Free Republic

TORONTO — For two months Ehsan Maleki traveled around Iran with a backpack containing his cameras, a few pieces of clothing and his laptop computer, taking pictures of the reformist candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi during the presidential campaign. He did not know that his backpack and his cameras would soon become his only possessions, or that he would be forced to crawl out of the country hiding in a herd of sheep. Mr. Maleki, 29, is one of dozens of reporters, photographers and bloggers who have either fled Iran or are trying to flee in the aftermath of the disputed...

Iran activist sentenced to death for election protests Regime's opponents say forced confession was used to convict Mohammad-Reza Ali-Zamani An Iranian man has been sentenced to death on charges of organising mass protests against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election as president, according to reformist websites. Mohammad-Reza Ali-Zamani, 37, is the first person understood to be facing execution over the unrest. Ali-Zamani had confessed to plotting against Iran's Islamic system and belonging to the previously little-known Iran Monarchy Committee (IMC), which the regime regards as a terrorist group. Supporters say he was forced into his confession, which was made at a public trial...

When he eagerly joined the mass street protests that followed Iran’s tainted June 12 presidential elections, Ibrahim Sharifi, 24, hoped only to add his voice to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators demanding that the government nullify the results. He never imagined that he would eventually have a far greater impact, as the only person willing to speak publicly about the brutal treatment he was subjected to in prison, including rape and torture. Mr. Sharifi, who recounted his ordeal to the opposition leader and former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, and then released a video account last month on opposition Web...

(Video) Iranian Diasporas sarcasm with Iranian Mullah upon his arrival in New York for UN General Assembly. Mullah blames the U.S. and pro-democracy demonstrator slams him back "soon you will only be able to visit Palestine and Lebanon" Video here: Video

Video of pro-Democracy demonstrators chanting down the speaker. The pro-Ahmadinejad speaker is encouraging them to chant 'Down with the United States' and 'Down with Israel', but they defiantly chant 'Down with Russia' in reference to Russia's alliance with Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. In stark contrast to the anti-Americanism of the establishment the Iranian populace (70% under 30) are pro-American. Video here: Quds Day Rally in Iran

Demonstrations against Ahmadinejad in New York City Video here: Ahmadinejad has to go

September 18: Second video collection of pro-Democracy demonstrations in Iran today. Demonstrators used Qud's day as a reason to demonstrate against Ahmadinejad/Khamenei changing slogans of 'Down with Israel' to 'Down to dictator' and 'Down with Russia'. Karroubi, Khatami and Moussavi were present and each was reported attacked by Basiji supporters of Ahmadinejad. Collection here & videos added as they arrive:

Iran's opposition leaders have said they will attend protest meetings at the nationwide Jerusalem Day anti-Israel prayer event on September 18th. Opposition leaders have said they will attend to protest the last election poll, which they say was rigged to secure President Ahmadinejad's re-election. The June presidential election was followed by huge opposition protests, which the government is keen to avoid again. Iranian authorities, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have already warned opposition members they should not use any protest to turn attendees against the clerical establishment. With some opposition websites calling for new antigovernment protests on Qods Day,...

September 15, 2009 Three grandchildren of Iranian dissident Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri have been arrested in the Islamic holy city of Qom, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The father of the three, Ahmad Montazeri, told Radio Farda that the charges against his sons and the reason for their arrest by the Qom Special Clergy Court are unclear. The children's father said 22-year-old Mohammad Mahdi Montazeri, 18-year-old Mohammad Sadegh Montazeri, and 20-year-old Mohammad Ali Montazeri are not politically active. The arrests come after Ayatollah Montazeri issued a new statement in which he urges leading Shi'ite clerics and "sources of emulation" to...

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran's supreme leader told the opposition on Friday they would face a harsh response if they drew their "swords" against the ruling establishment. The warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered at Friday prayers three months after a disputed poll that led to widespread unrest, was a clear message he would not tolerate any threat to Iran's clerical system of government. "Resisting the system and taking out the sword against the system will be followed by a harsh response," he told worshippers in a sermon broadcast live on state television.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian security agents on Tuesday raided offices connected to senior reformist leader Mahdi Karroubi, arresting four aides and closing the headquarters of his political party, which had been probing abuse of protesters arrested in the country's postelection crackdown. The raids appeared aimed at crushing a campaign spearheaded by Karroubi to bring to light alleged torture and rapes of detainees — allegations that have deeply embarrassed Iran's government and clerical leadership. The raids also come amid increasing calls by hard-line clerics and commanders in the Revolutionary Guard for the arrest of Karroubi and fellow opposition leaders Mir Hossein...

