Iran: Massive protests in response to Ahmadinejad sweeping elections.

[Pintu]

West condemns Iran protest crackdown

West condemns Iran protest crackdown
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:57:55 GMT

Western countries condemned the crackdown on anti-government Iranian protesters during the religious ceremony of Ashura on Sunday. Tehran accuses foreigners of orchestrating and backing the unrest.

The Iranian capital was the scene of protests on the anniversary of the Shia Muslim Ashura religious event, with security forces clashing with anti-government demonstrators and using tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Press TV learned that the official death count from the unrest has reached eight. In a statement, Tehran's police headquarters named six of the dead while two of the victims have yet to be identified. Police insist that the force neither used violence nor shot a single bullet on Sunday.

Western countries were quick to criticize the reports of the Sunday protests, with the White House strongly condemning the "violent and unjust suppression" of civilians and pronouncing its support for the riots.

"Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States."

Canada followed suit and urged the restoration of human rights in the country, which has witnessed sporadic anti-government protests since the June 12 presidential election.

"The government of Canada condemns the use of brutal violence by the Iranian security forces and once again calls upon Iran to meet its human rights obligations," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said in a statement issued late Sunday, AFP reported.

Iran blames Western countries for causing the unrest. Since the election, a number of foreign elements have been rounded up and put on trial for involvement in actions against the security of the Islamic Republic.

A senior Iranian commander reacted to the riots, condemning as "disgraceful" and "reproachable" the acts of "hooligans" on such a holy day — Ashura commemorates the 7th century martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) grandson, Imam Hussein (PBUH).

On Monday, security forces rounded up a number of Iranian opposition figures, including Ebrahim Yazdi, the secretary general of the Iran Freedom Movement.

France, Germany and Italy also denounced the crackdown. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said "arbitrary arrests and violence" would "lead nowhere."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the "violent clashes" in Tehran are "unacceptable," while Italy's Foreign Ministry said "safeguarding human lives is a fundamental value" and condemned the killings.

The European Union also condemned the use of "violence against demonstrators who are essentially seeking to exercise their freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly."

The UK, which is accused by Iran of plotting and supporting a major part of the unrest in the country, also reacted to the Sunday incidents. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday that the reports coming out of Iran were "particularly disturbing."

Meanwhile, Iran's deputy police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan asserted that the force did not use violence against protesters, saying investigations into the killings are underway.

Among those killed was Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi's nephew. According to the police statement, Seyyed Ali Mousavi was killed by a gunshot. Brigadier General Radan said his death was "suspicious."

MD/HGH

 

[Pintu]

AFP: Dubai TV seeks answer from Iran on missing reporter

Dubai TV seeks answer from Iran on missing reporter

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

DUBAI — Dubai TV expects a reply from Tehran authorities on Monday regarding the whereabouts of its missing Iran-based reporter Reza al-Basha, the channel's assignment desk manager Rola Sayegh told AFP.

"We still do not have any answers but we are expecting an answer from the Iranian authorities" later Monday, Sayegh said.

"We're just communicating with the office in Tehran... and they're talking to the Iranian authorities," she added.

Reza al-Basha, a 27-year-old Syrian, has been working for Dubai TV in Iran for a year.

A colleague told AFP in Tehran that the Foreign Press Bureau had confirmed Basha had been arrested during opposition protests on Sunday.

A statement from Dubai Media Incorporated, which owns Dubai TV, said the company had "lost contact with the correspondent."

Opponents of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad's controversial June re-election clashed with security forces as they used the Shiite holy day of Ashura to mount fresh protests against the government.

At least eight people died and more than 300 were arrested, police said.

In June, shortly after post-vote protests broke out in Iran, the Foreign Press Bureau banned journalists working for foreign media from covering opposition demonstrations.

 

[AirforcePilot]

Iran Accuses West of Instigating Violent Protests

Iran Accuses West of Instigating Violent Protests - Iran | Map | News - FOXNews.com

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Tuesday accused Western countries of fomenting deadly anti-government protests in the capital this week and said it was summoning Britain's ambassador to file a complaint.

The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mahmanparast added to growing tensions between Iran and the West, which is threatening to impose tough new sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear program and has criticized the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tehran.

Iran has said as many as eight people were killed in Sunday's clashes in Tehran. There was no serious violence reported Tuesday, but opposition Web sites said several activists were arrested, including a prominent journalist and the sister of Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Speaking to reporters, Mehmanparast said the deadly clashes in Tehran were the work of a tiny minority, and he accused outside countries, including the U.S. and Britain, of "miscalculating" by siding with the protesters.

