Green Embassies Campaign Statement Regarding the Claims Made by the “Green Wave” Organisers

Green Embassies Campaign Statement Regarding the Claims Made by the “Green Wave” Organisers

Recently an organisation by the name of Green Wave has issued a press statement addressing the senior members of Iran's embassies abroad. Some parts of the statement imply the Green Embassies Campaign is connected to the Green Wave organisation. It is therefore necessary for the Green Embassies Campaign, which is made up of Iranian diplomats, who have defected to join the Iranian people's pro-democracy movement and in protest to the religious dictatorship rule in Iran, to make the following points in order to make matters clear for all:

1. In the statement made by an organisation calling itself the Green Wave, it is claimed that “Mohammad Reza Heydari, the founder of the Green Embassies Campaign, is the representative of the group calling itself Green Wave and is responsible for appointing and determining ways of co-operation and specific missions of defected diplomats”. While the Green Embassies Campaign emphasises the urgency for national solidarity with the objective of the dissolution of the Islamic Republic, it has to be made clear that Mohamamd Reza Heydari has never been the representative of the Green Wave as it is claimed in their statement.

2. Just like Mohamad Reza Heydari, who willingly and on his own accord defected and joined the people of Iran, following the brutal crackdown of Iranian protesters on the day of Ashura in 2009, other diplomats who defected afterwards, did so voluntarily and to their own accord. The group calling itself the Green Wave had no role in these defections.

3. The Green Wave statement claims “The security arrangement of these individuals [diplomats] is part of the framework of the Green Wave's duties and responsibilities”. It needs to be said that the members of the Green Embassies Campaign, have years of diplomatic experience and are aware of the laws in their host countries, and are capable of their own security and safety arrangements themselves. Any claims by the Green Wave that they are making such security arrangements for the defected diplomats is completely baseless and untrue.

4. At the end, once again we emphasise that strengthening national solidarity, especially amongst Iran's democratic opposition, is one of the strategies of the Green Embassies Campaign. We maintain our independence and while endeavouring to encourage more regime employees abroad to join the Iranian people's struggle, at the same time we stretch our hand in friendship and co-operation to each individual compatriot who is working for the dissolution of the current Islamic regime in bringing about democracy in Iran.

The Green Embassies Campaign

27th Feb, 2011

New Videos from Iran

Mother fights the security forces who want to arrest his son



People in Isfahan beat up anti-riot guard who hit a woman



Baseej on bikes charge through protesters

The Disgraceful Silence of Shiite Clergy

Ever since we were kids, we were told by our elders and by the Shiite clergy about the prophet's grandson, Hossein. He was the embodiment of good against evil, a fearless man of justice who stood up against the tyranny of Yazid, the ruling Khalif at the time, against all odds. The pledge by the Kufa warriors and tribal leaders who had promised loyalty to Hossein turned out to be tall tales of cheap talk bravado. Hossein was left on his own to face the tyrant Yazid, with just seventy two men against a large number of Yazid's army.

All water was cut off to Hossein and his entourage by the ruling Khalif's army. On the seventh day of the month of Muharram, the water storage in Hussein's camp was finished. When Hossein took his six month old baby, Ali-Asghar and asked the tyrant's army for water for his children, they shot arrows at him, one of which killed the six month old baby, Ali-Asghar.

Hossein however refused to back down and cower, as the battle of Karbala began, he told his men:
'I do not see death but as happiness, and living with tyrants but as sorrow.'

And so Hossein and his Seventy Two followers became martyrs that were celebrated by the Shiites ever since. They were all beheaded and their bodies were left for forty days without burial. Hossein's family members were taken prisoners to Syria. We were taught by our elders and by the Shiite clergy to be like Hossein, to be fearless and to stand up to tyranny and that at the end it was Hossein and his Seventy Two men who were victorious and won the hearts.

Today, something very similar to the epic of Karbala is happening in Iran. A courageous man, Karroubi the Lion Heart, has decided to stand by his people to the very end, risking everything including the lives of his own family. Today Karroubi the Lion Heart has embraced Hossein's last words to his warriors. Just like in Karbala, the tyrants cut off his water and supplies. They arrested his son Ali and his wife Nafisseh who is the sister of three war martyrs. The whereabouts of Ali is still unknown. His other son, Hossein is still in hiding. Today neighbours reported that last night there were no lights switched on, the windows are broken and there are no more security outside his house. Giving rise to fears that Karroubi and his wife are taken away to some hideous dungeon.

The news of Moussavi and his wife's whereabouts is no better either. Their children too have said they can not go near their house and have had no news or contact with their parents.

Yet despite all this, the Shiite clergy are all silent. Even Ayatollah Sanei has not dared to issue a public condemnation of such wrongs carried out against a fellow cleric. Worse still, Ayatollah Sistani who is safe and outside Iran has remained silent. So what happened to all those talks and sermons of Hossein's courage? Where are the Shiite clergy today? They told us about Hossein's valour and yet they have decided to emulate the deserters of Kufa today. So were all their sermons poppycock balderdash and just a source of income for their pockets?

Once again the disgraceful silence of the Shiite clergy today, for me is the testimony that organised religion is nothing more than a business. Businessmen whose sermons about justice is nothing more than a sales pitch, whose empty words never materialise when it threatens their interests. For if they truly believed in God, paradise and life after death, why are they so scared? If this life is a mere test for the day of judgement, they have failed miserably, time and time again and they should expect nothing other than hell fire for their lies and their cowardice.

True believers do not wear their piety on their sleeves, they fight evil by not staying silent.

Arrest Warrant for the Mother of Iran's Cyber Hero

An arrest warrant has been issued for the mother of Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki, the true hero of Iran's struggle against internet censorship, who is serving a 15 year jail sentence.

Hossein's mother, Zoleikha Moussavi has been charged with disseminating information about his son by holding interviews with the media outside Iran. Once again today's rulers of Iran, the enemies of knowledge and information have displayed their fear of information and their disregard for a mother's feelings for her beloved son. Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki,  like other political prisoners kept in section 350 in Evin prison, has no visitation right or telephone contact. 

View from a Bus in Tehran

Karroubi the Lion Heart in Grave Danger

As the news of Libya's madman, Gaddafi, massacring his own people is taking over the news in the mass media, the plight of one giant of a man in Iran is being forgotten.

Enraged with the success of the Green Movement protests on 14th Feb, which displayed the double standards of the Islamic Republic to the whole world, the ruling junta in Iran is determined to finally eliminate a lion heart cleric who has chosen to stand by his people to the very end.

