Iranian Alert -- DAY 34 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Live Thread Ping List ^ | 7.13.2003 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

The world media has all but ignored this week's dramatic events in Iran. The regime has masterfully handled the world media. As we reported yesterday, the regime appears to have a new ally in their efforts to silent the media, Cuba.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/944757/posts

Several days ago we reported the jamming of LA based Iranian broadcasters, the key link of communication of the Iranian protest movement. The regime had been jamming the signals in the past within Iran using equipment purchased from France.

But days before the July 9th protests were to begin the broadcaster began reporting that their uplink signal was being jammed as well. This would require jamming equipment either in the US or nearby. We have been seeking confirmation of this story. We now have it.

Loral Skynet, hired a firm to investigate the source of the jamming. The result was that they have narrowed the probable source of the jamming to be in the vicinity of Havana Cuba.

This story has national security implications. We need to write the media and ensure they cover this breaking story. We need to contact our elected officials and demand they investigate this immediately.

These efforts by the regime, while successful in the short term, do not resolve the fundamental reasons why this regime is crumbling from within.

Iran is a country ready for a regime change. 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.

Please continue to join us here, post your news stories and comments to this thread.

Thanks for all the help.

DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

To find all the links to all 33 threads since the protests started, go to:

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[DoctorZIn]

Join Us at the Iranian Alert -- DAY 34 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST P> Live Thread Ping List | 7.13.2003 | DoctorZIn

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[DoctorZIn]

Backers of Iranian Reform Fight Tide of Frustration

By Afshin Molavi
Jul 13, 2003

Critics Say Movement Has Become Irrelevant

TEHRAN -- A faded, nearly shredded picture of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami peers at customers from the back of Mitra Azad's computer in a travel agency in central Tehran. Pen marks on the smiling president's salt-and-pepper beard and the curled-up edges of the sticker offer evidence of a hasty attempt to remove it.

Azad, 28, once a devoted supporter of the president who called for greater political and social freedoms and what he termed Islamic democracy, admits taking a pen to the sticker. "He has disappointed me," Azad said. "I truly believed in him, but he and his reformist group are simply not effective. He is not willing to fight for us. So I no longer want him on my computer."

Across Iran, more and more of the 20 million Iranians who voted overwhelmingly for Khatami in 1997 and 2001 are losing patience with the reformist president and his supporters, who drove the movement and rode the charismatic president's coattails.

In its heyday from May 1997 through late 2001, the movement captivated the Iranian people by challenging the conservative clerics' grip on power, spawning a newspaper renaissance, popularizing basic concepts of democracy and creating a new generation of pro-democracy intellectuals.

Today, the movement is on the ropes, battered by election losses to conservative foes and fractured by internal disagreements over the future. Many leading reformists are in jail or have effectively been silenced.

"In the eyes of many people, the reformists have become irrelevant," said Shirzad Bozorgmehr, editor of the independent Iran News, an English-language daily. "While they battle among themselves and take every defeat with ease, the movement is dying before our eyes."

Students and democracy activists recently called for Khatami's resignation in nationwide protests that included blistering anti-government slogans. In details of a speech made public yesterday, Khatami said he would step down if the people wanted him to, the Associated Press reported.

"We are not masters of people but servants of this nation. If this nation says 'we don't want you,' we will go," Khatami was quoted as saying.

Many members of the politically active student groups recall with bitterness the impotence that reformists displayed in 1999 during a crackdown on nationwide student protests that left at least five people dead and hundreds in jail. On Wednesday, some of the Iranians who gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of those protests dismissed the reformist movement as irrelevant.

"They are useless," said Mehrnaz, 33, a homemaker who attended the rally and who, like many of the people interviewed, gave only one name. "They just speak nice words but do little."

When groups of bearded, hard-line vigilantes -- members of a group known as Ansar-e-Hezbollah -- circled a group of protesters, scowling and shouting Islamic slogans, one protester looked around and said, "Will the reformists save us from these thugs?"

A leading pro-democracy student group, the Daftar-e-Tahkim-e-Vahdat (Office to Foster Unity), broke with the reformists last week, declaring in an open letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that their former allies were incapable of achieving democracy, human rights and freedom.

