacked by Hezbollahi thugs.
http://www.wsj.com/public/us
In Remembrance of the Fifth Anniversary of the Iranian Students Uprising
July 07, 2004
Mission for Establishment of Human Rights in Iran
Mehr Iran
Five years ago the Islamic Regime forces attacked the student dorm on July 8 as students held a peaceful gathering protesting the closure of a popular daily paper. Islamic regime reported one person dead and 34 other injured but the press reported that the number of fatalities and injured was much higher. Some 4,000 demonstrators were said to have been arrested.
The student resistance against the repressive regime on July 8, 1999 and the events that followed set the beginning of a new era in Iranian struggle for democracy. It ended the illusion that the so-called "Reformists" may have a genuine respect for human rights and may bring about any real changes. They witnessed that when necessary, all factions regardless of their differences unite to crash the opposition. The July 8th event resulted in shaping up an independent movement for democracy that grew fast and made the entire regime very frightened. Islamic regime declared clearly that demanding freedom of expression and press or any other demand for freedom are acts against the regime and won't be tolerated.
The new student movement in Iran is not based on any ideology and is formed around humanistic ideas. That is why its existence and growth is very vital to the cause of human rights in Iran. This humanistic movement should be supported. Its underlying philosophy and goals should be introduced to the world community. They should know that the young generation of Iranians has no illusion about the Islamic regime. They have been arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and executed but have never given up. They show their courage even when they are in prison. That is why on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the government attack on the students, in spite of the ruthlessness of the Islamic regime, the political prisoners in Iran have staged a hunger strike for the immediate release of all political prisoners.
The world should know that the freedom loving people of Iran want the separation of religion and State. Hopefully, this will stop the propaganda machine of western media that are still trying to portray that the Islamic Regime may be reformed through certain elements and consequently are ignoring all the atrocities and human rights abuses in Iran.
The purpose of these gatherings is to inform the freedom loving people of world of what is actually happening in Iran. Our hope is that they would support our just cause and would put pressure on their government that until human rights are violated in Iran they should not help this bloody regime by establishing relation with it and legitimizing its system of terror.
We believe that the majority of Iranian people does not recognize the Islamic regime as its elected representative and is determined to change the regime of terror by civil disobedience and nonviolent action. If the Islamic regime claims otherwise, it should take up the challenge of a nationwide referendum monitored by the international human-rights community.
P.O. Box 2037, P.V.P., CA 90274
Tel: (310) 377-4590 ; Fax: (310) 377-3103
E-Mail: mehr@mehr.org ; URL: http://mehr.org
http://mehr.org/
Iran: Five Years of Injustice and Impunity
July 07, 2004
Amnesty International
Public Statement
Amnesty International today renewed its calls to Iran's judiciary to undertake an independent and impartial judicial review of the trials of demonstrators convicted after their arrest during the July 1999 student led demonstrations, known in Iran as the 18 Tir events, after the date in the Iranian calendar.
The organization also calls on the authority to carry out investigations of allegations of torture made by these prisoners and ensure that anyone found responsible for the torture is brought to justice.
In March 2000, in letters from Tehran's Evin prison sent to the Head of Judiciary -- printed by local newspapers -- Akbar Mohammadi stated that he had been ill treated while in custody. He claimed to have been "violently beaten"; suspended by his arms, and whipped on the soles of his feet with electric cables. Prison guards reportedly beat him until he was on the point of losing consciousness, saying that all he had to do was blink to accept the charges [relating to national security] made against him. Another student, Ahmad Batebi wrote that soldiers bound his hands to plumbing pipes; beat his head and abdominal area with soldiers' shoes, and held him under a drain full of excrement for so long that he was unable to breathe.
To Amnesty International's knowledge, no open, independent investigation has ever been conducted into the allegations of ill treatment and torture made by Akbar Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi or any of the students detained in July 1999. Some of whom later were granted asylum in European countries, where they received treatment for a range of incidences of torture, including instrumental rape.
Amnesty International renews its call to Iran's judiciary to:
Conduct an open and independent enquiry into allegations of torture carried out on Akbar Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi and other students during the events of 18 Tir
Bring to justice anyone found responsible for torture and ill-treatment of Akbar Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi and other detainees;
Carry out a judicial review of the case of Akbar Mohammadi and others arrested in connection wit the demonstrations;
Immediately release all those found to have been imprisoned soley for the expression of their conscientiously held beliefs.
Background
In early July 1999, a small number of students in Tehran gathered to protest against increasing restrictions on freedom of expression. Following the forced closure of the newspaper Salam (Hello) on 7 July, demonstrations swelled into the hundreds. As the days passed, exchanges with security forces became increasingly angry. On 8 July, peaceful demonstrators were attacked by members of the organization Ansar-e Hezbollah, a semi-official organization which opposes political dissent against the state. Security forces at the scene reportedly failed to intervene to protect the students.
In the following days the size and nature of the demonstrations changed dramatically, leading to an escalation in violence. Despite calls for calm from some student leaders, and an official ban on demonstrations in Tehran, demonstrations continued and spread to other towns and cities. Hundreds of people were arrested throughout the country, most of whom were held without charge or trial. Dozens faced torture and ill-treatment in incommunicado detention, followed by manifestly unfair trials and imprisonment.
The unrest, which has become known as the events of 18 Tir (the date in the Iranian calendar during which the events took place), was also marked by a raid carried out by plain clothed (called in Persian the lebas shakhsy) members of the Ansar-e Hezbollah and members of the security forces into the student dormitories. This resulted in the killing of Ezzat Ebrahim Nejat. The attack was strongly condemned by both President Khatami and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and two senior police officers were later arrested and removed from their positions as a result of an official investigation. No one associated with the Ansar-e Hezbollah was charged in connection with the raid or the death of Ezzat Ebrahim Nejat.
Iranian non-governmental human rights organizations, such as the Association of Human Rights Defenders (AHRD, or Kanoun-e Modafe'an-e Hoqouq-e Bashar) have repeatedly called for an investigation into the raid on the dormitories and killing of Ezzat Ebrahim Nejat, and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Their calls have gone unheeded.