Last Tuesday, the regime's henchmen went further than holding him under house arrest. Hired mobs attacked his residence again and camped outside, saying they were waiting for the Supreme Leader to issue his fatwa, so they could decapitate Karroubi and his wife and parade their heads in the streets. Security men ransacked his house, removed his documents and books and occupied his house. Karroubi and his wife are now kept in separate rooms in their house and are forced to eat the food the security agents are giving them. Many fear they will be poisoned in this way.

Pro-government publications started a call in unison to de-robe him, saying he had never been a cleric!

Karroubi's son, Ali and his wife Nafisseh were also arrested. Nafisseh's three brothers were martyred in the war to defend Iran against Saddam's invasion. Ali's whereabouts is still unknown.

Karroubi's other son, Hossein has had to go into hiding and soon may also be arrested.

Amidst all this injustice, cowards like former president Khatami and other Grand Ayatollahs have chosen to remain silent. Clerics are often known for their expediency considerations and running away when the going gets tough, but Karroubi the Lion Heart has been one exceptional cleric who was different and his valour and resoluteness won him the hearts of many, including secularists like myself.

And meanwhile, Ahmadinejad scored another rank hypocrisy today by lecturing Gaddafi on the wrongs of suppressing dissent.

Cruelty Reported Against Bystanders in Ebrat News

No foreign reporters in Iran, means the Islamic Republic can get away with a lot more cruelty and barbarity against protesters than in places like Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain but sometimes the savagery is so indiscriminate and so senseless that even the judiciary news site can not hide it.

Ebrat News is a site close to Iran's judiciary and even this news website has been compelled to write an article about the harms of indiscriminate crackdown during the protests:

The paragraph above describes what was witnessed by a reporter from Ebrat News. Below is the translation:

Around 4:00 pm on Sunday while the Vali Asr Sq was in the control of security and military forces, some citizens, nothing to do with the protesters, were sitting on the steps outside Pasargad Bank near the Square. Amongst them were two elderly women and a young woman with a shopping bag. Several plain clothes agents on bikes in a vulgar way attacked them, one of them who had covered his face with a Baseej scarf hit the old woman several times with an electric truncheon and kept kicking her while hurling profanities at her. Even the younger woman, who seemed to be her daughter and was trying to rescue the older woman, was not spared and she too was floored after being hit with the electric truncheon. 

Ninja Man Identified as Hadi Asgarzadeh

The  IRI security agent acting like a Ninja warrior attacking innocent bystanders with two truncheons, shown in the film here has been identified. I used the film in the last post.

His name is Hadi Asgarzadeh and he was identified when he temporarily removed his masks as he "triumphantly" returned to his friends to boast about hitting unarmed bystanders with two truncheons.

Hadi Asgarzadeh is born in 1983 and entered the Revolutionary Guards in 2001. He is also a full contact martial artist,  who received training in various Revolutionary Guards units. He is known for his psychotic tendencies and love of brutality. In 2005 he beat up his superior, Major Saeed Mozabar and was transferred to a different unit within the Revolutionary Guards. Since then he has been reprimanded a number of times for violent behaviour towards his other colleagues but he is always in demand during the protests.

Hadi Asgarzadeh lives with his parents next to the Motevaselian Sports Complex. 

A Despicable Regime

Never underestimate the Islamic Republic's ability to shoot itself in the foot but equally never underestimate the regime's audacity and ability in making up new stories that contradict with the previous stories they make up.

I do not ever recall any regime to deny a permit for a legitimate peaceful rally and instead use maximum force to crackdown, kill, injure and imprison the protesters and then claim the protesters killed and injured the other protesters! Two people are confirmed killed from Monday's widespread protests, Sanee Zhale, a 26 year old Iranian Sunni Kurd and 22 year old student, Mohamamd Mokhtari. 

Sanee Zhale was the first confirmed death and immediately the regime resorted to a new tactic by claiming he was a supporter of the Islamic Republic and was killed by the MKO or the protesters. Of course this is all reminiscent of their stories about Neda, first it was the BBC, then MI6, then the eye witness doctor, Arash Hejazi, then the MKO etc. who had killed Neda. Press TV, IRI's mouthpiece broadcasting from London made three separate documentaries with three different stories about Neda. Now Press TV is running ads on London buses and London Underground while Iran's Trade Union leaders languish in jail. So much for the Left's International labour solidarity!

What they didn't probably envisage at the time of resorting to this tactic, was that there was so much evidence that Sanee Zhale was a supporter of the Green Movement. His photos with the late Ayatollah Montazeri, the spiritual leader of the Green Movement were the first evidence to counter the regime's claims. Then there were his class mates who confirmed Sanee was part of Moussavi's campaign in the university and an active Green Movement supporter. Sanee had written anti-establishment articles in student magazines and had performed in a student movie, Another Brick in the Wall, banned by the authorities.

An enormous amount of pressure was put on Sanee's family who were told if you do not go along with our story, we will kill your other sons. Yet despite all these threats, Sanee's brother, Ghanee managed to do an interview with VOA Persian and categorically deny that his brother had any sympathy for the regime. Ghanee was arrested shortly after.

So what does the regime do with all this massive amount of evidence against its despicable claims? The new story now is, "We have our moles everywhere who bring us information and Sanee was one of our moles who had penetrated the dissidents and spied for us!"

Has there ever been a more despicable regime than this?



and meanwhile, here is a 'protester' or an 'MKO member' dressed in Special Units uniform and imitating a ninja warrior, beating up innocent bystanders with not one truncheon but two truncheons:

Iran's Valentine Day Martyrs

It is now confirmed that at least two protesters were killed on Monday by the barbaric Islamic Republic regime in Iran.

Sane Jaleh was the first martyr of Monday's protests to be reported. He was a Sunni Kurdish student studying at Tehran Arts Faculty. Just like with Neda, the regime started making up stories that Jaleh was killed by MKO operatives during the protests. It is incredible that after three decades of claims by the Islamic regime that the MKO is dead and buried, they should be able to send their operatives to Iran and amidst all that security on Monday, carry out such an act and get away with it! But just to pour cold water on these ridiculous claims, here is a picture of Jaleh, first from the left, with the dissident cleric and spiritual leader of the Green Movement, the late Ayatollah Montazeri:

Mohamad Mokhtari is the second person confirmed killed in the protests.

He was shot in the shoulder, but even though he was still walking for a while after he was shot, because he wasn't taken to hospital soon enough, he had bled to death. Ironically, the last status on his facebook page read:

'Almighty God! let me die standing up, for I despise lying low in humiliation'

An Eye Witness Account of What Happened in Tehran Today

They separated us in groups.  I am sure that there were at least a million but in every street sign, the guards pushed people north or south.  I marched from Ferdowsi to Yadegar emam with a lot of people and I can estimate about a million people were involved.  Here is a piece that I just sent Golnoush.  Maybe you can get some estimation from it.  People however were filming so I think there would be a flood of videos eventually.