The group also lashed out at Iran's conservatives, accusing them of creating a system of "political apartheid." Analysts said the strongly worded letter represented a severe setback for Iran's reformist movement, since the Daftar was a key organizer of pro-reform students.

When three leading Daftar members were taken away at gunpoint after a news conference on Wednesday, one member of the organization said: "Where is Khatami now? Three of our members were virtually kidnapped by security forces. Why is no one speaking out?"

Last month, peaceful protests against plans to privatize universities gave way to larger protests that touched on national issues of discontent, leading to five nights of clashes pitting students and disgruntled residents against pro-government militias, plainclothes security officers and national police.

"The reformists are in office because of the support they received from students," said Shervin, 23, a chemistry student at Tehran University. "Now it is time for them to support us. So far, they haven't done so. I'll give them one more chance. Let's see what they do from here onwards."

Leila, 24, an architecture student, disagreed: "The reformists are finished. Let's move on."

Khatami's supporters point out that his hands are tied by Iran's two-pronged system of government, under which legislation enacted by elected reformists is subject to review by institutions controlled by appointed conservatives. For example, the Guardians Council -- a body of clerics and lay jurists who were not elected -- can veto laws.

The hard-liners have proved unwilling to accommodate popular opinion, but Khatami's supporters say the president, fearing violence and instability, prefers a cautious approach to democratization. Others in the reform camp say the time has come to abandon that approach.

"We stretched the democratic spaces as far as they could go," said Ali Reza Alavitabar, an intellectual who describes himself as "a structural change" reformist, seeking to reorganize the government to strengthen democracy. "Now it is time to challenge and change the anti-democratic elements of the system."

Khatami has proposed legislation that would strengthen the presidency and limit the power of the Guardians Council, which also screens candidates for public office, regularly rejecting radical reformists, secular democrats and secular nationalists.

But a reformist member of parliament who requested anonymity said he believed the Guardians Council would reject the legislation, which would "lead to a showdown in parliament."

Some government officials, journalists and other influential Iranians say conservatives will contest parliamentary elections in February 2004 and presidential elections in May 2005 on a platform of economic security, banking on disillusionment with reformists to keep voter turnout low.

When conservatives run for office, they generally receive no more than 20 percent of the vote. In April, however, that was enough for the conservatives to win Tehran's municipal council elections against reformists, whose supporters stayed away from the polls en masse.

"The conservative victory in the municipal elections was a microcosm of the strategy they hope will allow them to win elections over the next two years," said Morad Saghafy, a secular intellectual and editor of Goft-o-Gu Quarterly.

Saghafy describes the reform camp's refusal to vote as "a political act, not a sign of apathy" -- a reflection, he said, of a movement among some Iranians who are looking for an option to both the Islamic democracy sought by Khatami's movement and the authoritarian, conservative-dominated republic.

Such dissent could strengthen the reformist movement, Alavitabar said.

"I think it is very good that students and the general population are questioning Khatami and the reformist movement," he said. "It is good that they are demanding results. This is a sign of political sophistication. I just hope that people do not stray away from politics. We will need their support as we move forward."

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1121.shtml

[F14 Pilot]

7/12/03
Iranian MPs urge armed forces not to enter political bickering

Members of the Assembly of Student Movement of Majlis in a letter to the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Major-General Rahim Safavi on Friday called for preventing armed forces from entering into political issues, the press reported here on Saturday, IRNA reported from Tehran.
The English-language newspaper `Iran Daily' wrote that the letter which had been signed by Fatemeh Haqiqatjou, Ali Tajernia, Reza Yousefian and Ali-Akbar Mousavi Khoeini also described a recent statement issued by reportedly 306 members of university groups as "taking side with a certain political current".

Referring to the late Imam's emphasis on non-interference of the armed forces in political issues, the signatories said, "Unfortunately, the Imam's stipulations have been frequently twisted and changed by parts of the armed forces to justify factional stances."

The MPs said that they were referring to university Basij, which they called an appointed organization that has nothing to do with the student movement.

