Iranian Protests [Update]: Massacres in Tehran - Allah Akbar

Holy shit.

Quote:

2:01 AM ET -- Aslan: Rafsanjani calls "emergency" meeting of Assembly of Experts. If true, this is a bombshell. Appearing on CNN last night (video below), Iran expert Reza Aslan reported this:

There are very interesting things that are taking place right now. Some of my sources in Iran have told me that Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who is the head of the Assembly of Experts -- the eighty-six member clerical body that decides who will be the next Supreme Leader, and is, by the way, the only group that is empowered to remove the Supreme Leader from power -- that they have issued an emergency meeting in Qom.

Now, Anderson, I have to tell you, there's only one reason for the Assembly of Experts to meet at this point, and that is to actually talk about what to do about Khamenei. So, this is what I'm saying, is that we're talking about the very legitimacy, the very foundation of the Islamic Republic is up in the air right now. It's hard to say what this is going to go.


Aslan's scoop is also reported by the Farsi-language Rooyeh.

The reader in Iran who tipped me off to this sent a follow-up note:

jesus christ dude,

I'm [in my 30s] and never thought of it, let alone witnessing it as it unfolds.

I'm going nuts.

HOLY SHIT !!!


An informed Iranian-American had a different take. "I think Rafasanjani is not going to ask for Khamenei's removal, but is bluffing to force Khamenei to drop support of Ahmadinejad."

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Quote:

3.30pm:
More than 500,000 Iranians are silently marching from from Haft-e-Tir Squre to Vali Asr Square, reports Saeed Kamali Dehghan in Tehran.

Many are wearing black in mourning for those killed in earlier protests. Protesters want to go to Tehran University later to mourn the killing on Sunday of students in a dormitory.

Reuters says that "tens of thousands" of people are protesting.
One street leading to the square was packed for several kilometres, witnesses said.

Most of the protesters were silent and making victory signs. Some are holding pictures of those killed.

The authorities say the rally is banned.

Leading reformists are also being arrested in droves, and the Iranian government has reduced bandwidth for the country. Youtube traffic for Iran has slowed to a crawl but they're still being inundated with videos.

Additional Spam:

Image of a tremendous demonstration in Isfahan yesterday.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to end up with both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad fired. Though, I fear there will also be a bloodbath.

I wonder if Zip really went on with his decision to go to Tehran.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Some estimate the number of demonstrators could be between 1 million - 3 million people. There's also rumors coming through of an arrest warrant for Rafsanjani.

Additional Spam:
??? ?? peiknet

This source is in Farsi, but the gist of it is that Basij have been laying down arms or standing down in some places across Iran. The Basij number in the millions as the state militia, but there is only 90,000 uniformed Basij with 300,000 in reserve. Being in the Basij opens a lot of opportunities in the theocracy, and it looks like many of them don't have the stomach for beatings and murder.

Additional Spam:
http://www.img98.com/images/zei9ofmo1bvisqpvhbw.jpg - this photo of a dead student is being forwarded throughout Iran [Note]: Not Work Safe!

Iran protests: live | News | guardian.co.uk

Quote:

3.47pm:
The official Iranian Republic News Agency reports that Gholamali Hadadadel, head of the Iranian Parliament, the Majlis, has invited Mir Hossein Mousavi to participate in a televised debate Friday on controversy surrounding last Friday's vote, our Tehran correspondent Saeed Kamali Dehghan writes.

How ya doing, buddy?

It's a trap, get an axe.

A lot of reports are now saying that the riot police are protecting the protesters from the Basij and there are unconfirmed reports that many are wearing green armbands. On that note, it was fucking brave of the Iranian football team to wear green armbands for their match against Korea yesterday. They all took them off by the second half but to show such support for the opposition as such a high profile (And therefore traceable) person shows real courage. Their families are probably missing already...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

They haven't been targeting entire families yet, just protest organizers, leading reformists, and human rights activists.