We walked down Gharani Avenue from Karimkhan Avenue to reach Ferdowsi Square around 3 pm.  There were only three of us and we made a promise that if others do not show up we will abandon the march altogether, but were we for a nice surprise.  Even before we got to Ferdowsi Square we saw silent groups of people marching randomly with dedication in their eyes.

3:10 pm the guards were everywhere but not like they were in the Ashura demonstrations (last year).  We reached College Crossway (where Hafez Avenue crosses Enghelab Avenue) and already the sidewalks were filling up with quiet demonstrators without any signs or any slogans.  By the time we reached Vali Asr avenue we realized that the tactic of the guards and the militia is to let groups of people go and then separate them at each cross road so we tried to keep together and stay cool.  3:30 pm marked a painful visual landscape for me that I will never forget; the Basiji thugs and the Revolutionary Guards had brought children in the street.  They gave them clubs and were directing them for the attack, which happened right at that cross road.  The kids were probably 15 or 16 years old but their eyes were filled with hate.  “Good Islamic Teaching, right?” said an elderly man in an angry but muffled voice.

I called my family to tell them where I am but the phones went dead around 3:45 and this was when the bikes rolled into the sidewalks and started beating people.  I was separated from my friends in Enghelaab square but kept on going.  The energy of the people and especially of the women and the elderly was like an electrical charge.  I could not feel the beatings anymore and the clubs kept on coming on our heads, shoulders, legs and knees.  


Right at Jamalzadeh crossing, I heard a cheering crowd and realized that a large group of screaming demonstrators pouring south into Azadi avenue (the continuation of Enghelaab avenue after Enghelaab square towards Azadi square is called Azadi avenue.  The guards stopped all of the busses in the middle of the boulevard and forced us into the middle of the street.  I was feeling a déjà vu as we reached Dampezeshki (Animal Husbandry Hospital).  This was the same place that I was badly beaten in June 2009 post election demonstration.  So I kept myself on the extreme right side of the sidewalk.  It seems that the revolutionary guard thugs repeat the same tactics again because they rounded up the people in the middle of the street and attacked them the same way they did in 2009.  


I slipped through the angry looking guards and plain clothed militia just to confront another scene.
I reached Eskandari street and it looked like a war zone, smoke, dust, tear gas, screaming people and flying stones with regular attacks of the well equipped, motorcycle riding guards.  A petit young girl with a green wristband and a small backpack was walking to my left.  Just before we reached Navab Avenue the guards charged from behind, one of their clubs hit my left leg but three of them attacked the girl relentlessly.  She started to scream and fell down, but the guards kept on hitting her.  I ran towards them, grabbed the girl’s right hand and pulled her out of the hands of the guards.  She was dazed and crying unstoppably. I pushed her north into Navab Avenue towards Tohid square away from Azadi avenue when the guards charged towards us.  This time the crowd fought back and stones of all sizes were sent back to the dogs of war.  This gave me bit of time to ask one of the restaurants to open their door and let us in.  The girl was in shock and pain so I got her some water and tried to see if she was feeling fine.  Her clothes dusty, her backpack torn and her hands shivering she was just asking “WHY?”

The battle in front of the restaurant was an uneven war.  The crowd had only their feasts and stones found on the sides of the street, but the guards were shooting people in the head by paint guns, were spraying pepper gas and shooting tear gas canisters.  Then in a moment that I thought I would never see, to guards ran sat on one foot and fired plastic bullets into the crowd randomly.  We waited until the demonstrators pushed the guards back before leaving the restaurant.   Tear gas smoke was everywhere and the girl offered me a cigarette and although I am not a smoker, the cigarette did alleviate the burning sensation.  Within a few minutes her friends showed up and they went back down to Azadi Avenue.  For them and for all of us, the battle has just begun.
The battle raged on. 

Whether in Cairo or in Tehran, Down with the Tyrants

Today's message was loud and clear and particularly aimed at the hypocrites with double standards:
'Whether in Cairo or in Tehran, Down with the Tyrants'




The Green Movement is alive.
Islamic Republic does not care an iota about the happiness and prosperity of the Egyptians with its rhetoric.
Mubarak was a dictator but the Islamic Regime is ten times worse. At least the international media was allowed in Egypt. At least ElBaradei was able to go to the Tahrir Sq. and speak to the rally.

But as the Iranian protesters chanted today:

Mubarak, Ben Ali, Now its Your Turn Seyd Ali

Message of Solidarity by Tunisian Activist Maryam Ben Omar

Egyptian Youth: Iran Will be Next

Wael Ghonim's Message of Solidarity for Iran's Green Movement

With this one message of solidarity by Wael Ghonim, all efforts by the Islamic Republic regime, Press TV, Stop the War Coalition etc. who were trying to get a free ride on the back of the Egyptian protesters fighting for democracy in Egypt has been wasted.

With this one message of solidarity, an enormous moral boost has been given to the people of Iran and the Green Movement. Solidarity is important and solidarity works. Just hope the UK trade unions will now see the light and express solidarity with the jailed transport union leaders in Iran and remove the latest Press TV posters from London underground and buses.

Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian activist hailed by observers worldwide as a hero and one of the leaders of the Egyptian uprising, appeared with a green wristband during his public speeches and interviews. As the peaceful protests after the disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran were named the “Green Movement,” Ghonim’s green wristband has become a source of interest for Iranians.

Ghonim played a major role in organizing the protests that have shaken Egypt for the past two weeks. His Facebook page is widely credited with inviting Egyptians to their first public protest on 25 January. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Ghonim thanked the people of Iran for organizing a demonstration on 14 February, in solidarity with the people of Egypt and Tunisia, and thanked the Iranian civil rights movement.

Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who took time off from his job to be in Cairo during the protests, was freed last Monday after being held by Egyptian authorities for 10 days. He is one of the best known speakers for the Egyptian people’s movement.

When asked by the Campaign whether the motivation behind his green wristband is Iran’s Green Movement, he said: “That was just a coincidence, but I’m happy you guys made the connection!”

“I would tell Iranians to learn from the Egyptians, and we have learned from you guys that at the end of the day with the power of people, we can do  whatever we want to do.  If we unite our goals, if we believe, then all our dreams can come true,” is the prominent Egyptian activist’s message to Iranians on the threshold of the 14 February demonstrations.

