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Top News Story Iranian Student Union, Tahkeem Vahdat: Boycott the bogus elections, this regime is not reformable Iran Press News: The University Student offices of Tahkeem'eh Vahdat has sent out a bulletin reiterating it's stance: "based on an all points boycott of this bogus election and the immovability and unreformability of the regime ruling over Iran; we consider this fake election to be disastrous, highly restrictive and utterly ineffective and the office of the president should be castigated for this pathetic show of force."In several parts of this bulletin, the members of Tahkeem'eh Vahdat have referred to this as...

Top News Story Editor: Myself A weblog on Iran, technology and pop culture, by Hossein Derakhshan The coming coup Iranian blogger, Hoder.com:Things are really getting nasty here. After Karrubi's unbelievably blunt letter to the Supreme Leader, everything is suddenly changing. All non-fundamentalists are rallying behind Rafsanjani. Many are talking about a possible coup by Sepah and Basij after Friday's second round results. It's also rumoured (now confirmed ) that Eqbal and Aftab, pro-reform newspapers, were seizes in the printing house last night after they published full text of the letter. Karrubi for the first time has publically challenged the...

DoctorZin reports, 6.19.2005:Bloggers must demand more from the mainstream media in its reporting on Iran. I have been reporting for days now that the elections in Iran were rigged. Now that the NY Times is reporting it perhaps the blogosphere will also. I also published statements of several candidates inside of Iran that are also claiming this as well. The blogosphere can either lead or follow the mainstream media. I hope we will lead. With the election runoff in Iran slated for Friday, we must demand that the mainstream media visit polling stations throughout Iran to report their own...

Reports of Iranians voting in the US Robert Mayer of PublisPundit has just released his length and valuable report on the polling station in Tuscon. It includes photos and a fascinating with the poll watcher and his views of America. Will of Willisms produced a two similar reports from Houston, Texas. One, Two. Photos included. Finally, SMCCDI published a report of their success in closing down the LA polling station. Aryo B. Pirouznia, the SMCCDI Coordinator, and several other Iranian political activists were wounded by Islamists and mercenaries hired by Islamic republic regime. These aggressions took place, yesterday, in...

First Reports on the Iranian Election - Why the media is getting it wrong The western media is reporting a close election in Iran and some are claiming that it is so close that the government has extended the hours of the polling places in order to accommodate the voting public. What is wrong with these reports? According to various news accounts, the international media in Iran for the election is estimated between 70 and 200 foreign journalists. Opposition leaders claim that each journalist is required to have a government minder present with them. They also report that these...

Top News Story Statement by the President Bush on Iranian Elections[Excerpts] President Bush, The White House: In recent months, the cause of freedom has made enormous gains in the broader Middle East. ... And as a tide of freedom sweeps this region, it will also come eventually to Iran. ... Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world. Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy. The June 17th presidential elections are sadly consistent...

Top News Story CNN plays a dangerous game of softball with Rafsanjani Excerpt:CNN.com:Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -- now seeking another term as the Islamic republic's elected leader -- said Tuesday the United States has been hostile toward his country for more than 30 years. The man widely expected to win Friday's presidential election told CNN the United States has taken "steps in the right direction" but must do more to prove to Iranians that it has relinquished what he called "a hostile attitude." READ MORE DoctorZin:CNN's report reminded me of Dan Rather's interview with Saddam Hussein. It...

Top News Story Hakha movement press release The Popular Hakha Movement for Freedom in Iran has called for peaceful uprisings on June 16th starting at 10 a.m. Tehran time of the current year against the oppressive and terrorist Islamic Republic of Iran. Under the leadership of Dr. Ahura-Pirouz Khaleghi Yazdi, the people will not rest until freedom and democracy have been established in Iran. The Iranian people have demanded and will take their self-determination. The aim of this national uprising is to overthrow the despotic regime in order to institute national self-determination, the principles of secular democracy, the doctrine...

Top News Story Some analysts suspect bin Laden slipped into Iran Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times:Some within the U.S. intelligence community think Osama bin Laden is in eastern Iran, instead of the rugged tribal areas of Pakistan's northwestern frontier, where most American officials think he is still on the run. U.S. officials said in interviews that the Iran theory, which is held by a minority, is based on bits of intelligence information and the fact that months of CIA intelligence operations, along with search-and-destroy sweeps by thousands of Pakistani troops, have failed to find the al Qaeda leader or...

Top News Story New York Times TEHRAN, June 12 - Hundreds of women staged an unauthorized demonstration in Tehran today, protesting sex discrimination under Iran's Islamic leadership just days before the June 17 presidential elections. There were reports that the police clubbed several women, though there were no hospital reports of injuries. Demonstrators said they saw some women being detained and dragged away by officers. But the situation appeared to stabilize, and after about an hour of demonstrating, the women disbanded without further incident. "We will continue such protests because it shows that women are aware of their rights,"...

