NY Times: Iran’s Khatami Urges People to Attend Rallies Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami urged people on Monday to attend rallies marking the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, when the opposition is expected to revive anti-government protests.  Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi earlier this month called on their supporters to attend the nationwide events on Thursday, raising the prospect of new clashes with the security forces.  “God willing, all people will take part in the (February 11) marches, with the common points of defending the revolution and human rights, as the principal owners of the revolution,” Khatami told ILNA news agency.  “In our reform-seeking movement, we have neither fixed hope on foreigners nor hold the belief that they are benevolent towards us,” he was quoted as saying.  “If there is a dispute it is an internal one and if in certain instances foreign governments take advantage of the conditions they do it uninvited,” Khatami added.

Mousavi FB coverage of same:  Khatami then added: “Our expectation from all the influential figures of the country is fairness. We defend people’s right and selection. For all of us, as we have announced before, the goal is to achieve a mechanism for holding healthy elections without any dispute so that people could trust that they can reinstated their rights.”  Khatami reinstated: “We believe that the government should stop the insults, destructions and arrests. Those who are detained care for the establishment and should be released immediately; and in a less intense environment the pressure on independent media should be eased.”

LA Times: Iran lawyer haunted by young man’s execution Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is filled with rage over the treatment of her client, 20-year-old Arash Rahmanipour, who was not defended in court and then was quietly put to death.  The defendant met with his lawyer once for 15 minutes before he was sentenced to death and hanged.  When the lawyer complained to authorities, they ignored her. When she tried to enter the courtroom where he was being tried, they threatened her with arrest. And when she spoke out publicly at what she described as a gross miscarriage of justice, they shut off her cellphone.  IND:  Excellent piece.

LA Times: Iran to build 10 nuclear plants, beef up military Iranian officials trumpeted new nuclear and military ambitions Monday in the face of domestic political discord and stepped up international talk of tightening economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, announced that Tehran has informed the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that it intends to launch construction of 10 new nuclear fuel plants in the Persian calendar year starting March 2010 and begin producing 20% enriched uranium to provide fuel for a Tehran medical reactor.Up until now, Iran has only produced reactor-grade 3.5% enriched uranium and has managed to build only one functioning nuclear fuel plant.

Reuters: New sanctions on Iran are only path left: Gates Iran has rejected Western overtures and the international community has no choice but to move toward imposing new sanctions over its nuclear program, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.  “We must still try and find a peaceful way to resolve this issue. The only path that is left to us at this point, it seems to me, is that pressure track but it will require all of the international community to work together,” Gates said at a joint news conference with French Defense Minister Herve Morin.

WP: Iran sentences former deputy FM to 6 years in jail A semiofficial news agency says a court has sentenced a former deputy foreign minister to six years in prison after convicting him of security charges. Monday’s ISNA agency report quotes Mohsen Aminzadeh’s defense lawyer Abbas Shiri as saying his client was convicted of conspiring to “disturb security” and spreading propaganda against the Islamic establishment.  Aminzadeh served during former president Mohammad Khatami’s time in office between 1997 and 2005. He is among the most senior former officials in a group of more 100 people on trial since August for their alleged role in street protests after a disputed presidential election in June.

Reuters: Iran arrests 10 journalists, holds total 55 – sites The total number of journalists in detention in Iran has risen to at least 55 after the arrest of 10 in recent days, reformist websites reported on Monday.  Kaleme, the website of defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, said nine journalists and photojournalists had been arrested in the past two days, taking the total to 55. Those recently detained included Akbar Montajabi, assistant editor-in-chief of the magazine “Iran Dokht”, which is close to Medhi Karroubi, another defeated candidate. Parleman News, the website of parliament’s minority reformist minority, said a female journalist had been arrested on Sunday. She was not among those named by Kaleme and it was not clear if she was among the 55.