The Litmus Test of Islamic Republic's Sincerity with Egypt's Protests

The protests in Egypt have been a God send for the Islamic Republic in many ways, but the protests have also further highlighted the hypocrisy of the ruling junta in Iran. Watching any of IRI media outlets, whether the state TV broadcasts inside Iran or the English language Press TV broadcasts from London, should enrage any unbiased and politically aware viewer into saying 'You hypocrites what you did to Iran's  protesters was ten times worse'. Imagine how many millions of Iranians would turn out if the Iranian Army moved into Azadi Square and guaranteed the safety of the protesters in full view of the foreign media and their 24/7 coverage of it? Millions more than the 200,000 Egyptian protesters who turned out at Tahreer Sq. last week for sure.

IRI's hypocritical coverage of the Egyptian protests was followed by the Supreme Leader's sermon made in Arabic, last Friday. It was incitement, interference and manipulation and all the sort of things he was accusing others of doing during last year's protests in Iran.

Now Moussavi and Karroubi have asked for something which should act as the litmus test of IRI's sincerity in backing the legitimate demands of the Egyptian protesters. In an open letter to Mostafa Najar, Iran's interior minister, they have asked for a permit to stage a rally on Monday, 14th February in solidarity with the people of Egypt. According to the Iranian constitution, there should be no reason what so ever to oppose the permit and if they really are sincere about the plight of Egyptian people, why shouldn't such a rally be permitted? If they oppose the permit or simply do not reply, the Egyptian people should be made aware that IRI is not worried about them but pursuing its own agenda. They did not liberate the people of Iran, they will not liberate Egyptians, Palestinians or any other people. 

BBC Persian Does it Again!

When Nasrollah's anti-Persian video went round the internet and inflamed the feelings of Iranians, it was some BBC Persian reporter who sawed the seeds of doubt by claiming the video was a fake. In fact it was totally genuine, the text of Nasrollah's speech was available on Hezbollah's website and confirmed exactly with what was said on the video of his speech.

On Saturday, BBC Persian made another similar suspicious error. The demonstration by some Afghans is clearly against the Iranian regime and the recent executions in Iran. The banner clearly says 'We condemn the execution of political prisoners by the Iranian REGIME', yet the BBC headline says 'Anti-IRANIAN Protests across several Afghan Cities'.
The claim that this is some anti-Iranian protest is not just in the headline, it is also included in the main text. It says, anti-Iranian protests in Afghanistan started at the ...

BBC Persian seriously needs to review its personnel seriously sharpish.

Azadi Sq. (Tehran) v Tahrir Square (Cairo)

Look how many "affluent North Tehran" kids took part in the protests in Tehran (Left) and nearly 'all sections' of the Egyptian society turning up to Tharir Sq. in Cairo (Right)

This is reported as 'Mass Demonstration' by the Western Mainstream media

and yet Iran protests were so under reported. Why? Because IRI quickly kicked out foreign journalists and cracked down hard on any one seen with a mobile phone camera.

Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, the Differences

It is of course always heart warming to see people any where in the world overcoming despotic regimes. As the Iranian historian Kasravi said 'Nothing is as rapturous as when the people win their freedom'. The recent events in Tunisia and in Egypt, the people power challenging a despotic regime, had many similarities with the events in Iran last year, but there are stark differences which may explain why it seems the concessions won in Tunisia and Egypt have been gained so much quicker.

Watching the pictures from Tunisia and Egypt, it looks the crowd sizes in Iran were much larger. None of the protests in Egypt or Tunisia came any where near the three million crowd who came to the streets in Tehran, six days after the fraudulent elections in June last year. The repression by the regime in Iran was many times more brutal and savage than that in Tunisia or Egypt however. People in Egypt and Tunisia were not attacked in their homes and pulled from their roof tops for simply chanting Allah Akbar at night. The injured protesters in Tunisia and Egypt were not attacked in hospitals and dragged from their hospital beds. Protesters were not arrested and bused into detention centres like Kahrizak and raped in Tunisia and Egypt like they were in Iran.

The Iranian regime is one that seized power through a revolution and is thus well experienced in how to avert a revolution. As a friend of mine in Iran quoted his revolutionary guards commander "we will do everything the Shah didn't do and not do any thing that the Shah did during the 1979 revolution. Just one concession will open the floodgates and increase people's confidence in overthrowing the regime, we will not give one concession to the protesters"

Just one reminder of how brutal the repression in Iran was, watch the video of attack on student dormitories here, which resulted in five students killed:



Foreign journalists were not kicked out in Egypt and Tunisia as they were in Iran quickly after the protests erupted.

When Iranian protesters used social networking tools like Facebook and twitter and citizen journalists uploaded their mobile phone pictures and videos, the Iranian protesters were quickly labeled by rich Western Left-wing intellectuals as "affluent North Tehran kids" who did not represent the country.

Had these pictures been taken in Iran, these girls would have been labeled as middle class elite:

In Tunisia, Trade Unions with several thousand members existed and could be used to organise the protests. In Iran, the smallest gathering and organisation which is not sanctioned and controlled by the official channels is impossible to survive.

Obama and other Western leaders were quick to condemn violence in Egypt and Tunisia, yet when it came to Iran, they dithered and fretted in case their condemnation of killings was interpreted by the Iranian regime as Western interference!

Overthrow of any fierce dictatorship needs the broadest possible coalition, but many Iranian expats did all they could to undermine such coalition and propagate divisions.

Watching all this perhaps nothing was more annoying than the filthy Press TV hypocrite, Yvonne Ridley claim "What the Egyptian people are doing is so courageous because what they are facing, as we can see on our screens, is this terrible machine which seeks to instil fear and brutalises the people."

Yvonne Ridley of course ignores the courageous people who rose up against the terrible state terror machine of her pay masters in Iran.

Stop the War Coalition who through out the protests in Iran refused to express any solidarity with the Iranian protesters by using the excuse that "we are only concerned with war situations" did not lose any time to express solidarity with the people of Egypt. Next Wednesday, they will hold a public meeting in Conway Hall in solidarity with the Egyptian uprising, with speakers like George Galloway and John Rees, God help the Egyptian people from such solidarity expressions!


As Mark Urban said on BBC tonight, "all such revolutions are of epic importance and consequences, the outcome however is uncertain and any extremist violent minority group could seize power as they did in Iran in 1979 and in Russia in 1917"
The chances of a violent minority group seizing power through protests in Iran last year was always much more remote, because of the tolerance and peacefulness displayed by the protesters throughout the protests:

So what Happened with Stuxnet?