If the State TV appearance is also intended as a trap it'd be a huuuuuge mistake on the establishment's part. Things have gone so far that Iran may undergo an honest-to-God revolution with either the Supreme Leader relegated to ceremony, or the Islamic Republic replaced by an Iranian one.

FELIPE NO

Well most people aren't objecting to the Islamic Republic, just the Ayatollah and President. That said, the last time the Riot Police refused to beat up opponents of the state was the last revolution, making their actions all that more symbolic. There's certain to be change of some sort after this but Mousavi is advocating peaceful protest still so unless the crowds get away from him, it looks unlikely there'll be a bloody revolution and the state wields far too much power for a peaceful one to have any success. I read some rumours that high ranking military officials had been arrested for planning a coup but they were just unconfirmed rumours, as so much of the information coming out of the country is at the moment.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Some would argue these protests are already soaked in martyr's blood, so we'll have to see.

The rumor that high-ranking Revolutionary Guard commanders were arrested gets repeated a lot, so I would treat it as if it were true.

Again from the Guardian's live blog
5.55pm:
AP reports that the Iranian government has accused the US of "intolerable" meddling in Iranian affairs and of fueling post-election strife.

Quote:

A state television channel in Iran says the government summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, to complain about American interference. The two countries broke off diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An English-language state-run channel quoted the government as calling Western interference "intolerable."

President Barack Obama has spoken cautiously about the situation in Iran (and provoked criticism from the American right, which wants more strident denunciations of the regime), saying that it would not be helpful for him to be seen as meddling.

Yesterday Obama said:

Quote:

When I see violence directed at peaceful protestors, when I see peaceful dissent being suppressed, wherever that takes place, it is of concern to me and it's of concern to the American people. That is not how governments should interact with their people... I do believe that something has happened in Iran where there is a questioning of the kinds of antagonistic postures towards the international community that have taken place in the past, and that there are people who want to see greater openness and greater debate and want to see greater democracy. How that plays out over the next several days and several weeks is something ultimately for the Iranian people to decide.

How ya doing, buddy?

They had all the European ambassadors in yesterday accusing them of the same thing. At least it looks like Obama isn't looking to invade just yet. Despite Mousavi being seen as a reformist, there's not a huge amount of differences between the two of the candidates policy-wise and almost none in terms of foreign policy so human rights issues aside, there's not really anything to be gained by America getting involved, other than providing a polarising force for the whole of Iran to rally against. If you sent a few tanks rolling over the border from Iraq I imagine the two factions would reconcile their differences really quickly.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's easier for the Obama administration to negotiate with somebody like Moussavi who hasn't been demonized by western media, which is why a lot of Neocons are worried about the protests being successful.

As for invasion, invading Iran was unfeasible during the Bush years and it's unfeasible now. Everybody knew it, and the biggest reason aside from the fact that we're already tremendously overstretched and international opinion would be in an uproar is that Iran's surface-to-ship missiles would cause tremendous naval losses and damage shipping in the Gulf.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Shin

They had all the European ambassadors in yesterday accusing them of the same thing. At least it looks like Obama isn't looking to invade just yet. Despite Mousavi being seen as a reformist, there's not a huge amount of differences between the two of the candidates policy-wise and almost none in terms of foreign policy so human rights issues aside, there's not really anything to be gained by America getting involved, other than providing a polarising force for the whole of Iran to rally against. If you sent a few tanks rolling over the border from Iraq I imagine the two factions would reconcile their differences really quickly.

If it's true that one of the demands of the protesters is to make Ayatollah Montazeri temporary supreme leader, then the rift is deeper than you might think. It did kind of get lost in the TL;DR of the past few pages, but:

Quote:

Who is Grand Ayatollah Montazeri?

Ayatollah Montazeri is a pro-Democracy, pro-Human Rights Ayatollah who was at one point on the short list of possible successors of Khomeini, but became marginalized as he adopted what was seen as a too pro-Western, pro-Democracy stance.

