tagged w/ Tehran
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It's the first time the prestigious Polk award has been given in anonymity and the first award for videography. From their site (http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2009.html):
"The George Polk Award for Videography will recognize the efforts of the people responsible for recording the death of 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan at a June protest in Tehran, Iran, and uploading the video to the Internet. Ms. Agha-Soltan reportedly was shot by a pro-government militiaman. The video, which shows the woman collapsing to the ground and being attended to by several men as she lay dying on the street, became a rallying point for the reformist opposition in Iran after it was broadcast over the Internet. Seen by millions as it spread virally across the Web, the images quickly gained the attention of international media."
Is it representative of the death of professional journalism? I don't think so. It was professional journalists who put this video clip into context for us. Who told Neda Agha Soltan's story. Who have done exemplary and dogged work documenting on-going brutality from the Iranian regime.
This award, however, is a recognition of how many of the most powerful and influential moments and images in journalism today come not from professional journalists but from ordinary people in extraordinary situations.
Warning: This video is extremely graphic.It's the first time the prestigious Polk award has been given in anonymity and... more
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that evidence was mounting that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapon.
'The evidence is accumulating that that's exactly what they are trying to do,' Mrs Clinton said in remarks in the Qatari capital, Doha.She said Washington wants a peaceful solution to the nuclear dispute with Iran, but does not want to engage with Tehran 'while they are building their bomb'.
'I would like to figure out a way to handle it in as peaceful an approach possible, and I certainly welcome any meaningful engagement, but ... we don't want to be engaging while they are building their bomb,' she added.
Mrs Clinton is in on a three-day trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, aimed at enlisting broader regional support in a drive to stop Iran's sensitive nuclear work.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that evidence was mounting that Iran... more
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PART ONE...
Iranians Rally For 31st Anniversary Of Revolution
by The Associated Press
February 11, 2010
Security forces dispersed opposition protests as hundreds of thousands of government supporters massed Thursday in a central square of the Iranian capital to mark the 31st anniversary of the revolution that created the Islamic republic.
Authorities clamped down hard to prevent a major show of force by the opposition amid one of the country's most important political occasions. Tehran residents also reported Internet speeds dropping dramatically and e-mail services such as Gmail being blocked in a common government tactic to foil opposition attempts to organize.
Dozens of hard-liners with batons and pepper spray attacked the convoy of a senior opposition leader, Mahdi Karroubi, as he tried to join the anti-government protests, his son Hossein Karroubi told The Associated Press. The attackers - believed to be members of the Basij civilian militia - damaged several cars and smashed windows on Karrobi's car, though he escaped unharmed, he said.
Security forces also briefly detained the granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and her husband, who are both senior pro-reform politicians, the opposition Web site Rahesabz reported.
It was one of the most high-profile detentions in the crackdown by authorities. The granddaughter, Zahra Eshraghi, and her husband Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is the brother of a former pro-reform president, were held for about an hour before being released, the site said. The report could not be independently confirmed, but the site has been credible in the past.
The anniversary celebrations were an opportunity for Iran's clerical regime to tout its power in the face of the opposition movement, which has persisted in holding mass street protests since disputed presidential elections in June despite months of a fierce security crackdown.
In the revolution celebrations, state television showed images of thousands upon thousands carrying often identical banners marching along the city's broad avenues toward the central Azadi, or Freedom, Square, to attend a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In Azadi Square itself, massive crowds waved Iranian flags and carried pictures of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state, and his successor as supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ahmadinejad announced in his speech that the Islamic republic has produced its first package of highly enriched uranium just two days after beginning the process, proclaiming that Iran was now a "nuclear state."
Tehran, which denies seeking to build a bomb, has said it wants to further enrich the uranium - which is still substantially below the 90 percent plus level needed for a weapon - to fuel a research reactor for medical isotopes.
For days ahead of the anniversary celebrations, anti-government Web sites and blogs have called for a major turnout in counterprotests and urged marches to display green emblems or clothes, the signature color of the opposition.
Opposition Web sites reported that protesters gathered in several places in Tehran on Thursday, displaying green banners and shouting slogans - but their numbers were not immediately clear. Witnesses said police deployed hundreds of forces in central Tehran to confront them.
Riot police fired paint-filled balls after several hundred protesters began to chant opposition slogans in Sadeqieh Square, about a half-mile from the huge pro-government gathering, witnesses said.
http://www.whereistheoutrage.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/iran.gifPART ONE...
Iranians Rally For 31st Anniversary Of Revolution
by The Associated... more
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Several people were killed and more than 300 were arrested in anti-government protests in Tehran Sunday, Iran's Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan said on state television station IRINN.
The toll was the result of clashes that broke out between demonstrators and security forces as large crowds gathered for Ashura, a major religious observance.