The interrogator politely apologized for grilling the prisoner about her role in the mass protests over Iran's disputed presidential election. Then the prisoner was made to sit facing a wall in the courtyard of Iran's Evin Prison, blindfolded, handcuffed and covered in an all-enveloping chador for four and a half hours under the blazing sun.

In the middle of the night, at 1:30 in the morning of Friday, August 14th, there was a large explosion at the monster petrochemical facility of the Iranian Pars Petrochemical Company in Bandar Assaluyeh. It is the biggest such plant in Iran, and the second largest in the whole Middle East (second only to one in Saudi Arabia). The explosion, which took place in pipes carrying Liquid Petroleum Gas (which is mostly propane), caused fires throughout the facility. It took at least three hours before the fires were brought under control. At least two persons died (fortunately, at that hour...

A member of a parliamentary committee reportedly says it is investigating claims of a mass burial of protesters after Iran's disputed June election. Last week, a reformist website said "tens" of people had been interred in anonymous graves at a Tehran cemetery. "Parliament is investigating a rumour about a mass burial of post-vote detainees," Hamidreza Katouzian told the official Irna news agency. At least 30 people died in clashes with security forces after the election. The largest mass opposition demonstrations in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution were sparked by allegations of widespread fraud in the presidential election, which saw...

By now, most people know that the Iranian regime treats its dissidents with unrestrained barbarity. Even the leading dead tree media have reported anecdotally on the torture of prisoners and the bashing, beating, axing and stabbing of protestors in the streets of the major cities. But it is not easy to get a clear picture of the dimensions of the savagery. It’s hard to get the real numbers on the bloody repression the mullahs have unleashed on their people, and one reason–perhaps the most important one–is that the regime is doing everything in its power to conceal the facts, typically...

According to Majid Ansari, member of the Association of Combatant Clerics, cases of sexual abuse of prisoners are certain and the evidence regarding them has been already handed to officials of the Islamic Republic. Mehdi Karoubi, a disputing candidate of the recent presidential elections in Iran, was the first to officially publicize reports of the alleged sexual assault. In a letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chairman of Council of Experts, he had urged an immediate investigation of the reports. After ten days, having received no response from Ayatollah Rafsanjani, he released the letter to the media. While Karoubi and Ansari and...

TEHERAN - IRAN'S powerful conservative camp rejected on Wednesday claims that election protesters were raped in custody and issued a stern warning to opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi for raising the allegations. As the political turmoil raged on, lawmakers urged Iran to review ties with Western nations they accuse of 'meddling' in its affairs, saying the United States, Britain and France was backing opposition groups. 'The issue of detainees being sexually abused is a lie,' parliament speaker Ali Larijani told the assembly, the official IRNA news agency reported. 'Following an investigation of detainees in Kahrizak and Evin prisons, no cases of...

SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from the letter, as published by norooznews . [1] "...The people who gave me this information hold sensitive positions in the regime... They say that all sorts of incidents are occurring in the prisons... Mr. Hashemi... Some of the detainees say that [certain] people [in the prisons] are raping girls who have been arrested, causing them vaginal tearing and injuries. They are also raping young boys, causing them depression and severe physical and emotional harm... so that [today, after their release] they hide in the corners of their homes. "In light of the gravity of...

Iran's trial of more than 100 people who it has linked to post-election unrest is a "sign of weakness" and shows that the Islamic republic "is afraid of its own people," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN Thursday. "It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it," Clinton told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast on his "GPS" program Sunday. "It demonstrates I think better than any of us could ever say that this Iranian leadership is afraid of their own people, and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out." Clinton...

TEHRAN, Iran – A young French academic and local staff of the British and French embassies stood trial Saturday with dozens of Iranian opposition figures and confessed to being involved in the country's postelection unrest. Iran's opposition and rights groups have condemned the trial as a sham and say such confessions are coerced and scripted. Britain, which seemed caught off guard by the appearance of its embassy employee, called it an outrage.