Free Republic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In his first public speech for six years, Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri said most people were dissatisfied and that the issue should be put to a vote. Ayatollah Montazeri was released from house arrest early this year. It is a decision the authorities may come to regret, says the BBC's Tehran correspondent Jim Muir. About 300 students crowded into a small meeting room at Ayatollah Montazeri's house in the holy city of Qom about 130 kilometres (80 miles) south-west of Tehran. Despite his poor health, the 81-year-old seems to have decided to break his silence to play a more public...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's reformist interior minister ordered the closure of offices set up by hard-liners to screen candidates for next year's legislative elections. Members of the hard-line Guardian Council have vowed to reject reformist candidates who seek major changes, and having the offices would allow the council to learn the views of would-be candidates. Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari told provincial governors to shut down the supervisory offices of the Guardian Council throughout the country, the government-run daily Iran reported Sunday. The council has quietly been establishing the candidate review offices in recent months. "Activities of the supervising offices of the...

Khomeini calls US freedom the 'best in the world' from base in occupied Baghdad Sayyid Hussein Khomeini is sitting cross-legged on a sofa inside a garish palm-fringed mansion nestled on the banks of the Tigris. It is the very heart of American-occupied Baghdad, not the first place that you might look for the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini. The late Iranian leader built his Islamic revolution on a deep hatred of everything associated with the Stars and Stripes. But then very little about the younger Khomeini is quite what might be expected. 'American liberty and freedom is the best freedom in...

BAGHDAD, Iraq The best thing about being in Baghdad these days is that you just never know who's going to show up for dinner.Take last Wednesday night. I was invited to interview a rising progressive Iraqi Shiite cleric, Sayyid Iyad Jamaleddine, at his home on the banks of the Tigris. It was the most exciting conversation I've had on three trips to postwar Iraq. I listened to Mr. Jamaleddine eloquently advocate separation of mosque and state and lay out a broad, liberal agenda for Iraq's majority Shiites. As we sat down for a meal of Iraqi fish and flat bread,...

The London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that Hussein Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, had left his place of residence in Iran's holy Shi'ite city of Qom to relocate to Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, which is traditionally the seat of the highest Shi'ite religious authority, as a sign of protest against Iran's regime. [1]Hussein Khomeini, 46, called the Iranian regime "the world's worst dictatorship," and stated that the regime's heads, Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei and former president and current Expediency Council head Hashemi Rafsanjani"and everyone who has taken over the...

State sponsors of terrorism not only threaten U.S. interests on land, at sea and in the air, but now they have teamed up to attack U.S. assets in space. By successfully jamming a U.S. communications satellite over the Atlantic Ocean, the regimes of Cuba and Iran challenged U.S. dominance of space and the assumptions of free access to satellite communication that makes undisputed U.S. military power possible. The Bush administration, meanwhile, appears paralyzed about how to cope with this latest threat, which one U.S. official likens to an "act of war." The target of these terrorist states: Telestar-12, a commercial...

•The EU's policy of constructive dialogue failed to bring any reform to Iran, Italian daily Il Foglio writes today. The newspaper, published by the wife of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi added that any attempt to bring peace and stability to the region would fail, so long as Ayatollah's are in power. The credit line former Italian information minister Lamberto Dini opened for Iran with the constructive dialogue, closed after the Supreme Leader's statement about the medium-range Shahab 3 missiles, Il Foglio writes, adding that Italy-Iran trade and industrial cooperation program set up by former prime minister Romano Prodi has...

When Zahra Kazemi, the Canadian photographer who was beaten to death by Iranian security officials, was buried in her hometown of Shiraz this week, she immediately became a martyr to a revolution that has yet to take place. Internationally, her brutal murder was greeted with outrage, but in Iran, it has engendered a mixture of embarrassed disbelief and thuggish indifference. That's because the country is already reeling. Twenty-four years after Iranians created a "government of God," the revolution that expelled the Shah in a fury of religious sentiment and anti-Western backlash is facing a huge crisis of legitimacy. Iran is...

In a radio interview reported by BBC, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said last week the United States should stay away from the "family fight" in Iran. The interview has angered student demonstrators in Iran who compared it with official statements in Teheran in defense of the clerics' regime. [Associated Press reported that the massive demonstrations planned for July 9 had been canceled because of "the huge security clampdown." Iranian sources said however that some demonstrations are in progress in several Iranian cities and in other major world capitals as well.] "President Khatami was elected ... not in an...

I was amazed! These Iranians sound more like conservative Republicans than a bunch of insurgents in their open letter "To the Free People of the World" that can be found at their website, "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran". Although lengthy, it's truly an enlightening message that is well worth reading. Again, the old rubric "never assume anything" rings true. Before reading their communiqué of June 22nd, I thought of the Iranian dissidents as dyed-in-the-wool socialists that were thoroughly in sync with the pro-Palestinian, pro-Arafat drivel almost universally espoused throughout the Islamic world. Gee, was I wrong! Don't...