"Some Western countries are supporting this sort of activities. This is intervention in our internal affairs. We strongly condemn it," he said. "In this regard, the British ambassador will be summoned today."

He gave no further details, and there was no immediate reaction from Britain.

Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. have all criticized Iran's violent response to the protests, the bloodiest confrontations between the government and reformist activists since June's disputed presidential election.

On Monday, President Barack Obama praised "the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people" while condemning Iran's Islamic government for attacking demonstrators with "the iron fist of brutality."

Traveling with Obama in Hawaii, U.S. National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough also said the White House is reaching out to international partners to build support for a new round of sanctions against Iran. He said the U.S. was exploring both unilateral or U.N. sanctions.

The sanctions are to punish Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment and accept a U.S.-backed plan to curb its nuclear program. The West suspects Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb — a charge Tehran denies.

Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, said the U.S. support for the protesters would only harm their cause. "The praise ... will damage your reputation and clarifies the motives of this anti-religious group," he told state radio.

The exact death toll from Sunday's violence is still not clear. The government had said eight people were killed, but on Tuesday, Tehran's chief prosecutor said he was investigating only seven deaths.

One reason for the confusion is that the government has taken the bodies of five slain protesters, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, in what appears to be an attempt to prevent activists from using their funerals as a platform for more demonstrations. The government says it is conducting autopsies.

In Sunday's protests, groups of emboldened demonstrators chanted slogans against ruling clerical establishment, casting aside a traditional taboo in the country.

In outbursts of fury rarely seen in past street confrontations, they burned squad cars and motorcycles belonging to security forces who had opened fire on the crowds, according to witness accounts, opposition Web sites and amateur videos posted on the Web.

State-run television reported eight deaths and 60 people injured. But independent confirmation of the casualties has been virtually impossible because of state restrictions on media coverage. Iranian authorities have said 300 people were arrested in the protests, but did not specify where they were detained.

Since then, authorities have restricted Internet access and SMS services, and arreested at least 10 prominent opposition activists, including a former foreign minister and a top aide to Mousavi.

The opposition Web site Greenroad reported seven more arrests overnight Tuesday: Among them were Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a journalist who frequently criticizes the government, and university professor Noushin Ebadi, the sister of the Nobel winner. Others included the son of a prominent ayatollah, a reporter for the opposition ILNA news agency, and several activists.

Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel peace prize for her human-rights efforts in Iran, told the The Associated Press in a phone interview from London that she called her sister on Monday, and that the sister was being punished because of the conversation.

"She was warned not to contact me," she said. " "She is detained for the sake of me. She was neither politically active nor had a role in any rally."

A Dubai television company said Monday that it had not heard from its correspondent in Iran since he disappeared near his Tehran house on Sunday.

Dubai Media Inc. said it was in touch with Iranian officials about the fate of Redha al-Basha, a 27-year-old Syrian. Dubai Media is the government-owned parent of a handful of television stations in the emirate.

Mahmanparast, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said he was unaware of any arrests of foreigners. But he said it was possible that foreign journalists who did not have proper credentials had been detained.

 

[Pintu]

AFP: Iran summons British envoy over crackdown criticism

Iran summons British envoy over crackdown criticism

(AFP) – 6 hours ago
TEHRAN — Tehran on Tuesday summoned British envoy Simon Gass over his government's criticism of an Iranian crackdown on an opposition protest, as a report said a Briton was arrested at the demonstration.
"The British ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry and the Islamic republic's protest was submitted regarding this country's interference in our internal affairs," Fars news agency reported without elaborating.
Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was earlier quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency that Tehran plans to summon Gass "to elaborate on the Ashura day events."
Deadly clashes erupted on Sunday, when thousands of opposition supporters used the climax of Ashura, one of Shiite Islam's holiest days, to take to the streets for anti-government protests.
"The events which took place on the holy day were an incorrect move and, if any nation encourages the rioters, it constitutes interference in another nation's internal affairs," Mehmanparast added.
"Some Western nations are wrong in their calculations when they compare the movements by a few thousand with Iran's population of tens of millions."
On Monday, Foreign Secretary David Miliband hailed the "great courage" of Iranian opposition supporters who demonstrated during the Ashura rituals.
"It is therefore particularly disturbing to hear accounts of the lack of restraint by the security forces," he said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the Tehran-funded English language satellite news channel Press TV quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki as calling on Britain to end its "nonsense remarks" and put a stop to interfering in Iran's affairs.
The pro-government Rajanews website meanwhile reported a Briton was among those arrested on Sunday.
"A British citizen, who was carrying his passport, was arrested while attacking (Ashura) mourners in the vicinity of Ferdowsi Square in central Tehran," said the report carried by several Tehran dailies.
The foreign ministry spokesman was unable to confirm the report.
"I have not heard anything about a British citizen," Mehmanparast told the ISNA news agency.
"Some people were arrested during the event among whom may have been foreign citizens attempting to carry out reporting, which requires permission from the ministry of culture (and Islamic guidance)."