Amnesty International has been campaigning on behalf of students who have been convicted and imprisoned after trials which failed to meet international standards for fair trial. The organization has also been calling for the investigation of allegations of torture made by the prisoners and for those found responsible for the torture to be brought to justice. Please see the following case sheet on Akbar Mohammadi:
Five Years of injustice and ill treatment: Akbar Mohammadi - case sheet
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130272004
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=80256DD400782B8480256ECA005F89E4
Bump!
Media Ignores Arrest Of Iranian Agents Building Car Bombs In Baghdad
July 07, 2004
Oh That Liberal Media
thatliberalmedia.com
Yesterday's revelation that US and Iraqi joint patrols had captured two Iranian intelligence officers with explosives and building car bombs sounded to me like important news. Here, after all, is proof that the so-called insurgency is not only supported by outside forces but contains active elements of official outside governmental agencies. As the Bush Doctrine states, any government engaging in terrorism or supporting terrorism against the US has made itself a target in the war on terror -- and this shows that Iran does both.
Big news, right? Not in America, apparently.
The World section at the Los Angeles Times: nothing.
The World section at the Boston Globe: nothing.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (AP) reports the story with the headline, "Iran treading lightly in trying to influence Iraq," which contains the following assertion:
Monday's announcement of the arrests by the Iraqi Interior Ministry was a rare instance of tying Iranians to a particular attack.
But there was no indication that the two men were Iranian agents, and they might have been working on their own. Iranians enraged that Shiite shrines in Iraq were damaged in fighting between U.S. troops and Iraqi insurgents have volunteered to join the battle against the Americans.
None except their confessions, of course, that they are Iranian intelligence agents. That's probably immaterial to the story if the AP ignores it.
Washington Post World section: nothing.
The New York Times -- the "paper of record" -- International and Middle East sections: nothing.
MSNBC, CBS News World, ABC News World: nothing.
CNN doesn't carry anything on its front page either, although it has breaking news on Australian killer kangaroos and the legal claims of men dining nude.
I guess a foreign government attacking American troops just doesn't qualify as news. Thank God I found out about those killer kangaroos, though.
Posted by Captain Ed
http://www.thatliberalmedia.com/archives/002269.html#002269
The Iranian Quest for Nuclear Weapons
July 08, 2004
Intervention Magazine
Shalom Freedman
The United States, the Western World, and the International Atomic Energy Agency all are involved now in trying to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.
Even if one does not accept the large body of evidence which has accumulated since the regime of the Ayatollahs came to power in 1979 and conclude that Iran is a dangerous exporter of terrorism, whose radical Islamic doctrines mean its aim is expansion and domination of its neighbors, one can still be very concerned about Iran having nuclear weapons. For Iran has powerful neighbors--Turkey, Saudi Arabia--who are strongly suspicious of her and would not allow Iranian nuclear weapons to threaten them unilaterally. An unprecedented nuclear arms race would soon be underway. In another context, Iranian leaders have bluntly stated their intention to use nuclear weapons against Israel, another prospect that certainly should not delight the world. And the far stronger Israel, with its anti-missile defense system and its reported 150 to 200 nuclear warheads, would most likely not suffer the attack passively. A nuclear exchange anywhere in the world would mean untold human suffering and environmental damage to the world as a whole. It is clearly in everyone’s interest, including the Iranians themselves, to prevent their acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Yet the steps taken by the IAEA, the European powers, and the U.S. government seem very unlikely to deter Iran. To understand truly the ineffectiveness of such steps, one should look at the Pakistani precedent. Pakistan, another self-defined Islamic republic, over a period of close to thirty years brought its nuclear development program to a successful conclusion, from its point of view, despite all the threats, the UN warnings, and the U.S. sanctions against it. Pakistan showed the world the way defiance of the international community works. And here it must be remembered that Pakistan is a much weaker country than Iran. It’s an overpopulated, extremely poor country without many natural resources, and certainly with nothing like the Iranian oil-wealth. Also, Pakistan had--and has--no civilian nuclear structure, and it moved ahead despite lacking, at times, all kinds of equipment and expertise.
This is one major lesson of the Pakistani experience. No matter how weak and dependent on others, even for food and fuel, a state is, if it has the will it can push through its own nuclear program, spiting those far more powerful than it so long as those opposed are only ready to use “peaceful means of persuasion.” Pakistan was cut off more than once by the U.S. The Symington amendment at one point, and the Solarz amendment at another, denied Pakistan aid. But that did not stop them from going ahead with their program.
And this leads to a second important lesson of the Pakistani development. It is always possible to get by with a little help from one’s friends. When the Pakistani program after years of development seemed stuck in 1983, the Chinese supplied them with the centrifuges and separation technology they could not make themselves. Pakistan’s rocket program would not have gotten very far without the aid of fellow nuclear bandit, North Korea. Now, while it might seem that the noose of control is tightening around Iran, there are still powers who seem willing to aid it. The Russian technicians at Bushehr continue to build this vast facility despite all U.S. pressures. The Chinese may have stopped supplying physical equipment to Iran, but they are ready to aid Iran politically, and will impose a veto on any sanctions the UN Security Council may bring up. Iran’s vast oil resources mean, in an energy-hungry world, that along with its radical Islamic allies it will find many other friends willing, for a sum, to supply goods and services vital to the Iranian program.
For years, the Pakistanis lied, deceived, delayed inspections, and hid various facilities. To this day, the world does not really know the extent and location of Pakistan’s nuclear facilities. The Iranians have already shown that they are masters of the art of deception. After having lied about their nuclear program for nineteen years, they immediately found a way out by making new promises which they broke in a few months. Here, it often seems that international inspecting teams aid those they supervise rather than impede them, for those under inspection time and again replace one set of broken commitments with another, one set of promises with another. This happens because these international bodies have by themselves no enforcement mechanisms and are reliant on the decisions of the various nations that make up the UN.
Iran can learn from Pakistan the great advantage of belonging to the large Islamic bloc, and the larger third world bloc. Again, the Pakistanis taught that it is possible to get away with it. The Iranians have by themselves been exemplifying this, but can draw additional strength from the Pakistani precedent.
The Pakistanis did, however, have an advantage that Iran lacks, at least vis-a-vis the United States. It was because the Americans needed Pakistan in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan that they chose to look the other way in the early eighties. And it is because they need the Pakistanis now in their fight against Al Qaeda and Islamic terror that the Americans are now about to raise the status of Pakistan to “preferred ally.” The Iranians might be worried that they are not of value to the U.S. in the same way, that they are in fact everywhere in opposition to the Americans. But then, for the Iranians, there are the Russians, the Chinese, and in another way the Europeans. There are those who can find considerable advantage in trading and doing business with Iran, and whose business interests are far more important to them than is the question of Iran’s nuclear power.