Since the beginning of the Revolution, he has been one of the fiercest critics of the Regime, and one of the biggest proponents of women and civil rights for ALL Iranians, including much-maligned minorities like the Baha'is. In fact he goes further than the protections afforded to them under Sharia.

He is also a big critic of Ahmadinejad and has been seen for years as the best hope for Iran if he ever was to come to power, something that was unthinkable a mere week ago.

He has also come out with a statement saying that policemen who beat on protesters and follow orders will not be forgiven under Islam, and that even if the government cuts the lines of communication with the outside world, that it was too late and the truth was getting out

Of course it's hard to say whether this demand, if real, is coming from the students and universities, or if it's a widely carried ideal.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Ahaha, I was basing that on this quote

Quote:

"In the elections, voters had different tendencies, but they equally believe in the ruling system and support the Islamic Republic,"

Forgetting it was Ayatollah Khamenei who said it...

Brady, I was only joking about invading Iran. Still, I think that the US is better off completely out of this for the time being as any interference would inevitably give Khamenei more leverage over the people, turning their dissent against you rather than his regime.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Well Obama hasn't said anything, and if any foreign operatives are agitating the crowds it would be Mossad. Not that they could do anything to agitate them more than the Basij and Ansar-e-Hizbullah already have.

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Change_for_Iran

# it is still unbelievable, but our exam is at 8am tomorrow morning!5 minutes ago from web
# @emmymason and they can't just unseat khameneyi! apart from being loyal to him, khamaneyi is backed by IRG's high ranking Generals7 minutes ago from web in reply to emmymason
# @emmymason soccer is true! so brave of them! clerics meeting is not emergency, it happened to be in this times.8 minutes ago from web in reply to emmymason
# Masood is now chanting "down with basij" and people are following!13 minutes ago from web
# @WeStandAs1 it says Russian advisers seen training basij forces & madaduf give a real warm welcome to ahmady & congratulate his victory15 minutes ago from web in reply to WeStandAs1
# 1 killed & 3 badly injured in Yazd (hometown of ex president Khatami) I hope some of these news to be rumors.21 minutes ago from web
# @tzemingdynasty past 24Hours23 minutes ago from web in reply to tzemingdynasty
# @donebylee yes I'm already wearing my father's black shirt & went to see kasra's family, it was a horrible experience.24 minutes ago from web in reply to donebylee
# @neatfires you should support your agents way better than this!27 minutes ago from web in reply to neatfires
# http://bamdadkhabar.com/200... (farsi) lot's of talk today about Russia's direct involvement in what's happening over here28 minutes ago from web

Of course the Russians wouldn't want a more western-friendly Iran, why didn't I think of that?

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

Keep in mind: this is in open defiance of the Basij who are patrolling at night.

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

I wonder if Zip really went on with his decision to go to Tehran.

He's there right now.

(imonei) on Twitter

FELIPE NO

lmbo

Additional Spam:
New Guardian photo montage
and video montage

Additional Spam:
News for today has so far been pretty much the same. Moussavi said he'd take the movement to the end, Karroubi got a good zinger in, and protesters protest and Basij beat them.

The big news coming up are Friday's Prayers, where the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei plans to make a big show. Traditionally the S.L. is unquestioned in his decrees during prayer but we'll see how that goes.

Additional Spam:

Quote:

The Basij have now begun to cover their faces, whereas previously they hadn’t. This indicates they are becoming more scared of retaliation from the general public, similar to Iraqi security forces. Also, we have heard that cell phone service is cut off at night. There have been efforts to identify members of the Basij who have used violence against demonstrators, through facebook and other social networking websites. It’s interesting to see the feared militias themselves becoming afraid of retaliation.

Post-Election Iran as it Develops niacINsight

Additional Spam:


What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Quote:

Yesterday a couple of the members of the Iranian parliament started asking question regarding the plainclothes security forces who have been beating the protesters in Iran.