Special Report: Iranians Unite! Pro-Democracy Iranians Boycott Islamic Republic'’s Rigged Anti-Democratic Elections In an historic show of unity, Iranian opposition leaders together drafted and signed the following declaration. The leaders represent a broad spectrum of Iranian groups around the world calling for a boycott of the June 17th Presidential election. READ MOREMore than 17o leaders have signed it, still others are seeking to. It is important to let the media know that Iranians from a range of political views are now united in boycotting the June 17th election. Also important: I have begun a schedule of Pro-Democracy events for...

Top News Story Iranians Feel America's Presence in the Region Helps Their Chances at Freedom Rob Sobhani, Belga Press Agency:Public Opinion Survey in IranTo view the Executive Summary - First Survey - in PDF, click here. A recent public opinion survey of Iranians, conducted by The Tarrance Group, surprisingly found that a vast majority (74%) of Iranians feel America’s presence in the Middle East will increase the probability of democracy in their own country. The survey, which was the first of its kind, found, two-thirds of Iranians believe that regime change in Iraq has been a positivefor both neighboring...

World Cup Qualifier match in Iran stirs celebration and unrest. Earlier yesterday, Reuters reported that security was tight at Tehran's Azadi stadium before the start of the World Cup soccer qualifier. A symbolic victory was seen when 100 Iranian women forced themselves into the stadium. See photos. Security forces broke one woman's leg in the process. Then Iran won its game with Bahrain, the score 1-0. This assured them a position in the World Cup playoffs. Iran exploded into celebration. Radio Sedaye Iran reported the streets around the country were filled with people celebrating the victory. See photos. Then...

SMCCDI Website back online! I just heard from Aryo Pirouznia, director of the Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) he told me that their website is back online. Just as mysteriously as it went down, the web host decided to put it back up. We will post more on this later. We want to thank everyone that responded to our call form help. I believe, collectively our efforts made the difference. A Daily Briefing of Major News Stories on Iran: Iran va Jahan reports that most observers seem to be missing a veritable seismic popular movement...

BREAKING NEWS! Massive Unrest in Iran following soccer victory - PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS DoctorZin’s SPECIAL REPORT!Iran won an important soccer victory that assures they will play for the World Cup. This has led to massive celebrations and unrest throughout Iran.The pro-democracy forces in Iran make good use of such celebrations as it is difficult for security forces to manage the massive crowds.The inability of the security forces to deal effectively with the anti-regime demonstrations only encourages other Iranians to join them.This is likely to strengthen pro-democracy forces for the battles of the coming weeks.The mainstream media is again...

The Iranian Government is setting up voting booths in the US The Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran has launched a U.S. based website (in Persian) to encourage Iranians to vote, June 17th, here in the U.S. The site includes a pdf file with a listing of the cities and states they will be hosting voting centers. The site also includes an 800#: 800-899-4023 where people can be told the exact locations of the voting centers. A few days ago, before being shutdown, SMCCDI posted the following:A group of Iranian secularist activists have protested against the illegal...

Top News Story The Student Movement Website has been Shutdown! AGAIN! Aryo Pirouznia, director of the Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) just told me that their new website host has shut down their site citing complaints over spam emails. This is unbelievable since he said they have never sent him any complaints about their emails. It looks like we need to find him a reliable web host. Time is running out!! The elections are coming in just 11 days. We need this resource up! It appears someone does not want this site up. Contact me...

Top News Story Free Inquiry March 15, 2005. Tehran. Somewhere, a Qur'an is burning. It is Tchahr Shanbe Souri, the traditional Persian fire festival, and in major cities throughout the country Iranians are turning the celebration-denounced as pagan by the ruling clerics-into a protest. There are reports of revelers chanting "Down with the Islamic Republic" and casting Islamist literature and even scripture into bonfires.1 Government militia respond brutally, and violent clashes with demonstrators continue into the night. The episode is not isolated but appears to be part of a trend in which large numbers of Iranians are taking to...

Top News Story Iran: toward a Fourth Republic? Featuring Mohsen SazegaraJune 2, 2005 On May 25, 2005, Mohsen Sazegara addressed the Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr. Sazegara, one of the founders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, held a number of posts in the Iranian government during the 1980s. In 1989, disillusioned, he left the government, after which he completed his studies in History at the University of London and published several reformist newspapers subsequently closed by regime hardliners. Since 2001 he has been a leader in the campaign for a referendum on replacing the Iranian constitution. He...

Top News Story Iran's victory over N. Korea leads to mass celebration and unrest SMCCDI (Information Service):Iran's victory of 1-0 over N. Korea's soccer team has resulted in a mass celebration, expression of joy and unrest despite all official injunctions and massive security presence. Clashes happened at the end of the game at Azadi ('Freedom') Stadium as militiamen intended to stop happy fans from expressing joy. Orders were given that fans should avoid being joyful as it's the anniversary of the death of the regime's founder. Other reports are stating about sporadic clashes in several areas of the Capital...