The great lesson, then, is that one can always find a way to rely on the cynical self-interest of some faction in world politics to push one’s way forward. In this, one can expect that Iran’s Machiavellian artfulness will not be any less than Pakistan’s.
The sorry conclusion of all this is quite simple and quite sad. It is that there is no peaceful means in the world, no art of persuasion, no sanction, economic or political, which is going to halt the Iranian nuclear program. As Pakistan defied the world, so will Iran. As Pakistan lied and broke promises and got away with it, so will Iran.
And this leads to another lesson. Whether true or not, there were many rumors and reports through the years that the Pakistani program was about to be stopped. One time the rumor had to do with U.S. political and economic sanctions, and another time with the Indian threat of making war. Still another time, and this the most critical, it had to do with proposed military action against the Pakistani reactor. It was even at one point speculated that Israel and India had colluded, and that Israeli jets stationed on the Iranian-Pakistani border were waiting to receive the order to take out the Pakistani facilities in the way they took out those in Iraq. But this military action never got underway, most likely because India feared that its own citizens might be damaged by radiation that the exploded reactor would give off. There was also Indian concern about a possible Chinese response in support of Pakistan. In any case, the military operation never took place, and this enabled the Pakistani program to continue.
Iran has already made genocidal threats against Israel, and at times these have been threats of retaliation if Israel dares attack its nuclear facilities. Iran has warned the United States that it is capable of reaching U.S. Army servicemen throughout the Middle East. And, in fact, Iran is involved in action already against the U.S. in Iraq. But the point is that Iran, like Pakistan, has many ways of threatening and maneuvering so as to delay, and ultimately escape from, the military option. Pakistan reportedly had a cold bomb in 1987 but did not test until 1998, and this in response to the Indian nuclear tests the year before. No one knows for certain at this point whether or not Iran does have a few operational devices. And perhaps it is even worse than this; perhaps Iran at some site we do not know about has already produced a few nuclear weapons. In any case, the Pakistani method of continuing to go ahead with the work despite the world’s talk is probably the modus operandi of Iran also. It is working to reach the point that Pakistan has reached, where it attains so much power that the military option is simply too dangerous for the other side to try.
Pakistan got the bomb by buying a little time, and then buying a little more time. And the international supervising bodies, and now with Iran the IAEA, play the game in such a way as to be always eager to give more time. Here, too, it is important to note the decision or indecision of the major players on the other side. Essentially, every U.S. President from Nixon on who dealt with the Pakistani nuclear program put off the decision to take out these facilities by force. Every one thought that there was a little more time. This attitude of delaying and putting it off for the next guy was exploited by Pakistan. Now Iran, looking at the U.S. bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, understanding that President Bush can ill-afford a third front at this moment, will be buying time until well after the next election. The General Security Organization says Iran will have nuclear weapons by 2006. Others suggest it will be earlier, including estimates that it will be in 2004. The U.S. is not going to stop Iran before then. And so the Pakistani lesson and precedent will apparently be one appropriate to the story of Iranian nuclear development. It also does not seem likely that the overburdened Israeli government, so set on withdrawal from Gaza, wants to look at the Iranian option now. And it is very likely indeed, then, that in a few years time there will be another Islamic bomb in the world. Only this one will not be held by a relatively conservative regime of Army officers, but rather by a jihading group of religious fanatics bent on enclosing the world in their own narrow system.
Shalom Freedman is a writer living in Jerusalem, Israel.
http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=797&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0&POSTNUKESID=769bf049387dcf85030f549c809cc6c3
Thanks for the great pictures and an awesome job on air!
Student protesters held in Iran
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAIRO, Egypt -- Iranian authorities should release student protesters detained in violent demonstrations at Tehran University that began five years ago Thursday, a New York-based human rights group said.
Human Rights Watch said that an unknown number of students remained in custody out of the thousands it claimed were initially arrested. One student died during the demonstrations.
"Five years after the Tehran University protests, it's time for the Iranian government to release the peaceful protesters," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Division, said in a statement.
"The government also needs to hold plainclothes militia accountable for the attacks on students that year."
Security forces raided a student dormitory following a peaceful demonstration, the statement said, beating students and trapping many in their rooms. The demonstrations lasted for a week, involving more than 25,000 people.
Human Rights Watch said several students had been sentenced to death, but authorities later commuted their punishments to time in prison. It also accused Iranian security authorities of torturing many imprisoned students and preventing them from seeing their lawyers.
"While many of those initially detained were released, an unknown number of student protesters remain in prison," the group alleged.
The anniversary of the beginning of the 1999 protests is usually accompanied by student demonstrations against the country's hard-line authorities, which are controlled by ruling conservative Shiite Muslim clerics.
Subsequent protests marking the 1999 demonstrations, which were the biggest and most violent anti-government action since the 1979 Islamic revolution that installed the Islamic regime, have been met by crackdowns by Iranian authorities.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iran%20Student%20Detainees
We are grateful of our American friends and believe me that the Iranians know who their friends and allies are.
I have to say that Iranians will be a free nation soon and they will be a major friend of the US in the middle east region.
And let me remind you what President Bush said on July 12th, 2003:
“Iran is an ancient land, home to a proud culture with a rich heritage of learning and progress. The future of Iran will be decided by the people of Iran. Right now, the Iranian people are struggling with difficult questions about how to build a modern 21st century society that is at once Muslim, prosperous and free. There is a long history of friendship between the American people and the people of Iran.
As Iran’s people move towards a future defined by greater freedom, greater tolerance, they will have no better friend than the United States of America.”
– President George W. Bush, July 12, 2002
This helps us raise our hopes and faith in our US friends and while getting their support, we will keep fighting this regime through any possible way we can.
We love your country, flag and nation and we have respect and love for them as much as we do for our country and history.
Once again, I'd like to wish you all the bests in the states and hope to meet every one of you in Iran.
Please keep helping us and be with us.