Five people were reported killed in the fighting, Iranian state-run Press TV said late Sunday. A French government statement put the number of fatalities at eight. With tight restrictions on international media, CNN could not independently verify the casualties.Several people were killed and more than 300 were arrested in anti-government protests... more
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TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of the capital Sunday in one of the bloodiest confrontations in months, opposition Web sites and witnesses said. At least five people were killed.
Some accounts of the violence in Tehran were vivid and detailed, but they could not be independently confirmed because of government restrictions on media coverage. Police, who denied using firearms, said dozens of officers were injured and more than 300 protesters were arrested.
The dead included a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to Mousavi's Web site, Kaleme.ir. The clashes were sure to deepen antagonism between the government and a reform movement that has shown resilience in the face of repeated crackdowns.
The street chaos coincided with commemorations of Shiite Islam's most important observance, Ashoura, fueling protesters' defiance with its message of sacrifice and dignity in the face of coercion.
Still, many demonstrators had not anticipated such harsh tactics by the authorities, despite police warnings of tougher action against any protests on the sacred day.
Amateur video footage purportedly from the center of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one casualty, chanting, "I'll kill, I'll kill the one who killed my brother." In several locations, demonstrators confronted security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and pro-reform Web sites.
Protesters tried to cut off roads with burning barricades. One police officer was photographed with blood streaming down his face after he was set upon by the crowd.
There were unconfirmed reports that four people died in protests in Tabriz in northwest Iran, the pro-reform Rah-e-Sabz Web site said. Fierce clashes also broke out in Isfahan and Najafabad in central Iran and Shiraz in the south, it said.
* * * Click link for remainder of article.TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the... more
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Iranian police opened fire on protesters in Tehran on Sunday, killing at least four people, including a nephew of the opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi, as vast crowds of demonstrators flooded the streets of cities across Iran and fiercely fought security forces, according to witnesses and opposition Web sites.Iranian police opened fire on protesters in Tehran on Sunday, killing at least four... more
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Political conflict and public piety converged on tension-filled streets in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday. Clashes erupted between riot police and opposition protesters as hundreds of people solemnly took part in an annual Shiite Muslim observance.
A predominantly Shiite Muslim nation ruled by a Shiite theocracy, Iran remained on the edge as the holy period of Ashura reaches its climax Sunday, when widespread protests are expected to coincide with a day of mourning for a recently deceased cleric who emerged as a champion of opposition protesters.
The opposition demonstrations were the latest to erupt in the Islamic republic since the grassroots outrage over the June presidential elections, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a second term as president. The election was seen as flawed and protesters took to the streets, with many killed and hurt by security forces and others arrested.Political conflict and public piety converged on tension-filled streets in Tehran,... more
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,0,86355,full.story
Demonstrations in Esfahan and Najafabad are evidence that the opposition movement has spread beyond Tehran to include a broad cross-section of people in central Iran.
From The Los Angeles Times...
By Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi
Reporting from Tehran and Beirut -
Large-scale protests spread in central Iranian cities Wednesday, offering the starkest evidence yet that the opposition movement that emerged from the disputed June presidential election has expanded beyond its base of mostly young, educated Tehran residents to at least some segments of the country's pious heartland.
Demonstrations took place in Esfahan, a provincial capital and Iran's cultural center, and nearby Najafabad, the birthplace and hometown of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, whose death Saturday triggered the latest round of confrontations between the opposition movement and the government.,0,86355,full.story
Demonstrations in Esfahan and Najafabad are evidence that the... more
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Either Iran just got real aggressive in the last 24 hours or someone is out to make the Islamic Republic look bad. Real bad. First, last night, Twitter goes down. And it's replaced by this 1995-future-world "You got hacked" graphic.
Now I've never heard of the Iranian Cyber Army, but I commend them on using Gmail, which is really the superior web-based email service. The group's website did not tie them directly to the government, though a Farsi poem on the home page would point to them being supporters of the government.
From the CS Monitor:
Several lines of poetry in Farsi at the bottom of the “Cyber Army” page refer to the “Leader,” which is the common term used in Iran for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, suggesting that those who were behind the message could have been loyalists to Iran's Islamic system of rule. The verses read: “If the Leader orders, we will rush forward / If he asks us, we will offer our heads / If he wants us to be patient, we will tolerate and bear it.”
Meanwhile, in Iraq, authorities claim that Iranian soldiers have seized an oil well near Amara, just across the border from Iran. Iran's government has denied the claim and I've yet to find any independent source confirming the report.
So did the Islamic Republic decide to tear it up Thursday night (it is the new Friday, I hear)? Are its supporters lashing out (government-friendly hackers and an independently acting group of soldiers?). Or is there a plot to sully Iran's image underway?