A nuclear threat to the rest of the world, Iran is robbing its own people of prosperity. But the men at the top are getting extremely rich. It's rumble time in Tehran. At dozens of intersections in the capital of Iran thousands of students are protesting on a recent Friday around midnight, as they do nearly every night, chanting pro-democracy slogans and lighting bonfires on street corners. Residents of the surrounding middle-class neighborhoods converge in their cars, honking their horns in raucous support. Suddenly there's thunder in the air. A gang of 30 motorcyclists, brandishing iron bars and clubs as...

Elements were able to Jam broadcast of opposition satellite television received by millions of Iranians inside Iran, US, and Europe. Only one of the stations is being received inside Iran, due to a different signal. Without these broadcasts it's difficult to bring masses into the streets. This three days before mass demonstrations are expected inside of Iran. Reports are saying that a Truck traveling between 5th-12th street in Atlanta, Georgia is to blame. Iranian-Americans are working on establishing who exactly is behind the jamming and who is inside of the truck. If true, there will be lots of explaining to...

The Bush administration has been right in recent weeks to focus attention on Iran--but not because of the threat that Iran might build nuclear weapons. Iran is the source of a much more powerful weapon of mass destruction that already has been unleashed against the West: the ideology of Islamic theocracy, with its tactic of state-sponsored terrorism. And we must confront this threat now because we have an opportunity to strike at the very heart of Iran's regime by supporting its repudiation by its own citizens. Iran has long been the leading ideological and material source of terrorism. The Ayatollah...

The words "regime change" are being uttered again. Washington hawks concerned about Iran's nuclear capacity are urging the overthrow of its Islamist government. These hawks confuse Iran with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Unlike in Iraq, there is no need for a military confrontation in Iran, a country with a well-developed opposition, a lively debate between hard-liners and moderates and a strong chance of democratization without U.S. intervention. Iraq was a mere torture chamber for a brutal dictator. Iran resembles a double-headed eagle, trying to fly in opposite directions at the same time. One head represents the Khomeinist revolution, with its forlorn...

Hundereds of those arrested in the last [Iranian] riots will be brought to speedy trials in order for the public to witness the decision of Islamic 'justice' on their cases.Sources within the regieme are confirming the decision made in an extradordinary meeting of the National Security Council to issue and execute death penalties against many of them for 'Spying for the United States,' 'Attempts Against National Security' and 'Armed Action Intending to Overthrow the Islamic State.' The move intends to go on by a series of public executions and to spread information on the cases of other protestors who are...

There's been much optimistic talk for the past two weeks about the potential for regime change in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It's all been pegged to a recent series of seemingly co-ordinated demonstrations by university students throughout the country. In Iran's capital of Teheran alone, it's believed police have arrested more than 1,000 student protesters. Iran's jails may be about to become crowded with students if this ferment goes on, since about 60% of the population of 70 million is less than 30 years of age. One British commentator even predicts a looming Tiananmen Square-style confrontation with the regime....

June 16 – The reform course of President Mohammad Khatami has failed, Iranian students at the Amir Kabir university in Tehran said Monday. “The reform course from 1997 (start of Khatami’s presidential term) has failed and the society needs a new course for realising the people’s demands,” the students said during a protest gathering at the Amir Kabir university. The students' news agency ISNA reported that the students further condemned Islamists for violent attacks against university dormitories and called on the government to take appropriate actions. Also students of the Shahid Abbaspour university in Tehran called on Khatami’s resignation and...

One way or another, the fanatical mullahs of Iran will be toppled. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but soon, and undoubtedly within the next few years. The only question is whether the popular pro-democracy insurgents will have the wherewithal to oust the dreadful Islamo-fascists themselves, or, if ultimately, it will fall upon the US to effectuate needed "regime change". Of course, Americans prefer that the Iranians snatch back their own nation from the ayatollahs - and my hunch is that most Americans would be in favor of supporting an Iranian grassroots rebellion in myriad ways. During the past...

Win or lose, democratic revolution has broken out in Iran. Even the fragmentary reports from journalists operating under tight regime control in very limited areas of the country show that the mass demonstrations now involve all classes and regions. This is no longer purely or even primarily a "student" movement, as it has been for the past four years -- although many of its leaders come from student ranks. People of all ages, from all walks of life, in every major city in the country, have taken to the streets every night for more than a week to demand an...

