Free Republic

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inauguration as Iranian president for a second term was marked by opposition walkouts, demonstrations and criticism from his own conservative camp today as pressure mounted on the disputed winner of Iran's election. Senior officials and clerics attended the ceremony at Iran's parliament but it was boycotted by many opposition leaders and moderate politicians. Those of the reform faction who did attend walked out when Ahmadinejad started speaking, according to the opposition website Parleman News. Hundreds of opposition supporters gathered outside parliament and further protests were reported to be planned for 30 locations at 7pm Iranian time (3.30pm GMT)....

About 100 Iranian activists and political moderates went on trial Saturday to face charges related to massive protests following the controversial presidential election. The semi-official Fars news agency published images of defendants sitting in a packed Tehran courtroom, some handcuffed in pairs. The IRNA news agency says the detainees are accused of conspiring against the ruling system, among other charges. Reports say some leading political figures on trial have retracted their claims that the June vote was rigged - the main rallying point of opposition demonstrators.

Not many revolutionaries dress in a lilac tweed suit but then not many have the charisma of Shirin Ebadi, who won a Nobel prize for her human rights work in Iran and is now on a mission to garner support for prisoners held in her country. Ebadi, 62, made a passionate plea for the West to show support for the opposition in Iran as the regime continued its crackdown on the reform movement, which continued to mount street protests last week. “The European Union should withdraw ambassadors,” said Ebadi, a lawyer, stabbing the air with her index finger, furious about...

Opposition leaders call the mass indictment baseless. Analysts say the trials are meant to bolster the cause of hard-liners ahead of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's confirmation for a second term. Reporting from Beirut -- Iran's hard-line judiciary today began trials of 100 prominent, moderate politicians and others, accusing the country's main reformist and moderate political groups of working with foreigners trying to foment a popular uprising against the government. The opposition immediately decried the charges as groundless and said the mass indictment was filled with errors that shows that it was hastily made up, perhaps by the editors of a the...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, ended his prayer sermon in tears on Friday, invoking the name of a disappeared Shiite prophet to suggest that his government was besieged by forces of evil out to destroy a legitimate Islamic government. The opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, in criticizing the government, demanded the kind of justice promised by the Koran and exhorted his followers to take to their rooftops at night to cry out, “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” In the battle to control Iran’s streets, both the government and the opposition are deploying religious symbols and parables to portray...

Thirty years after the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran - if one can still call it a republic - is at a crossroads. What has been manifesting itself on Iran's streets since the disputed presidential elections is not only the electorate's collective feeling of injustice and rage, but also the religious-political elite's underlying divide over the future of the velayat-e faqih and its entire political system. When Mohammad Khatami was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, reformist hermeneutics largely centered on the notion of justice - a fundamental tenet of Shia jurisprudence - civil society and human rights.During his tenure,...

July 27, 2009, 0:00 a.m. End of DiscussionIn Iran, there is a growing consensus that it is time to move beyond Khomeinism. By Amir Taheri No one knows how the current Iranian insurrection, triggered by last month’s disputed presidential election, will end. However, one thing is already clear: The doctrine of walayat faqih (“government of the theologian”), the cornerstone of the Khomeinist system, is dead. The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini invented the doctrine to justify the claim that he drew his legitimacy from Allah and was accountable solely to Him. In practice, walayat faqih was supposed to work the...

If the Iranian mullahs expected the outrage over the rigged presidential election to dissipate, the latest from Mirhossein Mousavi will disappoint the hardliners.  The man who claims he was robbed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei promises to continue the public protests that have made the regime more reliant than ever on its military forces to maintain political power.  At the same time, they have even more problems with the man for whom they rigged the election in the first place: Iran’s opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Monday the pro-reform protests which erupted after the country’s disputed June presidential vote...