United We Stand Against the Terrorist Regime of Mullahs in Iran
DoctorZin (Freeper) Will Be Interviewed Live in 20 Minutes (Iran (LA) Satellite Television)
ActivistChat.com ^ | July 7, 2004 | ActivistChat.com
Posted on 07/07/2004 8:42:57 PM PDT by faludeh_shirazi
Freeper to be interviewed live on Iranian Satellite Telvision - WATCH LIVE TONIGHT/15 - 20 minutes
DoctorZin will be interviewed live on XTV probably within next 20 minutes around midnight EST (9 Pacific) time.
Live streams can be watched via these two links:
http://xtv.packdeal.com/XTV-Live.asx
http://xtv.packdeal.com/XTV-Cable.asx
This should be great!!!!
Support the movement at:ActivistChat.com
-- snip --
Great, I just got here.It appears that today's interview with Doctor ZIn would probably be archived HERE - soon:I'll check in tomorrow to see the archives.
http://www.sosiran.com/bdyE_Archives.htmCLICK HERE for the rest of that thread
Join The Iranian / Persian Universal March For Freedom
http://www.venusproject.com/ecs/
Please join us in our struggle to eradicate the major source and the supporter of World Wide Terrorism. This march is a Universal condemnation of the criminal Islamic regime of mullahs in Iran and a call for secularism, democracy, freedom and referendum in Iran.
The Iranian student activist shown in the picture above is Ahmad Batebi who is still in an Iranian prison for his 1999 protest for democracy.
Schedule of Demonstrations Against The Mafia Islamist Regime of Iran in Europe, U.S. and Canada July 8, 2004, (18 Tir, Persian Calendar).
UNITED STATES
Washington, D.C.
Place: The Western Side of the Capitol Building
Time: Thursday, July 8, 2004 from 11 a.m.
Organized by The Committee for Tir 18 DemonstrationsLos Angeles
Place: The Federal Building at 11000 Wilshire Blvd. (Westwood area)
Time: Wednesday, July 7, 2004, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Organized by The Committee for Tir 18 DemonstrationsSan Jose
Place: Corner of University Ave. & Emerson in Palo Alto
Time: Wednesday, July 7, 2004, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Organized by: Iranian Association for Democracy (IAD)Sacramento
Place: In Front of Arden Mall
Time: July 4th at 7:00 PM
Organized - by Hormoz 916-213-6944CANADA
Toronto
Toronto, July 8, (18 Tir) Thursday from 6 PM to 9 PM Mel Lastman Square, (hear of North York, north of Toronto) come out and commemorate this event. There will be speaker from Amnesty International, Member of Parliament of Canada, live music, by Sattar, and special speaker, Parviz Sayyad‚GERMANY
Berlin
Place: In Front Of Iran Embassy Occupied by Mullahs
Date & Time: Saturday, July 03, 2004 - from 13 to 15
Organized by Freedom-loving Iranian PeopleNorenberg
Place: Halle Platz Konik Strasse
Time: Saturday, July 10, 2004 - from 3 to 5 p.m.
Organized by The Constitutional Party of IranDusseldorf
Place: from Banhoff toward the City Court
Time: Saturday, July 10, 2004, from 2 p.m.
Organized by the Constitutional Party of Iran, Kassel, Monster and Furzin divisionsHeidelberg
Place: Bismark Platz (town center)
Time: Saturday, July 10, 2004 - from 3 to 5 p.m.
Organized by The Constitutional Party of IranHamburg
Place: The Western side of the Central Train Station (Hopt Banhoff)
Time: Thursday, July 8, 2004 - at 12:00 noon
Organized by: The Constitutional Party of Iran, The Iranian Women‚ Cultural Center, Khashm Organization, The Political-Cultural Center for Free Iranians in HamburgMunich
Place: Stachus square
Time: Thursday, July 8, 2004, from 5 to 6 p.m.
Organized by: The Constitutional Party of Iran, Iran‚ Freedom Forces, Iranian Freedom Movement, Munich‚ democrats.ENGLAND
London
Place: In front of the Occupied Iranian Embassy (in Kensington)
Time: Thursday, July 8, 2004, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
Organized by: The Constitutional Party of Iran, and The National Unity Front of IranDENMARK
Odense
Place: In front of the City Hall (Mayor‚ office)
Time: Thursday, July 8, 2004, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Organized by The Constitutional Party of IranSWEDEN
Stockholm
Place: The Center of City of Stockholm, Sergels Torg
Time: Thursday, July 8, 2004, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Organized by: The Constitutional Party of Iran, and Sweden‚ LiberalsHOLLAND
Den Haag
Place: In front of the Parliament of The Netherlands
Time: Thursday, July 8th, 2004 - from 1 p.m.
Organized by: The Democratic FrontDen Haag
Place: In front of the Parliament of The Netherlands
Time: Thursday, July 8th, 2004 - from 1 p.m.
Organized by: The Democratic FrontFRANCE
Paris
Place: In front of the Iran Embassy, IENA Square, Paris
Time: Thursday, July 8th, 2004 - from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M.
Organized by: http://www.danshejoo.orgNorway
Oslo
Place: In front of the Norway Parlimanet
Time: Saturday, July 3th, 2004 - from 2 P.M.
Organized by: IndependentBelgium
Brussels
Place: In front of the European Council Building in Shoeman Square
Time: Wednesday, July 7th, 2004 - from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Organized by: Independent
You're up early.........Thanx for all your posts. :~ )
DoctorZIn, can you please put me on your Ping list if possible,
Thank you,
Regards,
A Free French who supports a Free Iran
July 8, - Or, 18 Tir, Persian Calendar
Movement Against The Dictatorial Criminal Islamic Republic of Iran
The 18th of Tir (July 8th) is an eternal epic poem of the freedom-fighters' brave and righteous movement against the tyrannical Islamic regime.Nearly four years have passed since the painful and horrifying attack of the Islamic authorities against innocent freedom-demanding students. This attack was seen as so brutal and so violent that it brought back painful memories of the Mongolian invasion of Iran.
The 18th of Tir is seen as a remembrance of those, like Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, who in the path of freedom have regretfully lost their lives.The National Union of Iranian Students and Graduates (NUISG), who have suffered the most, were subjected to brutal and inhuman torture by the hands of the dictatorial Islamic regime.
The murderous Islamic authorities addressed physical pain and torture to Manoochehr Mohammadi and Gholamreza Mohajeri Nejad, two prominent student leaders, in their evil attempt to acquire false confessions to be televised. Such deceiving acts by the Islamic authorities are considered an honor from their devilish perspective.