Friday Prayer leader of Mashad, NE Iran, is well known for his outrageous and beyond stupid sermons but I think one his claims, made two years ago, that the Hidden Imam (the Lord of All Ages) is helping Iran's nuclear industry, tops all of his shows.

In an interview two years ago with Raja News, Seyed Ahmad Alam-al-Hoda, claimed that Iran's nuclear scientists had been to see him in Mashad the year before and told him that to move forward with obtaining the nuclear technology, they had purchased a machinery equipment. "The machinery did not work however until the Hidden Imam pointed out there were tiny little holes in it which could not even be observed with the most powerful microscopes!!"

He then went on to say, "some dismiss claims that the management of the country is being aided and supervised by the Hidden Imam, they seem to think that after 1200 years of occultation, the Hidden Imam has become some idle figure living on an island with his family. Some ignorant people say that this island is the same Bermuda Island but the Americans have gone there and have said there is no Hidden Imam there."

Some may really have believed Alam-al-Hoda, when he made the claim about Hidden Imam advising the nuclear scientists about the defects in the machinery that had been purchased, but I wonder if they now ask, so why didn't the Hidden Imam do anything about the Stuxnet virus? Does he just advise on hardware defects and not software issues?

Alam-al-Hoda did however ask a valid question in that infamous interview with the Iranian hardline daily, Rajanews. He asked, those who think the Hidden Imam is not playing a role in running the world and managing Iran's affairs but instead is resting until he is called upon, should ask why would there then be a need for a 1200 year old Imam, when the Almighty might as well create one overnight and send him before it is the right time?

Mossad Agent or Pro-Ahmadinejad Intelligent Officer?

When Majid Jamali Fashi was paraded on Iranian TV as the Mossad agent who had assassinated Iranian physicist, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, it wasn't so much his calm demeanour that prompted questions in my mind but something he said that didn't sound right. Majid Jamali talked about landing at Tel Aviv airport and the visa officer at the airport, who only spoke Hebrew, started giving him problems until the Israeli officer in charge of the operation, waiting in the queue behind him,  stepped forward, showed his ID card, sorted out the misunderstanding and took him through.

First question that came to my mind was, if someone was recruited to carry out such an operation, would they go through the normal visa channels in the airport? and even if yes, wouldn't the officer in charge, go up to the visa desk first and explain what is going on, then ask the recruit to come forward? Also  where in the world, apart from in Dulles Airport, Washington, do Visa officers at the airports not speak some English?



With these questions in mind, more information about who Majid Jamali Fashi is, has come about. Pictures of him taking part in a kick-boxing tournament in Australia in July, 2010 appeared.
He is seen in this picture standing outside the ring with a camera, while the other member of IRI kick boxing team, Ashkan Tahmasebi, draped in an Islamic Republic flag, is waiting to start his bout.

Just to make it 100% certain that it is him, the tattoo on his left arm gives the game away:

 

In his televised confessions, Jamali claims to have gone to Israel via Baku, Azerbaijan. Fars News and other martial arts websites on the other hand report he was one of the medal winners during the tournament there in August 2009. People who know Majid Jamali, have claimed he is a die hard Ahamdinejad supporter, who took part in beating up peaceful demonstrators during the widespread street protests by the Green Movement. 

There are more questions about the assassination of Iranian physicists too. Just a handful of them:

- Why would such elite units of foreign agencies assassinate two physicists who had nothing to do with the nuclear program? Both AliMohammadi and Shahriari were Iran's representatives on the SESAME project. A regional research project which even includes Israel as one of the project participants.

- Why were these elite units so successful in eliminating two research physicists but failed so miserably in assassinating Fereydoon Abbassi, who is working on the nuclear program and who has been on the sanctions list and a member of the revolutionary guards?

- Why did these elite units choose to carry out their assassination in such an attention grabbing way in middle of Tehran traffic in broad day light, with a high probability of getting caught?

- Why were no cctv footage or appeals made for the witnesses to come forward with information about what the assassins looked like, what their motor bikes were like etc. Compare this with the trouble the intelligence ministry goes to when they want to identify someone who has taken part in a peaceful demonstration.

- What did the reported encounter between the former Iranian Science Minister and his Israeli counter-part during the SESAME project conference in Jordan, while the two assassinate Iranian physicists were there, have to do with these assassinations? Did the physicists come across something they should not have?

Most important of all, why are no Western media asking any of these questions and just repeating what the official IRI line is? Are the Western intelligence agencies and Israeli intelligence agencies actually enjoying these stories, because it makes them look more powerful than they really are? Is it actually to the benefit of the Israeli hardliners to have a hardline Iran uttering hardline rhetoric? 

The Superstitious Nonsense on Iranian State TV

I remember six years ago, we had gone along one of the polling booths held in London, when Ahmadinejad first stood as a candidate for president of the Islamic Republic. We were asking people why they were voting? Some would talk to us and most would ignore us. One Iranian woman voter who did talk to us gave a particularly strange answer. She said 'My 16 year old son and my husband are both against this lot [the ruling clerics], but I always come and vote for Imam Zaman [12th Shiite Imam who went into occultation many centuries ago and will one day return to rid the earth form oppression and corruption]'.

A bizarre answer that prompted my question 'But dear lady, Imam Zaman is not standing as a candidate in this so-called election?!' and she just shook her head and said 'well thats who I am voting for' and went passed me.

I wondered what the source of all this ignorance and superstition was at the time that did not even spare an Iranian woman living here in UK.

These clips from Iranian state TV are just a glimpse of constant bombardment of superstition and nonsense beamed at viewers. Just like the 'If you see Sid...Tell him' commercial from British Gas which still managed to attract 200,000 share applicants from the public who could have bought the BG shares cheaper, in the aftermath of the stock market crash, from any other broker, it proves how powerful Television propaganda is and no matter how much nonsense it blares out, it will still attract an audience.

In the clip below, presenters are presenting the question of whether the Imam Zaman has married and whether he has any children? Some have even sent pictures of Imam Zaman's family to the program:



and in the clip below, the program guest describes the conditions required for the Hidden Imam's return. Apparently some signs that tell His return is imminent have already manifested themselves, like:
'Increase in money lending, Increase in music, women dressing their hair like "camel humps", women riding horses, sky scrapers,..., more people playing chess...'

and the signs that have not manifested themselves yet, amongst them being discussed by "scholars":
"The sun rising form the West"!

Fear of the Consequences of Talking

The hardest thing to explain to a Western apologist of dictatorships, is the fear people have of looking over their shoulders or their fear of the consequences of what they say. The useful idiots simply can not understand that when they talk to a passer by in a dictatorship, he or she will not tell them what is really in their hearts.