The main opposition leader in Iran, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has confirmed plans to form a new broad-based political front.Mousavi says the group will not be a substitute for popular protest Writing on his website, he said the front would have a charter and would give the opposition a legal framework. Mr Mousavi was the leading reformist candidate in the disputed presidential elections in Iran on 12 June. Meanwhile, his wife has confirmed that her brother was among those detained during protests against the presidential election. Mr Mousavi has made it clear that the new front will not be a substitute...

Iranian Revolutionary Guards and riot police clubbed and arrested dozens of demonstrators on Tuesday as renewed protests continued to sweep the country, nearly two months after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared he had won re-election. Opponents charge that the results were rigged. CNN disclosed a video on Tuesday that clearly shows police forces and a security official, dressed in a suit, shooting towards protestors. Other footage shows the protestors being viciously clubbed. The date of the video is not known.

In reading the tweets of @oxfordgirl in the #iranelection tweet stream, I noticed her remarks about patience. She had responded to her followers to slow down, be calm and asked that they be patient in regards to what is happening in Tehran. In essence, she was saying revolutions take time. @oxfordgirl must be a student of history because she is absolutely correct. Let us look at the American Revolution which began with protests such as the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The Revolutionary War did not end until the American colonies and Great Britain signed the Articles of Peace on...

Under the headline of a call for unity, former Iranian President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani has actually ensured that the divisions in Iran will continue and possibly increase. Mr Rafsanjani's first public comments since the election were eagerly awaited. It was clear the government was extremely nervous: media coverage of Friday prayers was restricted. Some journalists and opposition supporters reported problems over being allowed access to the ceremony at Tehran University. No doubt there was a fierce battle behind the scenes for him to be allowed to speak. Open challengeSince the election more moderate voices appear to have been sidelined...

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Several prominent Iranian conservative figures and hard-line newspapers offered sharp criticism on Saturday of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who delivered a speech on Friday that assailed the government’s handling of last month’s presidential election.

Rafsanjani says many Iranians have election doubts 1 hr 48 mins ago TEHRAN (Reuters) – Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Friday a "large group of Iranians" had doubts about last month's disputed presidential election and that something should be done about the situation. Rafsanjani also called for the release of protesters and others detained after the June poll. "In the current situation it is not necessary for us to have a number of people in prisons ... we should allow them to return to their families," he said during a Friday prayer sermon.

There will be no regime change in Iran unless (a) protests continue in the face of the recent repression and (b) the regime fractures. Today, brought evidence that both of these conditions (which are necessary but perhaps not sufficient) may be fulfilled. First, protests broke out in Tehran. Second, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's former president and a key figure in the regime, criticized the government and called for the release of hundreds of protesters and democracy advocates arrested in recent weeks. As to the first development, thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets chanting against the regime. It was...

TEHRAN, Iran – Tens of thousands of government opponents packed Iran's main Islamic prayer service Friday, chanting "freedom, freedom" and other slogans as their top clerical backer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a sermon bluntly criticizing the country's leadership over the crackdown on election protests.

Video at the BBC Website: Amateur video appearing to show protests after Friday's prayers Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani has called for the release of people jailed after protesting at the result of the recent election.In his first Friday sermon since the vote, he also said large numbers of Iranians still doubted its result. Outside, police fired tear gas at thousands of opposition supporters who were chanting slogans in support of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Chanting also broke out among some of the tens of thousands of people inside. Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in streets near the...

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's harsh rebuke of Ahmadinejad supporters is followed by renewed violence, suggesting the discontent over recent election results is as strong as ever.Reporting from Tehran and Beirut -- Security forces fired tear gas and plainclothes militiamen armed with batons charged at crowds of protesters gathered near Tehran University after a Friday prayer sermon delivered by the cleric and opposition supporter Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, his first appearance at the nation's weekly keynote sermon since before the election. Rafsanjani, in a closely watched speech, lashed out at the hard-line camp supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticized the...

Iranians prepared for another violent day of confrontations between demonstrators and security forces on Friday, after riot police used tear-gas against hundreds of demonstrators who defied government warnings and swarmed the streets to commemorate the anniversary of a student massacre in 1999.