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Iranian Alert -- DAY 18 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST
Live Thread Ping List | 6.27.2003 | DoctorZin

Posted on 06/27/2003 12:03:22 AM PDT by DoctorZIn

The Iranian regime has been threatening a major crackdown on the protesters. In just 11 days (July 9th) the people of Iran are planning massive demonstrations events and strikes. On this date, 4 years ago, the regime brutally attacked peaceful student demonstrators while in their dorms. The result was the loss of life and liberty of hundreds of students, many of which are still unaccounted for.

Iran is a country ready for a regime change. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a country. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary.

Please continue to post your news stories and comments to this thread.

Thanks for all the help.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iran; islamicviolence; protests; southasialist; studentmovement; warlist
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To: DoctorZIn
This just in...

I just spoke with leaders within the Iranian Student Movement. They are telling me that the regime is now planning on executing some of the student leaders early next week.
21 posted on 06/27/2003 2:26:41 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
Rice warns of 'Made in America' solution in Iran

Friday, June 27, 2003 - ©2003 IranMania.com

LONDON, June 27 (AFP) - US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has indicated that the United States is ready to act alone against Iran and North Korea if European countries do not cooperate in stopping them from developing nuclear weapons, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

"If we do not want a 'Made in America' solution, let's find out how to resolve the issues of North Korea and Iran," the paper quoted Rice as saying during a visit to London Thursday.

Rice sought to play down the prospect of a war against Iran, saying: "We do not ever want to have to deal with the proliferation issue as we did in Iraq."

However, according to the right-wing Telegraph, her comments had echoes of the blunt talking that surrounded the debate before the Iraq war.

Rice accused Iran of seeking secretly to build nuclear weapons, and vowed that North Korea would not be allowed to "blackmail" the world with threats to resume its nuclear programme, according to the newspaper.

But she said the US sought international cooperation and that Iran's programme was best dealt with by convincing Tehran to agree to intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Rice said North Korea was best addressed by regional powers exerting pressure.

But she did not rule out military action, the Telegraph reported. "The avoidance of war is not in itself a final goal," she said. "Sometimes one has to fight wars to deal with tyrants."

Later she added: "We want a multilateral solution. But we do want a solution.

"Post 9/11, the sense of urgency to have solutions to these problems has grown," she said, in reference to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.

"The absence of action is not a solution. Sometimes multilateralism is code for not acting."

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=16511&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
22 posted on 06/27/2003 2:41:13 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
"They are telling me that the regime is now planning on executing some of the student leaders early next week."

Are these leaders who have been imprisoned for some time, or some that have just been arrested?

Either way, if the mullahs go through with this, it is my hope that they will regret it.

23 posted on 06/27/2003 3:28:58 PM PDT by dixiechick2000 ( My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.)
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To: DoctorZIn
Are these leaders who have been imprisoned for some time

Sorry...there should be a "the" in there.

24 posted on 06/27/2003 3:30:28 PM PDT by dixiechick2000 ( My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.)
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To: dixiechick2000
Are these leaders who have been imprisoned for some time

No, I uderstand that these are leaders of the student movement that have been arrested in the past two weeks. I have also been told that the regime has arrested most of the key leaders in the past week.

25 posted on 06/27/2003 3:37:49 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
Phooey...

Thanks!

26 posted on 06/27/2003 4:12:11 PM PDT by dixiechick2000 ( My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.)
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To: DoctorZIn
Iranian Strife Cleaves Society Still More Sharply

By Farnaz Fassihi
The Wall Street Journal
Copyright (c) 2003, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Friday, June 27, 2003

TEHRAN, Iran -- The growing split between Iranian students and the country's clerical government came to a head this week as plain-clothed forces detained more than 100 students, in the process widening the vast gap between conservative officials and reformists. The students were snatched from their homes, from their jobs and off the street, fueling protests in universities around the nation and triggering a four-day hunger strike by students in Isfahan, 200 miles south of Tehran.

The Islamic Student Unions of several universities have taken things a step further. They are collecting signatures for an open letter to President Mohammad Khatami in which they demand that he either resign or protect their civil rights.