Signforchange: Women Fight Polygamy Proposal Iranian women’s groups and other rights organisations are fighting a much discussed proposed law which they say would encourage polygamy by allowing a man to take a second wife without the permission of the first in certain circumstances.  Although Sharia law permits a man to take up to four wives, polygamy is not widely practiced in Iran and women have enjoyed greater rights and freedoms than in some other Muslim countries. At present, an Iranian man needs his first wife’s permission to take a second.  A so-called Family Protection Law, proposed by the government in 2008, said a man could marry a second wife on condition only that he could afford both wives financially. The parliament dropped that clause following a wave of opposition from women but is now reconsidering a different version of the provision.

Reuters: Revolution day will put Iran’s disunity on show Iranians are struggling over the legacy and even the legitimacy of an Islamic revolution that triumphed 31 years ago this week. No compromise is in sight.  Some conservative politicians opposed to Ahmadinejad have proposed differentiating opposition “critics” from “rioters”, but the president, backed by the powerful Revolutionary Guard organisation and its Basij auxiliary, has given no ground.  In December Mousavi dropped his previous insistence on cancelling the June election, setting out opposition demands that seemed to leave some room for a deal with the authorities.  But he hardened his tone last week, saying repression showed that the revolution had not achieved its goals. “Filling the prisons and brutally killing protesters show that the roots of … dictatorship remain from the monarchist era,” he declared.

LA Times: Opposition and hard-liners get ready for 22 Bahman confrontations Iran’s hard-line government and the green-themed opposition are gearing up for another confrontation Thursday, this time on the 22nd day of the Persian calendar month of Bahman, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.This weekend the Coordinating Council of Reform Front, a coalition that brings together 17 moderate political groups, called on supporters to head to the streets Thursday, traditionally a time of pro-government rallies.”We’ll come on 22 Bahman to show that the green movement is intertwined with national and religious values and it insists on its rightful demands stipulated in the constitution,” said a notice in Persian posted to several websites. “We’ll come to make our voices heard by our comrades, friends, rivals and enemies — to tell them that the green movement is independent, and it will spare no efforts to revive and protect the values, implement the law, ensure liberty for the nation and save the society. … We’ll call for return to ideals and principles instead of jail, violence and confrontation with the nation.”

CNN: Iran marks revolution anniversary amid ongoing dissent Iran will this week celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution — a day that marked the end of the country’s western-backed monarchy and the start of an Islamic republic.  Some experts say the revolution was also a catalyst for the spread of Islamic fundamentalism throughout the Middle East and South Asia.  This key date in Iran’s history comes amid protests by the opposition after last year’s disputed presidential election won by incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The so-called Green Movement has been protesting for social justice, freedom and democracy in demonstrations throughout the country since the June polls — using slogans that are often identical to those heard during the 1979 Islamic revolution.  Two leading Iranian opposition leaders have called on supporters to protest on Thursday, the day of the anniversary.

WP: Iran launches production lines for unmanned planes Iran has launched two production lines to build unmanned aircraft with surveillance and attack capabilities, the defense minister announced Monday.It also announced that Iran would soon deploy a missile air defense system more powerful than the advanced Russian S-300 system Tehran has ordered from Moscow in 2007 but has yet to receive. The state television quoted Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as saying the unmanned aircraft would be able to carry out surveillance as well as offensive tasks with high precision and a long range. The two types of aircraft, or drones, are named Ra’d (thunder) and Nazir (herald), with the former possessing offensive capabilities.

WP: Obama could play ‘war card’ to win reelection Palin suggested that if President Obama “played the war card” by declaring war on Iran in the next two years, the political landscape would change dramatically in his favor. “There wouldn’t be as much passion to make sure that he doesn’t serve another four years,” Palin said.  She said her knowledge about foreign policy and domestic economic issues has significantly increased since she was a vice presidential candidate. “My focus has been enlarged,” Palin said.

Video: Iranians protest around Europe

BBC: Iran confuses again with ‘further enrichment’

NPR: Iran To Begin Enriching Uranium