I remember when human rights activist, James Mawdsley was released from Burmese prison and returned to England, one of the first things he appreciated was this feeling of not having to look over your shoulder when you say something.

This fear of who you are talking to and what you say can best be demonstrated in this footage below. Two documentary making students have a permit to make a documentary about Neda Sultan, presumably to make yet another ridiculous claim about how Neda was murdered. They are simply asking the residents and passers by where Neda was nurdered, if they know what had happened in that street? Not one person wants to answer:

Regime's Revenge on Sotoudeh will Backfire

The independence of Iran's judiciary has now become a subject for comedy and satire and with the latest harsh sentence against the human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, any pretence of its independence will now only be made by some half wit or a sycophant with a vested interest other than the truth.

11 years prison sentence, 20 years ban from working as a lawyer and 20 years ban from leaving the country, was the court's sentence against Sotoudeh. The breakdown of the sentence is 1 year for propaganda against the regime, five years against their favourite charge, 'action against national security' and five years for appearing without a hejab in a video she had sent to the International Human Rights Organisation of Italy, a non-governmental organisation which had awarded her the International Award of Human Rights in 2008, because she was unable to receive the prize herself after being banned form leaving the country.

Sotoudeh's interrogators from the intelligence ministry had told her she would remain in prison for more than ten years and yesterday's sentence by Judge Pir-Abbassi was nothing other than obliging to the wishes of the intelligence ministry which now effectively runs the judiciary in Iran.

This sentence was a warning to other lawyers in Iran, who dared defend dissidents and activists. Even defending dissidents and activists is now a crime in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A regime which as described by other Iranian clerics is neither Islamic, nor a Republic nor Iranian.

Just like the Burmese government was unable to diminish the status of Aung San Suu Kyi by sentencing her to a long term prison sentence, nor will the Islamic Republic have any success in reducing Sotoudeh's status as a national hero of Iran for eternity.

Nearly Reached 100,000 Unique Visitors in a Year

I can't believe it has been five years since I started this blog, but quite pleased about the stats. A steady rise every year in the number of people who read the blog. Of course 2009 was an exceptional year but I am pleased the increase in viewers continued into 2010.

The Useless Studio

Remember all the regime hype about the Great Conference of Iranians Abroad? How Galloway started his speech with the opening verse of Koran's chapter, and reported it as a huge show of approval for Ahmadinejad's administration by Iranians from all walks of life from around the world? How an unknown man claimed he was an expat businessman who had turned down a multi-million Dollar deal because the contract included a slight disrespectful remark towards Ahamdinejad and kneeled in front of him after uttering all that nonsense?

One of the many huge budgets allocated for this propaganda stunt was a $200,000 budget dedicated to a TV studio that would report the post-conference activities of the Council of Iranians Abroad headed by non other than Rahim Mashaei, who is being groomed as Ahmadinejad's successor. It was said at the time, that the dedicated studio will record and broadcast news related to the activities of this entity on a daily basis.

In fact there has been ZERO programs made since. Far from Galloway's claims that the conference was a show of approval towards Ahmadinejad's administration by Iranians from all walks of life, it seems the whole show has amounted to nothing more than an opportunistic attempt by some treacherous Iranian expats for a free flight and holiday to Iran with nothing else to follow up afterwards.

NUS and Trade Unionists Against Habibollah Latifi's Execution

The Islamic Republic regime has tried to exploit the UK student protests for its own propaganda. The joint statement below is a slap in the face of IRI's opportunistic exploits. If the regime does goes ahead with the execution of Habibollah Latifi, it would have only shot itself in the foot by further showing its true savage nature.

This statement has been sponsored by the NCAFC and the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, an international campaign to support workers, students and resistance activists in Iran.

Please add your name by emailing againstfeesandcuts@gmail.com

We the undersigned call for the release of, and dropping of all charges against, Iranian student Habibollah Latifi. This is urgent: Latifi’s execution was scheduled for 26 December 2010; it was postponed after international protests and after 300 supporters protesting outside the prison gates, but could be rescheduled at any time.

Latifi, who was a law student at Azad University in the south western province of Ilam, in Western Iran, was arrested in October 2007 and sentenced to death in July 2008 after being convicted of moharebeh (‘enmity against God’), a vaguely defined ‘crime’ for which the penalty is death. This was in connection with alleged activities on behalf of a Kurdish liberation group (Latifi is from Iran’s oppressed Kurdish minority; according to Amnesty International, sixteen Kurdish men and two women are on death row in Iran in connection with alleged ‘separatist’ activities).

On 26 December, members of his family including his father and sister were also arrested.

We call on the Iranian authorities to drop all charges against Habibollah Latifi and release him and his family. We will continue to make solidarity with Iranian student activists, who alongside workers have been at the forefront of the struggle for human rights and democracy in Iran.

Initial signatories:
Patrick Murphy, National Union of Teachers National Executive member and Leeds NUT Secretary
Olivia Bailey, National Union of Students Women’s Officer
Barnaby Raine, School and FE Students Against the Cuts
Sean Rillo Raczka, National Union of Students National Executive Committee and Birkbeck Students’ Union Chair
Alan Bailey, NUS Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Officer (Open Place)
Vicki Baars, NUS LGBT Officer (Women’s Place)
Claire Locke, London Metropolitan University SU Communications and Campaigns Officer
Louis Hartnoll, University of the Arts London SU President
Robyn Minogue, University of the Arts SU Education Officer
Wanda Canton, Queen Mary SU Women’s Officer
Katherine McMahon, Edinburgh University anti-cuts activist
Michael Chessum, NCAFC co-founder and UCL Union Education and Campaigns Officer
Daniel Lemberger Cooper, Royal Holloway Anti-Cuts Alliance and Save our services in Surrey
Bob Sutton, Merseyside Network Against Fees and Cuts
Tali Janner-Klausner, London NCAFC activist
Rowan Rheingans, Newcastle University anti-cuts activist
Jade Baker, University of Westminster SU Vice-President Education
Chris Marks, Hull University occupier

Help us to stop the Iranian state murdering Habibollah Latifi! Please add your name by emailingagainstfeesandcuts@gmail.com
We call on NUS and other student networks like the Education Activist Network to support the campaign and promote this statement.

Latest on Latifi's Situation

Execution of Habibollah Latifi, who has been in jail for three years, was delayed after protests but his entire family are now arrested. See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/27/iran-arrests-family-kurdish-activist

Islamic Republic has invested a lot of propaganda in exploiting the recent protests by UK students. A single statement by the NUS distancing itself from the Islamic Republic and in support of Iran's students can totally spoil all that regime propaganda and show them that executing Iranian students will have a price tag for them. Yet, despite all this, still no statement form the NUS.