"Mr. President, if you are incapable of protecting our rights, if you cannot put an end to illegal arrests and kidnapping of students, please resign so the student movement can confront the regime on its own," states the letter, published on Web sites operated by students. "Then everyone will know what the end result of such confrontation will be."

The official number of arrests according to the head of the security forces, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, is estimated at 1,280, with 375 free on bail and the rest in custody. This does not include students and activists subpoenaed to appear at court in the past week.

The crackdown is meant to curb unrest in universities over the slow pace of democratic reform and to discourage a nationwide July 9 student protest planned to mark a 1999 dormitory raid by pro-hard-line vigilantes that injured dozens and killed one student. The government said yesterday that it wouldn't allow protests this year inside or outside the campuses, but that is unlikely to deter students.

The recent arrests came after spontaneous riots broke out in Tehran and other cities two weeks ago, bringing thousands to the streets demanding an end to the clerical regime. Counter-demonstrators in plain clothes who attacked the crowd with batons, chains and daggers quashed the protests, and student activists were swiftly arrested. Several dormitories in Tehran and other cities were raided and vandalized by armed vigilantes in the middle of the night, leaving dozens of students injured. Under harsh criticism, the government disassociated itself from the vigilantes, saying they acted on their own and called for their arrests. Although several arrests have been made, the numbers pale compared with the number of students in detention.

The official reaction to the arrests has varied drastically among members of Iran's divided government, underscoring the tensions and the vast gap between the conservatives and reformists. In his Friday prayer sermon, a top conservative cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, called the students Mahareb, meaning "those who oppose God," a charge that carries the death penalty. Others, such as Interior Minister Mousavi Lari, haven't been as harsh but support the detentions. "Being a student doesn't give any one immunity from the law," he said. "If a student crosses the line he should be dealt with accordingly."

The reformists, outraged over the student arrests, are collecting the 100 signatures required to call President Mohammad Khatami to parliament to answer questions regarding the crackdowns.

Moreover, for the first time, lawmakers have formed a committee to investigate the arrests. "We are very concerned about the fate of the students, where they are being kept and how they are being treated in prison," said reformist lawmaker Fatemeh Haqiqatjou, who has compared the dormitory raids to attacks by "Mongol hordes."
27 posted on 06/27/2003 4:16:12 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
IRANIAN OFFICIALS FINALLY ADMIT THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDENTS PROTESTS

http://www.iran-press-service.com/ ^ | 6.27.2003 | IPS
Posted on 06/27/2003 4:35 PM PDT by DoctorZIn

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/936968/posts
28 posted on 06/27/2003 4:36:21 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
Below are photo's of the students on a hunger strike at the University of Esfhan, Iran.

http://www.jonbesh.org/index.php?extend.394

29 posted on 06/27/2003 4:59:30 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
OK, there's got to be a way to get around this. What would happen if everyone just didn't go to work? What if most people just started staying home, from their work, from the stores, from the mosques? How many people would participate?
30 posted on 06/27/2003 5:21:50 PM PDT by McGavin999
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To: McGavin999
OK, there's got to be a way to get around this. What would happen if everyone just didn't go to work? What if most people just started staying home, from their work, from the stores, from the mosques? How many people would participate?

That is the general plan for bring down the regime. Slow everything down to a complete standstill. That is the plan for July 9th.

31 posted on 06/27/2003 5:29:31 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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.
32 posted on 06/28/2003 6:20:10 AM PDT by firewalk
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To: DoctorZIn
This thread is now closed. To keep up with all the news on the Iranian protests movement join us at:

Iranian Alert -- DAY 19 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Live Thread Ping List | 6.28.2003
Posted on 06/28/2003 6:55 AM PDT by DoctorZIn

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/937208/posts
33 posted on 06/28/2003 7:01:08 AM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 11 days until July 9th)
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To: JulieRNR21; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Pan_Yans Wife; RobFromGa; fat city; freedom44; Tamsey; ...
This is an important article by one of the middle-east's leading journalists. I highly recommend taking the time to read this. -- DoctorZin

IRAN'S SEEDS OF LIBERTY

By AMIR TAHERI for the NY Post

June 27, 2003 -- AS the Iranian opposition to the mullahs gathers momentum, a chorus of self-styled experts in the United States is trying to belittle the pro-democracy movement, presenting the Khomeinist regime as a solid and urging Washington to seek détente with Tehran.