Apparently, Abutorabi (Parliament secretary) questioned the connections of the plainclothes security forces who had earlier storm Tehran University's dorms and killed and injured students. Abutorabi claims that those individuals have been identified and says: "Why do plainclothes individuals without permission from the government get to storm the dorms?"

Then Ansari, a member of the parliament took the floor and talked about the "fact finding" committee and the fact that everyone in that comity is an Ahmadinejad supporter and therefore questioned the legitimacy of the committee.

After Ansari, Abutorabi took the floor again and continued questioning the plainclothes security forces once again. At this point Hosseinian, Koochakzadeh, and resaee, the three biggest supporters of Ahmadinejad in the parliament, started a verbal argument which ended with a number of physical fights. As a result a number of pro and ant Ahmadinejad members of the parliament join the fight and start slapping and pushing each other.

In the end, the anti Ahmadinejad block claims that they will expose the identities of those behind the plainclothes security forces.

Keep in mind that the pro and anti Ahmadinejad blocks belong to the same political party! I think the government is starting to crack up from the inside.

???? ????

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hey Brady, thanks for keeping this thread up to date. I would've just propped you but dissing Kaleb was more important this morning, you know how it is.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

tru tru

YouTube Video

First footage of the attack on Tehran U.

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Was flicking through news sites and saw this: Ayatollah Khamenei in a sermon called the elections fair and is directly calling for the protesters to stand down:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/wo...20iran.html?hp

Great, now the supreme religious authority is nice and firm in his opinion. No huge surprise or anything, but regardless... Anyway, just thought I'd share as (at least according to the times), this is fairly recent news.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

lol he tried to call out the Democrats on burning down the Branch Dividian compound. Never mind bombing the shit out of serbs and bosnians.

Additional Spam:


Most amazing jew boots

Big news today, Basiji with military uniforms, clubs, and guns confronted protesters and kept them from entering Revolutionary Square. I'll be updating this as I get more info.

Shooting at a blockade

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Suicide bomber sets himself off near the Khomeini shrine, according to a semi-official news agency. Not rumor.

This is probably the same bomb zip talks about in his journal.

FELIPE NO

The bomb was probably engineered by the state to blame on the protests, especially when State TV reported the bombing before it had gone off.

YouTube Video

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

Additional Spam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrdRwOlmIxI - Iranian girl is shot and bleeds out into the street. Extremely graphic, not at all work safe.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Huffington Post

1:19 PM ET -- State TV reportedly shows shrine damage. From a reader: "I'm watching state TV here in Dubai and they just did a report on the bombing at the mausoleum. There was NO DAMAGE. All they showed was a broken window saying the "terrorists" luckily blew themselves up outside the building before doing any damage inside. The "bombing" was clearly a fraud as there was NO DAMAGE done to the mausoleum other than a broken window they showed at the entrance of the building. It clearly looked like there was NO BOMBING, no explosion fragments or blood shown just one shattered window. Also a correction to my previous e-mail. The program said the youths had been talking to "friends" in the U.K. and the U.S. on the phone about causing destruction in Iran rather than actually going to the U.S. and being trained. Important difference but the subtext is the same. They're clearly building a case for foreign interference i.e. the U.K and U.S."

this is a quote

Additional Spam:
Boy shot in the gut, crowded by onlookers.

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

Additional Spam:
It's night time in Iran right now, and Marg Bar Khameneis are becoming more prevalent among the Allah Ackbars.

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

How ya doing, buddy?

THere is so much dirty work going on that it's disgusting. Lots of civilian police walk around and crack car windows or hit someone just to give the police a reason to start fighting. I too believe that the bomb at khomenis grave was a stunt, they are now also starting with fake propoganda, beaten up students on TV saying that they dont know why they went our and they didnt even vote, basic BS
As Brady has posted the special units are out, the disgusting thing is that many of them arent persian, but imported from other countries. Facemasks on and strapped to the teeth. 10 of them were standing outside the Azadi metro station swinging for their life, hitting anything that walked by. Old people, kids, male, female they dont care.