Fears for Iranian Student's Execution on Sunday

On Sunday most people in the free world will be recovering from celebrating the festive season. Quite right too, life is all about working, contributing, loving, resting and enjoying its moments. The terror machine of the Islamic Republic, knows no such things however. Its one efficiency, bringing death and misery to its people remains unhindered.

Iranian student, Habibollah Latifi's family are not looking forward to Sunday. They are fearing that Habibollah will be executed. Habibollah Latifi's lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht has been notified that the execution of his client will be carried out on Sunday.

Born on 21St March, Iranian New Year, 1981, Habibollah was a gifted child. He loved sports and excelled in football. He played for Sanandaj Municipal football team but quit playing after it was required of him to join the local Baseej militia. In 2002, Habibollah entered the Ilam University after having graduated with a Maths/Physics diploma to study Industrial Engineering. He was also keen on working with NGOs and cared much for environmental issues. He joined two environmental NGOs, Zhianeh Vah and Shahoo.

And They Complain About UK Police Brutality

For those British students who were getting too enthusiastic to appear before Press TV and describe UK police brutality, this is police brutality in the state which funds Press TV:

Religious Tax on Subsidy Cash

I have never tried to interfere in people's spiritual beliefs nor do I ever publicly talk about mine. How people want to make themselves feel comfortable with the mysteries of afterlife and the tragedies that hit us all during our lifetime is a private matter and no one else's business so long as others are not hurt. At the same time I have never concealed my despise for organised religion and men who want to profit from making God into a business.

'Khums', literally meaning one fifth, is a religious tax demanded by the Grand Ayatollahs or Sources of Emulation from the Shiite faithful. Every Shiite faithful is duty bound to pay one fifth of his income to his chosen Source of Emulation.

On Saturday, Ahmadinejad finally announced the removal of subsidies which have been keeping the prices artificially low in Iran's economy. To ease the pain of this move, each Iranian will receive a cash pittance amount in their bank accounts. In his televised announcement, Ahmadinejad, true to his messianic nature, referred to this cash as the Hidden Imam's money. A zero interest loan endowed to the people of Iran by the Lord of All Ages, Imam Mehdi, who will return and rid the earth from corruption and injustice. How far this cash will go and whether this cash injection into the economy will cause inflation or hyperinflation is not what I want to talk about however.

What I want to talk about is what I read on this Iranian news website:
http://khabaronline.ir/news-117343.aspx
The cash subsidy is nevertheless an income and so it has brought up the question to the Shiite faithful, will they have to pay 'Khoms' on this cash subsidy?! Will they go to hell if they don't?

Norwegian Eyewitness to the Massacre of Ashura Protesters in Iran Last Year

Norwegian student who witnessed the masacre of Ashura protesters in Iran last year, talks to amnesty international.

The Norwegian student, named as Lars, agreed to give his first interview with the media about what he experienced on 27th December, last year in Iran, when he was arrested and taken to an intersection in central Tehran.



The student's unprecedented depiction of the horror experience in Iran during December 2009, is now known through a document from the website Wikileaks alerts that VG Nett has been granted access.

Read the exclusive report in Norway's VG Nett:
http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/wikileaks/artikkel.php?artid=10028244

Global Solidarity with Iran's Prisoners of Conscience

They thought they kept them away from their families, what they didn't realise is that now they have an even bigger family:

Nourizad's Heroic Stand Against the Evil Judge

I have written about Mohammad Nourizad before. Shortly after I translated his letters from prison, barbed wire and flowers, Nourizad was put before yet another kangaroo court.

The evil judge was the overweight and notorious Judge Moghisseh, who started reading Nourizad's file during his summary trial. Nourizad asked the judge 'Should you not have read my file before this court?' Moghisseh answered ' We are busy, we don't have time'.

Moghisseh then told Nourizad 'You have to prove these allegations you have made'
Nourizad knowing that this is nothing more than a show trial, where the sentence was already dictated beforehand to the judge by the intelligence ministry, replied:
'I recognise neither you nor this court'
Judge Moghisseh told the clerk to write down Nourizad's reply and then told Nourizad:
'If you don't prove your allegations you will be whipped'
Nourizad defied the judge again 'You fear the intelligence ministry, I do not recognise you as a just judge'
Moghisseh getting more irrated continued with his threats 'You pathetic creature, do you know what I will do with you?'
Nourizad remained resolute however 'Do whatever you can, one year, ten years, twenty years, life imprisonment, with each unjust sentence you issue, you fan the flames of your own hell fire'
Moghisseh answered 'You foreign lackey, I will show you. Prove to me what you have written about Abdollah Momeni and Hamzeh Karami'
Nourizad mocked the judge again 'And what if I call the interrogators here and prove it to you? Are you up to giving a judgement against them? No, you are not! for that reason I have not the slightest regard for you.'

Moghisseh 'I have hanged bigger fish than you. I have been a judge for thirty years'

It took judge Moghisseh ten seconds to hand down another further two years imprisonment for Nourizad.

Nourizad has been on hunger strike since Saturday. He said 'I want the Ashura this year to coincide with the day my corpse falls on their heads'.

BBC Persian and Shirin Ebadi's Problem with the Media Focus on Sakineh

When Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize, I was utterly disappointed with her for losing the best opportunity until then to highlight the Human Rights abuses in Iran. There she was with the whole world's attention focused on her winning the prize and yet she chose to highlight the problems of Palestinians and remain silent on the  plight of her own people.

Many years ago, I attended a meeting by Shirin Ebadi for an Iranian audience at Imperial College, London . There she spoke beautifully about the fundamental wrongs of Iran's legal system, why elections in Iran are fraudulent from the start and the plight of Iran's prisoners of conscience. We were told to hand in our questions in writing during the break. My question was 'why does she not say these things when she faces an international audience?' and she chose not to answer that question.

With the start of the Green Movement, Shirin Ebadi however stood resolutely by the people of Iran. The regime's brutality in suppressing all dissent and all peaceful protesters in such a barbaric way, united the people of Iran in an unprecedented way in the last thirty years. Old differences and criticisms of each other was forgotten, and defeating the coup administration became the common goal that united all of us despite our previous tactical differences.

And so I too became supportive of Shirin Ebadi and backed her efforts to highlight the human rights abuses in Iran and her attempts to solicit international help for the pro-democracy movement.