"The recent statement, which has been masterminded by university Basij and signed by more than 250 university Basij centers is nothing but explicit partiality in favor of a certain political current or, at least, an effort to cast doubt on reformist currents," the letter said.

The MPs called on Safavi not to let personal and factional interests become a basis for presenting unrealistic pictures of what is going on in the country and a permit for unbridled partiality for political groupings.

"We believe that the majority of those who are concerned about the system and even most of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are dissatisfied with reduction of their status to that of proponents of a certain political current," they concluded.

http://www.payvand.com/news/03/jul/1079.html

[happygrl]

Again you are doing a great service by posting these articles, so informative as to the recent history in Iran. Some of us have followed these events since even before the overthrow of the Shah (yes !) and this latest chapter we arepraying will bring the freedom that the Iraninans have benn striving for since ???? Post WWII ?

[happygrl]

Could you explain to a non-Iranian what is the Majlis ?

Also what is Basij ?

Thank you.

[bets]

I remember in college our wearing arm bands w/the red number 52 on them (for the 52 hostages in IRAN). I also remember wearing a pin that said "F--- Iran", and no one said a thing to me about taking it off. Back then, that was a pretty unaccepted word to say, let alone see in print - but it was accepted.

[F14 Pilot]

Majlis is Parliament in Farsi Language.
Basij ( Armed People ) is a kind of Islamic Militia who fought against Saddam in the 80's Iraqi imposed war.
But now they are acting against Iranians, beat them, force freedom fighters to give up and so on.
Most of them are involved in brutal actions of the regime.

[F14 Pilot]

Could you tell me more about what you thought and what you think about us?

[bets]

I'm sorry, I don't understand your question?
My comment was remembering back in about 1979 or 80 during the "Iranian Hostage Crisis". In memory of the 52 American hostages held in Iran by Iranian terrorists, Penn State students were wearing armbands w/the number 52 on them. At the time, there was a lot of anger, and I had a pin w/that nasty saying on it. I've since thrown it away. But I was remembering the times - over 20 yrs ago. Friends, then enemies, then friends, then ?....guess times change.
Is that what you were asking about?

[F14 Pilot]

Nice to meet you,
I am asking what you are thinking about Iranians now?
What is your idea about changes happening in Iran?

[bets]

Based on what I hear, I'd like to think the recent protests would take a foothold for a positive, internal change. But, I'm not sure what I hear is truth - some from main-stream media, and some from people on FR who say they're directly in touch w/students and others currently protesting. It could all be spin for all I know.

[firewalk]

Good morning
Thanks for the ping

[nuconvert]

Thanks for the info.

[nuconvert]

While you're translating:

What is the difference in meaning between "Iran Azad"
and..."Iran e-Azad?"

[Texas_Dawg]

Where do you live, F14 Pilot?

[AdmSmith]

President voices deep grief at Mrs Kazemi's death, assigns four ministers to inquire into case

Tehran, July 13, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami on Sunday expressed deep grief at sudden death of Iranian photographer Ms Zahra Kazemi and assigned four cabinet members to inquire into her death.

In a directive to Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei, Minister of Information Ali Yunessi, Minister of the Interior Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari and Minister of Justice Ismail Shushtari, the president sought to clarify every aspect of the sudden death of the photographer.

"You should determine the reasons for her sudden death and who is responsible for it," President Khatami said in his directive in reaction to a statement from her family that she may have died of physical attack.

Ms Kazemi was arrested while taking photo from Evin prison compound where families of those under arrest were staging demonstration on June 23.

She suffered a stroke when she was subject to interrogation and died in hospital.

President Khatami urged the four cabinet ministers to see whether there is a matter of culpability in the case which led to the sudden death and report the outcome of their inquiry soon. SS/RR End

http://www.irna.ir/en/tnews/030713164551.etn00.shtml

Well, perhaps she suffered a medical stroke during the interrogations, but for sure she suffered multiple strokes of other kinds as well.

[happygrl]

Thank you very much. The post is understandable now.

[F14 Pilot]

You are welcome