Akbar Mohammadi, a strong student fighter who was subjected to insurmountable torture, remained strong and showed defying resistance against his torturers.
Faranak Tavasoli and Ata Moradi, two committed members of the NUISG, were subjected to various torture methods.
Faramarz Tavasoli, a young 8-year-old child, was subjected to imprisonment due to his support and cooperation with the NUISG in the 18th of Tir.
Somayeh Amini, Reyhaneh Hashemi, Roozbeh Sadrara, Peyman Piran, Mehdi Mesbah, Ayoob Lorestani, Mohammad Sarami, Hossein Taghi Zadeh, Mostafa Kazemi, Parviz Reza Zadeh, Alireza Babayee, Bahman Heidari, Babak Kazemi, Majid Rostamian, Farhad Rasayee, ... were just a few of hundreds of members of NUISG imprisoned in the horrific Islamic prison cells and subjected to violent torture. And with the upcoming 4th anniversary of this painful event, the leader of NUISG, Manoochehr Mohammadi, remains captive alongside fellow colleagues such as: Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Ahmad Batebi, Akbar Mohammadi, Abbas Deldar, Javid Tehrani, ... as these innocent students were invaded in their dorms by vicious Islamic authorities and their murderous ambition of suppressing, beating, torturing and killing the peaceful secular opposition.
Fellow freedom-fighters such as Mostafa Piran, Vajih Behnam, Koroush Sahati, Ali Afshari, Amir Abbas Fakhravar, Mehdi Sanjari, Reza Mehregan, Sadernia, Bayat, Shaghaghi, Beygpour, Majidi, Ghadernia, Abbasgholi Nejad, Zamani, Tabasi, Tahmasbi and Sharifi are currently imprisoned along with other well-known figures such as: Abbas Amir Entezam, Nasser Zarafshan, Siamak Pourzand, Bani Amerian, Farahi Shandiz, Kamaliha, Malmirban, Bakhtiari, Ezzati, Sistani, Sabet, Momeni, Masouri, Kongdare, Shariat Panahi, Khavari, Bayemani, Alipour, Malak, Kalbi, Mahmoodnia, Mahmoodi, Amini, Ameli, ......
The National Union of Iranian Students and Graduates, which was the first secular student body after the 1979 revolution and stands independent from all groups and organizations, in remembrance to the 18th of Tir requests from all active Iranians and freedom-fighters to take the streets, universities and main squares nationwide from 7pm evening on this upcoming 18th of Tir (July 9th) in opposition to the inhuman and tyrannical Islamic regime. On this day, we will stand united in full force chanting slogans such as "Zendani Siasi Azad Bayad Gardad!" (Political Prisoners Must Be Freed!), "Daneshjooye Zendani Azad Bayad Gardad!" (Student Prisoners Must Be Freed!), "Refrandum Refrandum, In Ast Shoare Mardom!" (Referendum Referendum, This Is The People's Slogan!), while holding banners reading "Islamic Republic? NO!"
Furthermore by chanting slogans from the first 18th of Tir, such as "Diktatore Pinoshe, Iran Shili Nemishe!" (Tyrant Pinochet, Iran Will Not Become Chile!), "Seyyed Ali Haya Kon, Saltanat Ra Rahaa Kon!" (Seyyed Ali [Khamanei] Resign, Let Go Of Monarchy!), "Ansar Jenayat Mikonad, Rahbar Hemayat Mikonad" (Ansar [Hezbollah] Does Crime, The Leader Supports This), "Hokomate Zoor Nemikhahim, Akhonde Mozdoor Nemikhahim" (We Don't Want A Dictatorial Rule, We Don't Want A Money-earning Cleric), "Toop Tank Bassiji, Digar Asar Nadarad" (Guns Tanks Bassijs, No Longer Have Effect), "Hokomate Akhoondi, Bar Kenar Bar Kenar" (Clerical Rule, Move Aside Move Aside), "Daneshjooye Mobarez, Rahat Edame Dad" (Student Fighter, Continue Your Path), ... we will show the world that the Islamic Republic, in any form or manner, stands as an inhuman reactionary militia.
For as long as the Islamic criminal militia is in rule, the people's movement will grow stronger and more defiant for the rescue of Iran and Iranians.
National Union of Iranian Students and Graduates
In Correlation With:
Students and Freethinkers of Iran
Students' Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners
Teachers and Mentors of Iran
Alliance of Iranian Students - http://www.daneshjooyan.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------Greetings Compatriots
The anniversary of the July 9th national uprising is near. The uprising was doubtlessly an event that not only caused the night worshipping manipulators of religion ruling our country to tremble but it also revealed the democracy seeking struggles of the third generation.
Indeed, the worshippers of the night carried out an assault on the university. They attacked, murdered, set fires, and left, but the doves of freedom remain incarcerated. Doves such as Manoochehr Mohammadi, Abbas Deldar, Akbar Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi, Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Javid Tehrani, Mostafa Piran, Ali Afshari, Koroush Sahti, Abbas Fakhravar, Mehdi Sanjari, Abbas Amir Entezam, Nasser Zerafshan have been held as political prisoners and Ezat Ebrahimnejad lost his life in the struggle for freedom. But the aggressors do not know that these events have ignited a fire in the hearts of Iranian youth that will blaze on until the enemies of Iran and Iranians have been reduced to ashes.
It is up to us to gather in great numbers during the anniversary of the national uprising so that we make apparent our support for our youth and the doves of freedom during this sensitive time in our national history.
The students and youth of Iran have extended a hand to you compatriots for support.
The gathering of the student movement will take place on Wednesday, July 7, 2004, from 5 to 8 p.m. at four in the afternoon in front of the Federal Building at 11000 Wilshire Blvd. (Westwood area) in Los Angeles.
On that day together we will call for the release of all political prisoners. We will shout “No to an Islamic Republic” and we will tell the world that “We want a referendum”.
Looking forward to seeing all of you beloved compatriots,
Gholamreza Mohajerinejhad
Alliance of Iranian Students
Organizing Committee for July 9th Gathering
Wednesday, July 7, 2004, from 5 to 8 p.m.P.O. Box 664, Reseda, CA 91337
http://www.daneshjooyan.org
For your convenience, the Federal Building Parking lot will be open on the demonstration day.