Theories?
FROM THE CURRENT NEWS BLOG: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/12/18/wtf-iran-twitter-hacked-and-oil-well-seized/
SOURCES: http://current.com/items/91712558_twitter-apparently-hacked-by-iranian-cyber-army.htm
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2009/1218/Twitter-hacked-Iranian-Cyber-Army-signs-off-with-poem-to-Khamenei
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/18/iran.iraq.oil.well/index.htmlEither Iran just got real aggressive in the last 24 hours or someone is out to make... more
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By NASSER KARIMI and LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writers – 13 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran – Hard-line militiamen firing tear gas and throwing stones stormed a crowd of thousands of university students protesting for a second day Tuesday, as Iran threatened a tougher crackdown on the opposition after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in months.
More than 200 people were arrested in Tehran on Monday during protests by tens of thousands at universities nationwide, and Iran's top prosecutor warned further unrest would not be tolerated. He hinted authorities could even pursue the top opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, an escalation the government has so far balked at in Iran's postelection turmoil.
Masked motorcyclists — likely hard-line militiamen — harassed Mousavi at his Tehran office on Tuesday. An angry Mousavi confronted them, daring them, "Kill me!" before being hustled away by aides, according to pro-opposition Web sites.
Authorities appear concerned that the protest movement could pick up new steam after Monday's demonstrations, in which students clashed with police and militiamen in the streets of Tehran.
A fierce crackdown since the summer crushed the mass protests that erupted after June's disputed presidential election. But Monday's unrest showed how students have revitalized the movement. They showed an increased boldness, openly breaking the biggest taboo in Iran, burning pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanting slogans against him.
The protests spilled over into a second day Tuesday. Several thousand students rallied in Tehran University, chanting slogans and waving Iranian flags in front of the Engineering College when they were assaulted by hard-line Basij militiamen, witnesses said. At least one student was dragged away, the witnesses said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iranBy NASSER KARIMI and LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writers – 13 mins ago
TEHRAN,... more
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Yesterday was National Students Day in Iran. Traditionally, the Iranian President comes to a campus and addresses its students. Yesterday Ahmadinejad made no such appearance. Instead, thousands of Iranian students took to the streets of several cities to protest the regime.
From the LA Times: "...[A]mateur videotape posted on the Internet showed thousands of anti-government students chanting slogans and gathering on various campuses around the country. Credible reports of protests emerged from campuses in the central Iranian cities of Esfahan, Shiraz and Kerman, in the eastern city of Mashhad and in the western cities of Tabriz, Kermanshah, Hamedan and Ilam as well as in Rasht on the Caspian Sea."
The New York Times Lede Blog has a great round up of coverage from yesterday, including several videos. This video is of students at Ami Kabir University pulling down its gates.
These protests seem to have shifted from the aims of the first round of protests in the summer. Instead of being focused on the disputed election, there were various reports of protesters calling out the regime itself. From Newsweek:
"The first wave of dissent after the elections was explicitly focused on voter fraud, both from a genuine belief that the system would investigate the results and also so that protestors couldn't be accused of trying to overthrow the system. But as the government crackdown increased, the position of the opposition began to harden. The slogans today are the clearest indication yet that at least some elements of the opposition are not only challenging the results of the presidential election, but the regime itself. One video posted on the Internet today even showed a protestor burning pictures of both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. This may not sit well with the moderate elements of the opposition, and the student protestors may have overplayed their hand."
The cycle of protests leading to harsher crackdowns leading to more radical protests leading to harsher crackdowns continues. What will become of Iran's opposition? Will they all end up jailed or repressed? Or are we looking at a crack in the very foundation of Iran's theocratic regime?
FROM THE NEWS BLOG: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/12/08/iran-students-day-of-protest/
SOURCES: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-iran-protests8-2009dec08,0,7136715.story?page=1
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/latest-updates-on-new-protests-in-iran/
http://www.newsweek.com/id/226069Yesterday was National Students Day in Iran. Traditionally, the Iranian President... more
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By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran – Security forces and militiamen clashed with thousands of protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside Tehran University on Monday, beating them with batons and firing tear gas on a day of nationwide student demonstrations, witnesses said.
The protests were the largest in months, as university students — a bedrock of support for the pro-reform movement — sought to energize the opposition with rallies at campuses across the country. The opposition has been reeling under a fierce crackdown since turmoil erupted over the disputed presidential election in June.
Thousands of riot police, Revolutionary Guard forces and pro-government Basij militiamen flooded the area around Tehran University since the morning, vowing to prevent any unrest from spilling out into the streets.