<p>It's mullah time. The question now is whether Iran's ayatollahs and the original "Islamic republic" can survive the summer, or whether President Bush will mark the second anniversary of September 11, 2001, with two-thirds of his axis of evil consigned to the trash can of history.</p>

Amman, June 22, IRNA -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that Washington is encouraging a churning within Iranian population. "We are watching what is happening within the country, the churning that's taking place within the population and we have to provide encouragement and support to those who are seeking the right to speak out," Powell said at a session of a World Economic Forum (WEF) at Dead Sea, Jordan. "But for some to go beyond that and say the United States is getting ready for something aggressive or looking for another place to have a conflict,...

By NAZILA FATHI EHRAN, June 21 — Jilla, a prosperous homemaker, has been trying to outwit the Iranian government's campaign to jam Persian-language satellite television stations based in Los Angeles. First she adjusted her satellite dish. Then she attached an empty can. She even tied a pot lid to a mop, and stood the lid upright facing the dish. No luck. Advertisement "I have become restless; I have no idea what's going on with the protests," she said, staring helplessly at a European music channel. Jilla, 46, said her family and friends were taking part in the protests against the...

Iran defiant as US says armed conflict possibleNUCLEAR PROGRAM: Tehran said it was the victim of a propaganda campaign, while the US said military action is an option if Iran refuses to increase transparencyREUTERSSunday, Jun 22, 2003,Page 1 Iran said yesterday it would not allow UN inspectors to take samples at an alleged nuclear plant, as Washington warned it reserved the right to use military action to stop Tehran making atomic weapons. The Islamic republic, sandwiched between Iraq and Afghanistan where US forces now have a strong foothold, accused Washington of waging a baseless propaganda campaign that Tehran had a...

The White House last Saturday issued a strongly worded statement in support of student demonstrators in Tehran, prompting harsh criticism from Iranian officials who accused the United States of "interference" in Iran's domestic affairs. But just one month earlier, both Washington and Tehran were exploring a discrete back channel that participants hoped could lead to renewed diplomatic ties and trade between the two countries. The back-channel discussion between former U.S. and Iranian officials last month was intended as a forum to allow for quiet communication between the two governments, without rhetoric or politics. But a meeting last month in Athens...

Iran has been swamped by eleven nights of consistent anti-Government protests. These protests are no rare occurrence in the Islamic Republic; they've happened every single year on the anniversary of the Student uprisings in 1999 where vigilante Islamists close to Ayatollah Khameini attacked secular students in their dorm rooms. But, with US troops in virtually every country surrounding Iran the mullahs are feeling the heat. Recent surveyed stationed by reformists within the country embarrass the Islamic theocracy.  Those statistics revealed; 75 percent of Iranians favor relations with the United States, 64 percent favor a separation of Mosque and State, 74...

It's mullah time! The question now is whether Iran's ayatollahs and the original ''Islamic republic'' can survive the summer, or whether President Bush will mark the second anniversary of Sept. 11 with two-thirds of his axis of evil consigned to the trash can of history. That would be a remarkable achievement, by any measure save that of Democratic presidential candidates such as John Kerry, who seems to be running as the French foreign minister (a niche market of limited appeal even among Dem primary voters, one would think). Senator Kerry will continue to insist it's all a disaster and possibly...

Something truly extraordinary has been going on in Iran these past few months and especially in the past couple of weeks. A grass-roots, student-run, anti-theocracy movement has reached some sort of critical mass. The enemy is the religious right of Iran, the group of murderous mullahs who have run their country into the ground and now have to answer for their godly tyranny to a new and populous generation of under-30s. Suddenly, we have the possibility of regime change in a critical country without war and without the intervention of the United States. You'd think that this would be the...

Win or lose, democratic revolution has broken out in Iran. Even the fragmentary reports from journalists operating under tight regime control in very limited areas of the country show that the mass demonstrations now involve all classes and regions. This is no longer purely or even primarily a "student" movement, as it has been for the past four years -- although many of its leaders come from student ranks. People of all ages, from all walks of life, in every major city in the country, have taken to the streets every night for over a week to demand an end...

Students in Iran are rebelling against the Ayatollahs. Is there anything we can do to help? The truth is we have very few tools to influence events in Iran, and even if we had more it's not clear we'd know how to use them. But there is one huge tool we do control that will certainly have an impact on Iran: It's called Iraq. Iraq, like Iran, is a majority Shiite country, with myriad religious links with Iran. If the Bush team could make a psychological and political breakthrough with Iraqi Shiites, and be seen as helping them build a...

Iran is seething with student protests, political violence, and growing anger at the radical Islamic hard-liners who dominate the country’s politics. A nationwide protest movement has now mushroomed from what began on June 11 as a small protest against rising costs due to the proposed privatization of some parts of Iranian universities. Protests have spread from Tehran, the capital, to other cities, including Isfahan, Mashad, Shiraz, and Ahvaz. Despite the bloody attempts of pro-government vigilante thugs to quell demonstrations and intimidate the young protesters, the new Iranian revolutionaries have grown in strength and broadened their demands to include democratic reforms...