These "experts" present the pro-democracy movement as a student revolt with no popular base, no program and no leaders. In fact, it has a strong popular base. Its support cuts across class, religious, ideological and generational boundaries.

* Over the past six months, Iran has seen dozens of industrial strikes in which urban workers came out with exactly the same demands as the students. Workers at the nation's largest gas refinery, in Agha-Jari, and in the Mahshahr petrochemical complex (the biggest in the Middle East) have also organized symbolic walkouts in support of democratic demands.

* Teachers have engaged in a series of strikes, One last month closed 50 percent of the schools for several days.

* In the past three weeks, sections of the traditional bazaars in Tabriz, Rasht, Isfahan and Shiraz have also organized one-day shutdowns in solidarity with the students.

* Even the clerical establishment is broadly supportive of the pro-democracy movement. There are three Grand Ayatollahs in Iran today: Hassan Tabatabi Qomi, Hussein-Ali Montazeri and Muhammad Sadeq Ruhani. All three have endorsed the movement and publicly called for an end to Khomeinist tyranny.

* Scores of lesser ayatollahs, including many who once worked with the regime, are also calling for its overthrow. Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri-Khorramabadi, the main spiritual leader of Iran's second most populous city Isfahan, has described the regime as "an enemy of Islam and humanity."

* So strong is clerical opposition to the Khomeinist regime that the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei has been unable to visit Qom, the theological center of Iranian Shi'ism, for almost a year. Today, there are more mullahs and students of theology in prison in Iran, on political charges, than any other stratum of society.

* Iran's intellectual elite is even more solidly behind the pro-democracy movement. In the past three weeks, dozens of petitions signed by writers, poets, novelists, filmmakers, artists and academics have been published in support of the students' demands. Today, not a single prominent Iranian intellectual remains in the Khomeinist camp.

* The movement has support within the establishment itself. Almost two-thirds of the members of the Islamic Majlis (Parliament) have published a petition demanding constitutional change to transform Iran from a despotic-theocratic regime into a democratic one. This is especially significant, for all candidates for the Majlis must win the approval of the state-security services and the "Supreme Guide" before they can stand for election.

* The movement also has the support of several members of President Muhammad Khatami's Cabinet plus many of his closest advisors. (Khatami himself has tried to sit on the fence in the hope of acting as an interface between the regime and its opponents. But some analysts believe that he may have become marginalized in the process.)

As for lacking a program and a leadership, the movement has the first and is developing the second.

Its main program is to force the regime to accept constitutional change through a popular referendum. The idea is that parts of the Constitution that contradict the principle of people's sovereignty - notably by giving unlimited powers to the "Supreme Guide" and a number of un-elected bodies - should be struck out. Khomeini's outlandish claim that a single man should exercise power on behalf of God and, when necessary, even against the will of the people, will be consigned to the ashcan of history.

The idea of reforming the Constitution has been at the center of debate in Iran, and in the Iranian community abroad, for years. Scores of seminars have been held and countless papers and articles published on the subject. There is broad consensus among Iranians of all shades of opinions that peaceful change is still possible and that the regime, weakened by its contradictions, cannot maintain its despotic hold on power for much longer.

No one knows how much longer the regime may manage to hang on to power. One thing, however, is certain: It now faces a strong, growing and determined opposition that will not simply fade away.

For any regime to be overthrown, several conditions must exist simultaneously. Some are already present, at least in part, in the Iranian context.

The regime must lose its legitimacy: This is already largely the case in Iran. The regime lost its initial revolutionary legitimacy by crushing most of the other forces that had coalesced to overthrow the Shah, and by establishing a narrowly based theocracy. But it has also lost its religious legitimacy by persecuting many leading religious leaders.

A substantial section of the regime's original constituency must part ways with it: This is also happening. As already noted many members of the Majlis and Cabinet have publicly taken side with the pro-democracy movement, as have thousands of technocrats who have served the regime over the years.