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Thursday, July 8, 2003
Doctor ZIn did all the heavy lifting. :o)I'm just spreading the word a bit - here on FR.
Did this rally get any coverage in Calif news?
DoctorZIn, can you please put me on your Ping list if possible,
Thank you,
Regards,
A Free French who supports a Free Iran
Brigadier General Ayat Mohagheghi
The plan envisaged for a commando unit to seize control of the Shahrokhi air base in Hamadan (west of Tehran), enabling the group to capture eighteen F4 fighters stationed there. Some of the fighters would then be flown over Tehran, less than six minutes’ time away, to bomb Rouhollah Khomeini’s residence in the hope of killing the ayatollah.
This dramatic act, the plotters hoped, would be the signal to other units positioned in the capital to seize the radio and television stations and to arrest the leading mullahs and their associates. The next move would consist of a demonstration on central Tehran by thousands of tough guys from the southern districts of the capital.
The “Mask” plot was quickly discovered and stopped before it could get off the ground. More than 300 people were arrested and some 80 of them were later executed on Khomeini’s orders. The executions were followed by a fresh purge of the armed forces, weakening them even further only weeks before Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980
Before his trial, General Ayat Mohagheghi was beaten and interrogated and later brought on television where he was questioned by Hojatoleslam Reyshahri about his role in the coup attempt.
Despite his shabby appearance he appeared calm and defiant as he sat in a white short-sleeve summer shirt alongside four other defendants. Clearly there was no doubt in his mind as to what awaited him at the end but he was determined not to disgrace himself.
“My decision to participate in the plot stemmed from my disillusionment in the face of what was happening to my family and country,” he said.
Although many of the details of the plot are shrouded in mystery a videotape of General Mohagheghi’s television confession was smuggled out and distributed by Iranian exiles in Europe, Canada and the USA.
What follows is based on this videotape and whilst not the full story it remains to date a modest attempt to reconstruct events leading to the July Plot.
Sometime in April 1980 General Ayat Mohagheghi, a former ace pilot and Air Force Commander under the Shah who had been kept on in his post after the Islamic revolution, was approached by Lt Nasser Rokni. “I want to talk to you about our country,” Rokni had said.
Mohagheghi suggested that they meet at his house in Tehran where they could speak more freely. The two men had known each other and they discussed the lamentable state of the country and armed forces.
Both officers agreed that something had to be done to change things and so Rokni gradually revealed that “certain forces” were busy creating a network. “You can join us or not join us,” he told the sceptical Mohagheghi. “Either way the decision is yours to take.”
It took Mohagheghi several days before agreeing to join the conspirators. At a secret meeting held at Rokni’s house Mohagheghi discovered that his old friend General Mehdiyoun had also been drawn into the ‘Mask’ network which consisted of a military and a civilian branch.
Also present at the meeting was a mysterious businessman known by the alias “Ghorban” who was to provide economic support for the operations with funds sent by “patriotic exiled groups outside Iran.” During their meetings, often interrupted by an old maid bringing tea, the men discussed the possibilities of staging a coup and the risks involved.
Politically, the conspirators favoured the restoration of the exiled Shapour Bakhtiar, the Shah’s last prime minister and the leader of the Paris-based National Resistance Movement of Iran. There were even hints that the exiled Shah had met with Rokni and received his blessing. As improbable as that may sound it was good for morale.
Organisation was always a great problem for the conspirators as it was always a concern that the agents of the Islamic republic were watching to neutralise any counterrevolutionary plots and every week news of fresh executions – most of them in public – appeared in the press and media. Some of the meetings took place at the luxury Arya-Sheraton Hotel on the former Pahlavi Boulevard.
In hindsight the plan appears rather amateurish and even Mohagheghi admitted that there was nothing on paper. One day Rokni told him that his team planned to capture Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport and launch the operation from there.
Mohagheghi, a professional and charismatic officer with the looks of a film idol, dismissed the idea as impractical because the area around the airport was too crowded and many innocent people could get killed. Besides the airport was heavily guarded by revolutionary guards.
Instead Mohagheghi proposed another plan that included seizing an isolated air base in Hamadan. Under the Shah he had served as the Air Force Commander of Shahrokhi air base and responsible for training many of Iran’s top tactical fighter pilots. After the revolution he had been briefly detained and later reinstated in his post because of his exceptional abilities by President Bani Sadr.
After several more meetings the conspirators approved the plan and declared that as the senior officer in the group, Mohagheghi was to lead the supersonic air raids against key targets in Tehran. His unique position and familiarity with the air base made him indispensable to the success of the operation. In the days that followed, Mohagheghi continued to report to his command post at Shahrokhi and formulating a number of operations that were to take place.
Energy, resourcefulness, determination, eloquence, charisma, an irresistible magnetic charm – all the qualities Mohagheghi had previously employed in his pre-revolutionary tasks were now directed towards conspiracy. It was a dauntingly arduous and complex undertaking. Tirelessly and with cavalier insoucience, he drew up a plan.
Among the key targets chosen to be struck by Fighter jets dispatched from Shahrokhi were Khomeini’s house in Jamaran, the Presidential Palace, the runways at Mehrabad Airport and several key bridges and road intersections to create confusion. Every precaution would be taken to keep the loss of innocent lives at a mimimum.
After three months the conspirators went into action but from the beginning everything that could go wrong did. On Wednesday, 9th July 1980, General Mohagheghi and twenty other Neqab members left their houses in the early dusk hours and headed for the rendezvous point on Elizabeth Boulevard where a bus was to pick them up.
It was around 7:30p.m. when most of the conspirators gathered together. But the bus was late. At about 8pm. a jeep filled with armed revolutionary Pasdars suddenly appeared on the street causing the group to panic and run. It wasn’t until later that Mohagheghi and five fellow conspirators managed to get on the bus.
It was 10:30p.m when the bus left Tehran for the Hamadan highway towards the Shahrokhi air base. Inside the bus the eight occupants had changed into air force uniforms and badly demoralised by the news of the arrest of one of their team members.
Once in Hamadan the bus made its way to the Shahrokhi air base where the conspirators had been told to await the green light before entering. From his window Mohagheghi noticed that the base was heavily guarded by revolutionary troops and vehicles were being searched. “Let’s turn back,” Mohageghi told his men but the driver, a certain Nemati, insisted on going as far as the gas station. The much-awaited green light never came and the conspirators were forced to turn back and drove non-stop to Tehran.