The thing is that it was dying down until Kkhameni said that any blood spilled will not be held against the country but that it's the people faults, this railed people up and now they feel like they have nothing to loose! I was 2 kilometers away and i could see huge black smoke clouds, 4-5 different locations, raising up. Im guessing its from the burnt busses and cars. You wont find a single trash bin in Teheran since they are all on fire.

Other dirty things they do is that they disguise trucks. One was turned into a meat delievery truck with cooling in the back, they beat up 4 students with nightsticks and pistolwhipped them. Took them and threw them into the truck and drove away. The fuckers are lurking in the alleys jumping on anyone heading towards or even away from the area. They even got certain spots they drag people away to and do god knows what. One mother got his son dragged away around 5pm, one hour into the protest, and havnt heard anything.
Facemasks are down to, imo, hide that they arent even iranians. All these soldiers came out of nowhere, they must have landed with the plane this morning. Speaking of planes, a pilot for Iran air got shot also.

I dont buy the arrests or cops fighting against the Basiji, the mullahs have been tricking people for 30 years, they know what they are doing. The gas and money is going all over the place expect to their own people. The people need to keep marching, this aint no2 day thing. We need to show them that they cant push us away.
People are sick of nothing having jobs, not being able to buy food even though they work all day. University wont lead to a beter pay then a car washer. A dude said to me, i got 60 years left on this planet am i supposed to keep living like this?

They even stopped the recount of the 10% of the votes, why?
They had their numbers ready one hour after the voting was ended, how?

They treat their own people like dogs, beating them up like this. They close down all the connections to the outside world because they dont want anyone to see this. Iran needs someone like mOusavi so other countries can atleast start a dialouge with iran. the rats in place now is too hostile, no one wants a war. America is too stretched out and Iran hasnt even finished rebuilding after the last wars and revolution.

The worst thing would be if it all died down because as it is now, nothing as changed. But i dont think it will stop, as i said before, people feel like they dont have anything to lose atm. Brave warriors!

fuck these whores, I hope they get thrown to the people and let their blood wash away the damaged families tears.

no homo

With people openly shouting for Khamenei's death a revolution might not be too far away. Even if the riots are suppressed or Mousavi is seated as president with Khamenei kicked out, the establishment is absolutely fucked. It was a year after the Shah attempted suppressing protests before the original revolution. At this point it's just a matter of patience.

Additional Spam:
tehran times : Assembly of Experts expresses strong support for Leader?s guidelines

Quote:

Assembly of Experts expresses strong support for Leader’s guidelines
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN -- In a statement issued on Saturday the Assembly of Experts expressed its “strong support” for the Supreme Leader’s statements on the presidential elections on Friday.

The 86-member assembly stated in the statement that it is hoped that the nation would realize the current condition and by sticking to the Leader’s guidelines preserve their patience and manifest their unity.

The Qom Seminary Teachers Society also issued a statement on Saturday declaring strong support for the guidelines of the Supreme Leader.

“The Qom Seminary Teachers Society… announces its strong support for his valuable guidelines and invites all (groupings) to maintain unity, abide by the law, and refrain from any action which leads to tension,” the statement said.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of people at the most recent Friday prayers in Tehran, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged all groupings to end their street protests and to pursue their complaints through legal channels.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the time for rivalry is over and everyone should unite and line up behind the president-elect.

-----------Cleric praises Leader’s remarks

In a letter sent to the Supreme Leader on Saturday, Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani said the Leader’s remarks showed the significant role of the velayat-e faqih (rule by the supreme jurisprudent) in the Islamic system.

Ayatollah Hamedani expressed hope that all groupings make the guidelines their priority.

--------- Leader’s guidelines guarantee a better future

MP Sharif Hosseini stated on Saturday that the Supreme Leader’s guidelines announced at Friday prayers guarantee a better future for the nation.