Banners and signs bearing slogans from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blanketed the tall campus fence, hiding whatever took place inside. Cell phone networks around the universities were shut down, and police and members of the elite Revolutionary Guard surrounded all the university entrances and were checking IDs of anyone entering to prevent opposition activists from joining the students, witnesses said.
The heavy clampdown raised fears of an escalation of violence during Monday's clashes.
"There's anxiety that there will be violence and shooting. I shout slogans and demonstrate but try not to provoke any clash with the security," one Tehran University student, Kouhyar Goudarzi, told The Associated Press in Beirut by telephone. "We are worried."
Clashes erupted when thousands of protesters massed in the streets outside Tehran in support of the students. As they chanted "death to the dictator," riot police fired tear gas and Basij militiamen charged the crowds, the witnesses said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091207/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iranBy ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran... more
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Caspian Makan, a 38 year old Iranian photographer, has had a terrible few months. Amid massive street protests against Iran's government his girlfriend, Neda Agha Soltan, died a bloody and disturbing death. And the whole watched it on YouTube. Things only got worse for Makan from there. He spent months in the dreaded Evin Prison and upon release, decided to flee the country for his own safety.
The Guardian has a long interview with Caspian Makan, now having had smugglers help him escape Iran. A short excerpt:
"On the day of her death, Caspian was out with his camera in another part of the city. "I was taking pictures of the protests and the protesters that day. It was hard to take pictures as the security guards were beating up protesters. I used my mobile's camera when I couldn't use my big camera. It was six to seven in the evening when I started seeing people get shot and injured. I thought of Neda a lot. I was very worried for her. I wanted to call her but the mobile phone system had been disconnected and I couldn't contact her at all. I didn't sleep that night. The terrible scenes were going through my head. I was sitting in front of my computer, looking at the photos I had taken. Around six in the morning my mobile rang. It was Neda's number. But it wasn't her. It was her sister. She said, 'Caspian, Neda is gone!' I didn't understand what she meant. I couldn't believe what she was telling me."
From the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/15/iran-neda-caspian-makan-interview
Covered on the News blog: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/16/nedas-boyfriend-speaks-after-escaping-iran/Caspian Makan, a 38 year old Iranian photographer, has had a terrible few months. Amid... more
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TEHRAN, Iran - -- A cry from the streets of Tehran put Iranian attitudes toward America at the center of a day of violent clashes Wednesday.
"Obama, Obama!" protesters chanted on a day marking the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover. "Either you're with them, or with us."TEHRAN, Iran - -- A cry from the streets of Tehran put Iranian attitudes toward... more
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9BOQFOG0
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Protesters clashed with police at a central Tehran square on Wednesday while government supporters nearby marked the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy capture with chants of "Death to America."
Scenes in the Iranian capital turned ugly yet again as riot police and pro-government Basij militia turned out in force to quash anti-government sentiment.
At least 2,000 opposition supporters, sternly warned by authorities to stay home, marched defiantly at Haft-e-Tir Square, witnesses said. Many held up their hands in a V sign. Others shouted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," a slogan of protest. Police blocked all roads leading to the square, prompting massive traffic jams.
Witnesses described helmet-clad security personnel beating demonstrators with batons and firing tear gas at Haft-e-Tir Square and in a neighborhood a few kilometers north.
"I had never seen that many riot police and security personnel," a witness told CNN. "They were brought in by the busloads. As soon as crowds gathered somewhere, riot police were there within minutes."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9BOQFOG0... more
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Just hours after Iranian President Ahmadinejad agreed to accept an IAEA deal to enrich uranium out of the country, they suddenly backed out. The plan had been to take Iran's nuclear stockpile and send it to Russia to be enriched. It's disappointing for those concerned about Iran's plans for its enriching uranium - though I don't think it's particularly surprising.
I was thinking about how long Iran has been playing this game, and it brought to mind this Supernews gem: Iran: Deal or No Deal?
That piece was produced in 2006. Over three years ago. It's kind of disheartening to see what looks like the same game playing out, but with a few different players. No more Bush or Condoleeza Rice, and Putin is now the Prime Minister of Russia, not the President. But it's hard not to watch this and see Iran doing the same things today. Is there another card up the Obama Administration's negotiating sleeve? Let's hope so.
From the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/world/middleeast/30nuke.htmlJust hours after Iranian President Ahmadinejad agreed to accept an IAEA deal to enrich... more
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Iran's negotiators have toughened their stance on the nuclear programme, signalling that Tehran will refuse to go ahead with an agreement to hand over 75 per cent of its enriched uranium.Iran's negotiators have toughened their stance on the nuclear programme,... more
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards promised a "crushing" response to an attack that killed several senior commanders, state television said on Monday, as the death toll from the deadliest such incident in years rose to 42.TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards promised a... more
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