It was dawn when they reached the capital. Rokni and Mohagheghi agreed to rendezvous later in the day near the Modaress freeway. But when Mohagheghi arrived there at 10a.m. he did not see Rokni. Anxiously General Mohagheghi returned to his apartment.
“I must see you,” Mohagheghi told General Mehdiyoun. Several minutes later a car appeared in front of a public telephone booth and Mohagheghi got in. The two generals shook hands and went for a forty-five minutes drive. This was their fourth meeting since being introduced at Rokni’s house and as they struggled through the heavy Tehran traffic Mohagheghi told his fellow conspirator everything.
The two generals had known each other for twenty-eight years but since joining the conspiracy had kept a low profile in case they were being watched.
Beads of sweat trickled down their faces on that hot July morning as they negotiated the streets. By now neither of them was prepared to rule out the possibility that someone had leaked their plans.
There was now a real danger that the regime’s security forces would begin to hunt down their members. They could only hope that their fears were unjustified. When they parted it was with the understanding that they would not see or phone each other until further orders.
Throughout the planning stages every precaution had been taken to limit direct contact between the various groups especially the pilots that were to carry out the strategic bombing raids. Even Mohagheghi was unaware of their names and his closest collaborators did not exceed five names. Within two days the entire plot had failed and many of the leading conspirators with the exception of the mysterious businessman who escaped Iran were arrested.
Shortly after midnight on 20th July 1980 General Mohagheghi was marched out of his cell along with four other officers and taken to the stone courtyard in Evin Prison. When he faced the bullets it was not with the disappointment, still less the despair, of a thwarted man.
From one point of view, the events of 9th July 1980 and the circumstances surrounding them offer just another story of 20th century political conspiracy, and a failed conspiracy at that. It may have been well-intentioned, even noble and exalted, but it was also bungled.
Some would argue that it did not significantly alter the course of events, and may seem no more than a footnote to history. And yet even in failure, there can be no doubt of General Mohagheghi’s heroism.
He belonged to a small group of people who against terrible odds and in appalling circumstances kept the spirit of Iranian honour alive, and with it the elusive spirit of humanity. He deserves to be remembered.
Others will dispute that his execution was an honourable death and certainly not the story of a failure. In the footnote of human history General Ayat Mohagheghi ranks alongside others who like the anti-Nazi hero Claus Stauffenberg felt that resisting an evil regime was not a political move but a moral and spiritual necessity. At best he and all those men and women who perished after him stand as an atonement for all the horrible crimes committed under the Islamic republic.
http://www.iinavy.org/eagles.html
A Major Iranian Hero Bump!
News translations curtesy of Spenta on Activistchat:
Zagros has its 18 Tir Breaking News page up:
http://www.zagros.info/18%20tir.htm
Reports are coming in about large groups of people and students gathering in the streets of Tehran and other cities. In Tehran, many have gathered outside Terhan university and are preparing to form a protest.
In front of Hosseyneeyeh Ershad a student gathering has taken place which has come under attack from the regime's forces.
There are reports of riots and clashes in South of Tehran (the poorest districts)
The city of Esfehan has witnessed the gatherings of thousands
http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=16640
18 Tir News From Iran:
A report from Tehran around 9 o'clock Tehran time: The crowds are increasing every second. at 7:40 there is is a helicopter flying over Enghelab avenue. Anti riot police are ready at Enghelab police station at southern Kargar street (kalantareeyeh enghelab dar Kargar e Jonoobi) and at the anti drug headqaurters on Enghelab street (setad mavad e mokhadar dar kheeyababn e enghelab).
The Al Alam news agency affiliated with the regime arrived at enghelab street at around 8.30. There are many plainclothes vigilantes around, last year they were patrolling the streets with the police. There is very heavy traffic on enghelab, Meydan e ferdowsi and Peech e Shemran.
News coming in from European countries are reporting large gatherings in different European cities for 18 Tir, and there are more planned demosntrations in the US and Canada. In London there was a large gathering outside of the IRI embassy. In Guttenberg in Sweden 600 Iranians and non-Iranians participated in the 18 Tir gatherings called on by Iranian students. In Washington DC Iranians gathered in front of the US Congress. In Cologne, Amsterdam, Franskfurt, Stockholm, Denmark and many other major European cities there were demonstrations which are still in progress as of this writing.
A Report about the Demonstrations in front of the EU in Brussels: on Wednsday July 7th, there was a demonstration in front of the EU headquarters called by the Iran Defense of Democracy and Republic Group at 2 pm with Iranians residing in Brussels. Since a week prior to this demosntration, political groups, members of the Brussels govt. and Parliament, EU, university professors, human rights groups and other NGOs and other political personalities had been invited to attend, some of whom spoke at this gathering. After announcing the events for the day, Angelica Beyer official spokesperson for the German Green Party in the EU parliament spoke in English, she said" Today we enter the 5th year after the attacks against students in their dorms in Tehran university on July 9th, 1999, and this is why we have gathered here today. Out of those students many are in prison and one is dead. We have gathered here to support the Iranian people's demands for freedom and democracy. In recent years many have been killed in Iran. Despite assurances from Iran to the EU in regards to a moratorium on stonings, this act is still committed. My party is announcing its grave concerns about the Human Rights Crisis in Iran. "
http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=16639
According to the latest news, students and other young people have gathered near Gisha bridge and around Tehran University. The regime's forces who are fully equipped and have mini busses have surrounded them. Several political activists such as Shiva Nazri and Akram Eghbali of the Tara Women's Society have been arrested near Keshavaraz Boulevard.
"Machine Guns on the Streets"
Latest News on 18 Tir from Peykeiran in Persian:
http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=16623
Neveesan Weblog: On 18 Tir (July 8 ) We will show that the nation of Iran is still alive
Students of Tehran's Pedagogy university had a ceremony for 18 Tir on wednsday. During this ceremony they showed a film of the student uprising and the savage attacks of the regime's thugs against the students. The students of the Pedagogy university in Tehran also put on an art exhibit of pictures from the 18 Tir Student Uprising. One of the regime's spies with the name of "Eshraghi", with the protection of the regime's Herasat agents attacked the students. While chanting slogans agianst the US and the UK, he shouted "We are followers of Khamenei". The regime's Herasat agents tore down the pictures at the art exhibit, and gathered up the pamphlets and other items.