“The remarks showed the Iranian people the path toward a better future under the law without any rift or schism,” he told the Mehr News Agency.

The MP added, “All political groupings and the people should prioritize unity and heed the words of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution.”

------- Leader’s guidelines are a road map

In a letter to the Supreme Leader on Saturday, Ayatollah Abbas Ka’bi of the Guardian Council said the Leader’s speech has outlined a road map for the nation.

Ayatollah Ka’bi added that the GC will spare no effort to safeguard the nation’s votes.

“The council will seriously and meticulously examine the protests and the complaints of the candidates through the legal process and will safeguard each one of the nation’s 40 million votes,” he said.

---------- Following the Leader is a religious duty

MP Hashem Hashemzadeh said that following the Leader’s guidelines is a religious duty.

“The remarks of the Leader of the revolution were definitive… and obeying the orders of the velayat-e faqih (supreme jurisprudent) is a religious duty for everyone,” he told MNA.

--------- University chancellors vow to follow Leader

In a statement issued on Saturday, university chancellors have emphasized that they will follow the decisive orders of the Supreme Leader.

“We regard the maximum presence of the people at the ballot boxes as the most valuable political and social asset for the Islamic system… and urge all the elites of Islamic Iran to do their best to safeguard this asset,” part of the statement said.

---------- Armed forces urge people to follow the Leader

The Iranian Armed Forces Headquarters has issued a statement urging all people to follow the definitive guidelines of the Supreme Leader.

The statement added that the nation should be wary about the enemies’ plots.

“The victory of the great Iranian nation in the tenth presidential election… is a glory which should safeguard the country’s security magnificently. Thus, we should not be unaware of the enemies’ plots to destroy this unique capability,” it added .

tl;dr - The Assembly of Experts supports Khamenei. There's no longer a legal route to unseating him. At this point Khamenei will only be unseated by a military coup or popular revolution.


The girl who was shot and bled out in the video is named Neda, or "voice" in Farsi. She's become the martyr of the protests, along with the other unknown dead. Iranians on Twitter and other web 2.0 services constantly invoke her name to appeal for revolt or to prepare for their personal martyrdom.

Additional Spam:
nigga what

Originally Posted by Huffington Post

10:05 PM ET -- More on the Assembly of Experts statement. Earlier today, the Tehran Times posted an article claiming that the powerful clerical group, the Assembly of Experts, had on Saturday "expressed its 'strong support' for the Supreme Leader's statements on the presidential elections on Friday." It would have been a major blow to reformists' efforts to win the support of many senior clerics.

But as it turns out, it's not true. Reader Ali writes in:

I just wanted to point out that the letter of support written by assembly of experts in support of Khamenei's sermon is only signed by the deputy leader of the assembly, who is a former head of the judiciary and a staunch supporter of ahmadinejad, as well as a rival of Rafsanjani for the assembly's leadership election. He is the only one signing the letter and the government sponsored news media are reporting it as a letter from the full assembly.

And reader Majid provides more details:

Once again thanks for the great job in reporting the events. Just a comment about your 7:33pm item about the Assembly of Experts. The statement is not by the Assembly of Experts, but by Mohammad Yazdi, the head of the "Dabirkhane" of the Assembly of Experts. His statement doesn't carry much weight and definitely not a blow to the freedom movement. After all, there are certainly many Khamene'i loyalists in the Assembly of Experts and such comments could be expected from these cowards.

I didn't think State TV would be so brazen as to lie about the Assembly of Experts. Not because it was beyond their capabilities but because I didn't think they would have to.

This is pretty significant news.

Additional Spam:

YouTube Video

Quote:

Natural gas lines of Basij Head quarter was set on fire after Basijie's locked themselves inside .
at 0:05 you can see the whole building exploded
at least 5 from Basijies were killed
you can see fire in different parts of city
location : Eastern Tehran

Incredible, just incredible. Tehran probably smells like bacon.

There's nowhere I can't reach.