The regime " must lose the support of at least part of the coercive forces at its disposal: This too is happening in Iran. The regular army (which the Khomeinists never trusted) will certainly not turn its guns against the people to preserve the present bankrupt system. Even the Revolutionary Guard, created by Khomeini to counter-balance the army, can no longer be trusted.

Earlier this year a senior Guard commander was dismissed after he made it clear he would not shoot unarmed protestors. Some 30 junior commanders have been moved to "less sensitive" positions in the remoter provinces. It is not at all certain that the regime would be able to count on the loyalty of all the guard units in a major confrontation with the people.

An alternative leadership must emerge: It begins by exercising moral authority and, then, develops into a government-in-waiting.

This last condition is not yet present in Iran. But some of the elements that might form it are identifiable. These include a number of clerics who have broken with the regime and fought it in the name of democracy. To these will be added scores of technocrats, members of parliament, journalists, university teachers and students, business managers and trade union leaders.

Right now the pro-democracy movement has a strong cadre of leaders at local levels. A movement with no leaders would not have been able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people in more than 20 cities to come out in simultaneous demonstrations and with identical slogans and demands. As the struggle intensifies, leadership is bound to emerge at the national level also.

Both President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair are right in their public expression of support for the pro-democracy movement in Iran. This is the least that the great democracies can do for those who are risking their lives by fighting one of the world's most vicious regimes in the name of values that the American and European peoples claim as their own.

Email: amirtaheri@benadorassociates.com

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/59222.htm

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”
34 posted on 06/28/2003 7:27:39 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 10 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn
Excellent article Doc, is this thread closed now?
35 posted on 06/28/2003 8:54:32 PM PDT by McGavin999
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To: McGavin999
Yes, I posted it to yesterday's thread. Smart huh?

I reposted it to today's. Sorry Everyone.
36 posted on 06/28/2003 8:57:56 PM PDT by DoctorZIn (IranAzad... 10 days until July 9th)
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To: DoctorZIn; Travis McGee; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Grampa Dave; JohnHuang2; dixiechick2000; ...
The regular army (which the Khomeinists never trusted) will certainly not turn its guns against the people to preserve the present bankrupt system. Even the Revolutionary Guard, created by Khomeini to counter-balance the army, can no longer be trusted.

Earlier this year a senior Guard commander was dismissed after he made it clear he would not shoot unarmed protestors. Some 30 junior commanders have been moved to "less sensitive" positions in the remoter provinces. It is not at all certain that the regime would be able to count on the loyalty of all the guard units in a major confrontation with the people.

Here it tis, ladies and gents. Without the support of the military, NO REGIME can withstand a grassroots widespread revolution.

The historic and strategic implications of this are beyond calculation. Syria is already between Iraq and a hard place (pun intended). The Bekaa valley is asking for a cleansing of Hezbollah and Hamas. We may even get the high ranking Al Qaeda supposedly in Iranian detention and they are the big ones.

If Iran falls to a popular democracy movement, the whole middle east changes overnight. Write your congressmen, call them, email them.

The Iranians need our support and they need it NOW.July 9 is just around the corner, so are tens of thousands of former Iraqi weapons, the Iranians can defend themselves with, against the foreign mercenaries who make up the sole remaining loyal force mechanism for the current ruling elite.

37 posted on 06/28/2003 9:08:14 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (proud member of a fierce, warlike tribe of a fire-breathing conservative band of Internet brothers)
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To: DoctorZIn
"a chorus of self-styled experts" . I wonder exactly who these people are? Any ideas? Names?

Very good article. Thanks for the posting.
38 posted on 06/28/2003 9:38:08 PM PDT by nuconvert
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To: BOBTHENAILER
BTTT!
39 posted on 06/28/2003 9:50:59 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: DoctorZIn
AS the Iranian opposition to the mullahs gathers momentum, a chorus of self-styled experts in the United States is trying to belittle the pro-democracy movement, presenting the Khomeinist regime as a solid and urging Washington to seek détente with Tehran.

Detente?..............What the mullahs need is a good shove. They are like somebody walking the outer perimeter of a roof.

40 posted on 06/28/2003 11:10:03 PM PDT by He Rides A White Horse (For or against us.........)
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