Neveesan Weblog posted a bulletin titled "18 Tir Is Our Day, it is the Day of Freedom" and asked all Iranians to participate in the anti regime demonstrations today for 18 Tir to prove that the nation of Iran is still alive. On 18 Tir we will prove that we do not give in to fear, intimidation, oppression, or terror. On 18 Tir we will prove that we are still here, and we will stay and not allow the collaborators of oppression drag the nation of Iran into more ignorance and oppressive dictatorship.
Esfehan Students announced today, Thursday, in commemoration of 18 Tir there will be a protest gathering in front of Esfehan university. According to reports from this city, the regime's repressive forces such as Revoltuionary Guards, Basij, military, and Intelligence agents have been stationed throughout the city, especially at Darvazeh Shiraz to prevent any gathering.
Teheran:The regime's forces who are mostly equipped with automatic assault rifles and machine guns have setup posts throughout the city, stopping and searching cars. On Vali Asr avenue there are 4 such posts for inspecting cars, On Shariati street there are 3 posts and people are reporting that this situation is unprecendanted. There are reports that the regime's agents are videotaping everyone and their car interiors.These same reports state that the regime out of its fear of demonstrations, started to deploy massive forces last night throughout Tehran such as the Enghelab Square. At instersections such as Kargar and Keshavaraz Boulevard they have setup supposed traffic stations which are full of the regime's Intelligence agenets and plainclothes vigilantes. Tehren also reports that the Basij are stationed at the Jamalazadeh Basij Headquarters.
According to reports from Tehran on 13 and 15 Tir, (July 3rd and 5th) thousands of flyers were distributed on Vali Asr avenue, Tajrish square, Shariati street, and Keshavarz Boulevard. In addition on Pasdar Square, Navab Chahr Rah, Azadi Sqaure, Satar Khan, Towhid Square, Ferdowsi Square, Imam Hussein Square, Enghelab Avenue and many other locations there have been extensive promotional activities for 18 Tir. These activities are taking place at at time when the regime has employed its greated repressive measures ever.
A newspaper bleonging to Khamenei attacked the Student Uprising of 18 Tir and wrote: these anti revolutionary groups have come about to create chaos in the regime, and have sweetalked the students to come to the streets while their hooligans light the fuse. They were trying to create the kind of chaos that could finish the regime in a few days.
I keep thinking of what people in Venezuela did:
- national strike
- demonstrations that lasted weeks
- *large* getherings, on the order of a million people
In Serbia it finally took a huge gathering to storm the Parliament and oust Milosevic, though it was years building to that point (and we'd softened the regime up a lot). Just my $0.02, but I think that it's important to deny the mullahs the expected sigh of relief when 19 Tir rolls around and the streets are quiet again. A month-long national strike, for instance, would really push the regime toward the edge.
With a gathering the order of a Times Square New Year's gathering (~ 1,000,000 people) I'd have to guess that the demonstrators could do pretty much whatever they wanted...
UPRISING ANNIVERSARY: Security Forces Close Universities to Prevent Rallies
RadioFarda
In order to prevent impromptu rallies on the anniversary of the July 8, 1999 police attack on Tehran university student dorms, the security forces, deployed in great numbers in northern Tehran, have almost forced the universities to close. In the final hours of Wednesday, a day before the anniversary, student groups have been convinced that no permit for rallies, on or off campus, would be issued. Reza Delbari, member of the central council of the association of the Islamic student councils (Dafter-e Tahkim-e Vahdat), tells Radio Farda that in addition to banning commemoration rallies, the authorities at the supreme national security council and the interior ministry have enforced a news black-out on student activists, preventing the domestic press from printing any article about the anniversary. Most universities closed their gates on Wednesday afternoon, he adds.
http://www.radiofarda.com/en_news/2004/7/7/6faaa15d-0e49-4da8-a717-083619f78da4.html#6faaa15d-0e49-4da8-a717-083619f78da4
"From Mr. Suresrafil reporting on AzadiTV now:
He has heard about large gatherings in Tehran and Esfehan, but both the people and the anti regime forces are afraid of each other. They are mostly facing each other and staring each other down. Motorcycles have been confiscated.
Mohseni and Mirdamad squares have had large groups, also in Esfehan.
In Amirabad near Tehran university, the Basij are offering people food and drinks (sharbat) to everyone, nobody is taking it except for their own people.
Park Laleh is seeing a heavy increase in crowds. Most likely tomorrow we will have a much better picture of these demonstrations.
He reads a report from Tehran about slogans that can be seen written all over Tehran against Khamenei such as Marg Bar Khamenei. Same from Hamedan."
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=13286#13286
question for you and the group..if Iran is indeed close to a producing sufficient fuel for a nuclear device, everyone expects the IAF to repeat Osirik. Sharon has stated that he will never allow Iran to go nuclear, and W. has basically blessed the expected action..So, we have a timin issue..the opposition in Iran grows stronger everyday..what would the effect be of an IAF action.would it help to topple the regime, or "strenghten" it..by allowing it to take harsher measures on the citizens..
Sporadic and brutal clashes in most Iranian cities
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 8, 2004
The brutal intervention of the regime's official and plainclothes agents has lead, tonight, to the arrests and injuries of tens of protesters in most main Iranian cities. In Tehran alone, the clashes are wide spread and are happening in Amir Abad, Tajrish, Zarabkhane, Kargar, Guisha, Kargar, Sadeghie, Narmak, Noor, vali e Asr and Enghelab area.
Other clashes have happened, so far, in Esfahan, Shiraz and Mashad were those having defied once again the Islamic State are shouting slogans for a democratic regime change in Iran.
Many have been injured or arrested and transferred by full buses to the regime's detention centers,
The presence of the regime's foreign mercenaries and their brutality is easily noticeable. The regime seems to try to isolate the demonstrators in each area and to avoid a bigger ralliement by more demonstrators who are trying to use the darkness of the night.
Many homes have shut off their lights and people are shouting slogans on their flat roofs.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_7003.shtml
One of "my friends" I mentioned in my report is Mr. Suresrafil. He is a strong supporter of President Bush and speaks passionately to the Iranian people daily.
I though you might like to know...