 

[F-14]

this elections may go down in History as the beging of a silent revolution that may even tople the theocracy in Iran but right now its any one's gusse how this will all go I also think that there might be a simmering crack between the three senior defense services and the IRGC the defacto second Armed forces of the Iranian nation

 

[AirforcePilot]

Iran's president plays down Ashura protests

Iran's president plays down Ashura protests - CNN.com

(CNN) -- The Iranian president on Tuesday likened the anti-government protests during Sunday's observances of Ashura to "a theater play by the Zionists and the Americans," the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said.

"The Iranian nation has witnessed many plays of this kind -- a play ordered by the Zionists and the Americans, who had purchased the tickets to this play and were the only audience of this play," IRNA quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying.

Ashura is the major Shiite Muslim holy day. It marks the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, as a martyr. Shiites commemorate the death of Hussein each year, climaxing on Ashura -- the 10th day of the month of Muharram -- after a 40-day mourning period.

Ahmadinejad strongly criticized the positions taken by U.S. President Barack Obama and the British government, IRNA said. The news agency quoted the president as saying he had "advised" the two countries several times, but "they insist on experiencing humiliation."

The British ambassador to Iran, Simon Gass, was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday "to receive Iran's complaint regarding that country's interference in Iran's internal affairs," the semi-official news agency Fars reported.

Ari Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, also slammed Britain and the United States on Tuesday for condemning the government crackdown Sunday on the protesters.

Larijani said authorities should mete out "the harshest punishment" to protesters who disrupted Ashura observances. Addressing lawmakers, Ali Larijani said the protesters had insulted Imam Hussein, whose death is commemorated during the religious observance.

The lawmaker urged officials to "arrest offenders of the religion and mete out harshest punishments to such anti-revolutionary figures with no mercy."

An Iranian media blackout had made it difficult to verify accounts of the weekend's violence, but videos that found their way west depicted bloodied and, in some cases, apparently dead protesters.

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The demonstrations were the deadliest since the June protests following the disputed presidential election. Those left at least eight dead, according to Iran's Supreme National Security Council. However, the Iranian government denied that its security forces killed anyone.

On Tuesday, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, Tehran's chief prosecutor, told reporters that seven people were killed in the Ashura riots Sunday.

Without mentioning the name of Mir Hossein Moussavi's nephew, Saeed Ali Moussavi, the official said one of those killed was fatally shot, but the case is under investigation. Moussavi was the main opposition candidate in the June elections.

Mir Hossein Moussavi's Web site said the nephew was killed in the demonstrations by a shot to the heart.

IRNA said the bullet came from a "terror team," and that other such teams were operating in Tehran. It did not offer further details.

The Mehr semi-official news agency quoted security forces Tuesday as explaining that the nephew was standing on a street at midday Sunday when he was "assassinated by firearm by the occupants of a passing vehicle, and died because of the delay in taking him to the hospital.

"He died of severe bleeding on the way to the hospital. Efforts to identify the culprit or culprits continue."

IRNA disputed an account on the reformist Web site Parlemannews, which said the nephew's body had disappeared.

It said the government is holding the body and four others for autopsies. The delay meant the dead could not be buried within 24 hours, as Islamic custom dictates.

The prosecutor said most of the seven deaths occurred after the people were struck with "hard objects or due to similar causes."

Iran Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan and Tehran Police Chief Azizollah Rajabzadeh denied their forces had killed anyone. In fact, they told the semi-official Islamic Students News Agency, their forces fired no weapons and weren't even carrying firearms.

In many cases, opposition media reported, government security forces prevented observances of Ashura.

Police arrested hundreds of people, including prominent figures. Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi told CNN on Monday that Iranian intelligence officials had detained her sister, dentistry professor Nushin Ebadi.

IRNA, Fars and other state news agencies said there would be a pro-government march on Wednesday afternoon.