Iran's Student Remembrance Day at SOAS

Press TV has been making a big song and dance about the recent UK student protests, although conveniently Press TV didn't mention a dicky bird about the nationwide student protests that took place in Iran last Tuesday. Below is a footage of Green Movement supporters in London, commemorating the Iranian Student Day at SOAS by displaying pictures of jailed Iranian students. I hope at least the UK students who came across these pictures will become aware as to why they should shun the mouthpiece of a repressive state that kills and jails Iranian students for expressing their opinions.

Islamic Republic, nor its mouthpiece television, Press TV, is no friend of students, it is the enemy of knowledge.

A Tree for Neda and Other Martyrs of Iran's Pro-Democracy Movement

I remember watching a documentary about the massacre of Polish officers by Stalin. The documentary showed the children of the Polish officers who for the first time, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, were able to visit the Katyn forests where their heroic fathers had been buried by Stalin's henchmen. Huge trees had grown by the graves of these Polish officers, as tall and proud as the men who lied beneath them. One Polish woman hugged one of the trees, and said 'This is my father' and cried with joy. There is something about trees that represents eternal life, dignity and pride and those Polish children of the massacred officers saw their martyred fathers live on in the lofty trees of Katyn forest in Russia. 

Just opposite the Iranian embassy in London, coinciding with the International Human Rights day, a tree was planted today in honour of the martyrs of Iran's Green Movement. The tree was named Neday-e-Iran, the 'Calling of Iran'.

The ceremony started by traditional Persian music played by the flute followed by some speeches and ended with the singing of Ey Iran anthem. Amnesty International's representative, Drewery Dyke, was also there and emphasised the importance of remembering the fallen heroes.

I hope Neday-e-Iran tree will one day become huge and enormous, tall with lots of branches and full of green leaves, and remain there overlooking the Iranian embassy long after the present occupiers are gone.

Iran's Students, the Bravest of Them All

Borzou Daragahi from LA Times, has made it easier for me by his well written round up of the events in Iran over the last two days. See 'IRAN: Despite crackdown, students stage anti-government protests nationwide'. The courage shown by Iran's students yesterday has shown the world, that the Green Movement is still alive and the yearning for change will not go away despite all the crackdown and all the repression. Iran's students, the bravest of them all.

Islamic Republic of Iran: Where the Witness is Jailed and the Killer is Free

Leyla Tavassoli is a young female Iranian engineer and a newly wed. It is less than a month since she has been married but instead of enjoying the best days of her marriage, she has to spend the next two years in jail. Her crime is that she was a witness to the IRI police running over and killing Shahram Farajizadeh during the Ashura uprising last December. Leyla Tavassoli spent two months in section 209 of Evin prison last year before she was released on bail and now her sentence of two years imprisonment has been confirmed by the appeal courts.

Shahram Farajzadeh's sister has called Leyla Tavassoli, Ashura's contemporary equivalent of Zeinab, the prophet's grand daughter who was taken hostage and forced to march to Damascus by Yazid's forces after the battle of Karbala on Ashura.



'I am lost for words as how to thank Leyla for her courage in bearing witness to my brother's murder and as how to express my sadness as the pain this has caused Leyla and her family. Men looked up to Zeynab for her courage and sacrifice and today Leyla has emulated Zeynab's courage by bearing witness to what happened on Ashura. I know not how these 'gentlemen' - regime officials - manage to sleep at night?' Shahram Farajzadeh said.

'They have had no trial for those who murdered my brother and no one has even been investigated, yet the witness to my brother's murder is jailed for two years. I congratulate these 'gentlemen' for making all other tyrants look innocent in comparison with themselves' Mrs Farajzadeh continued as she fought hard to stop herself from crying.

Iran Students Will Die Before They Accept Humiliation

One Day Ahead of Iran's National Student Day, a traditional time for student protests:


Death to the Dictator:

Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, Moussavi's Advisor at UCL

Ardeshir Amir Arjomand is a former law professor at Beheshti University and a top adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi. He was detained after the post-election protests last year but managed to flee Iran. Pro-Ahmadienjad sites like Javan Online, described him as Moussavi's legal adviser in his campaign HQ, and as usual, accused him of having links with the MKO and foreign intelligence services etc.

Yesterday he spoke at the Wilkins Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, UCL, where he described the Green Movement as a pluralistic movement with no centralised leadership command centre and a modus operandi of non-violent struggle based on tolerance of other views and adherence to basic human rights principles. 'The hardliners have shown they have nothing but violence as their only means to remain in power. They also realised that they are unable to use all of Baseej and all of Revolutionary Guards to crackdown on peaceful protesters and hence they had to deploy criminal thugs and hoodlums to confront peaceful protesters. They have passed the peak of their ability in suppressing the movement and the only way for them now is down. This is what they are scared of and this is why we should remain optimistic about the future. If we lose our hope, we would have handed the authorities a winning card they desperately need'

After his speech he fielded a range of questions without any hesitation or red boundaries which included questions like Mousavi's role as the Prime Minister during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, Moussavi's economic policies for the future, the next phase of the struggle for change and evidence of cheating in the elections.

On the evidence of election fraud, he said not only there were numerous irregularities but the results were engineered as well. He then listed a number of these irregularities and said there was even an audio recording which commanded what the provincial counts should be announced as regardless of what the actual counts were. Most of all, the very fact that the regime refuses to set up an independent commission to review the complaints made about the election fraud, itself is indicative that the elections were engineered.

Arjomand then used the case of Taraneh Moussavi, as an example of how the regime tries to block the truth and any investigation into the truth. He mocked the pathetic attempt by the administration to pretend the only Taraneh Moussavi in a similar age range resides in Canada and swore on his honour that he, himself had personally interviewed an eye witness who was detained with Taraneh Moussavi at the time.

IRI Police Priorities

Below is a glimpse of one of many savageries shown by IRI police and Law Enforcement Forces against ordinary people. Where else in the world would you find police smashing up people's cars and throwing rocks at people's homes?




Here is another one. IRI special units are seen jumping on cars and smashing them up like juvenile thugs. A man is seen lying unconscious, only one brave bystander is seen coming to his aid, while the IRI police continue with their orgy of violence and destruction:



Here is the IRI police standing by as a murder victim is left to bleed to death. Bystanders who want to help are threatened by the murderer as the two policemen stand by and watch



And today this is the latest video from Iran, where police dare not apprehend the killer for some reason. The dead body is left on the road as cars swerve past. Quite a contrast from their trigger happy, batton happy approach towards peaceful protesters last year as is blatantly evident.

The IRI police and Law Enforcement Forces seem so busy and overstretched cracking down on pro-democracy activists that they have no time to deal with day to day crimes.

New Video from the Ashura Uprising Last Year

New video of 25 year old Amir Arshad Tajmir, who was ran over by a police car during the Ashura uprising last year.