TEHRAN — Iran’s leading moderate daily Shargh hit the news stands again on Sunday nearly three years after authorities banned it for publishing an interview with a poet accused of being a lesbian.

The Islamic republic ordered the newspaper’s closure in August 2007 over the full-page interview with Saghi Ghahreman, an expatriate Iranian poet living in Canada whom authorities described as “counter-revolutionary.” Also at WP — Go to AFP.

To whom can I speak of my sons’ and daughters’ agony?

Enduring the past nine months and seeing the torment experienced by the sons and daughters of this land has been unbearable for this old man: Seeing the nation’s potentials melt away in the hands of our incapable rulers or seeing the atrocious treatment of righteous and courageous children of this nation in the streets and in prisons. But the pain has gotten worse lately and I don’t know how to handle or protest it. Go to Khordad 88.

Free Iran:  When will the reformists recognize that their future is outside of this system not within it?  The hardliners will NEVER allow them the space necessary to function.  The sooner they realize this reality and the sooner they stop deluding themselves about the possibility of reforming this system, the better off the Iranian people will be.

Khatami: Our young generation when witnessing the elimination of those who care for the system by false accusations are saying that if this is the system, we don’t want it… Go to original article.

Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister and a senior member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin Organization, was allowed to take leave from prison on March 10, reportedly because of the upcoming Iranian new year on March 21.

Tajzadeh was jailed shortly after last year’s disputed June 12 presidential vote and was reportedly held for several months in solitary confinement.

Since his release many key reformists figures have visited him and paid their respects. The reformist website “Parlemannews” has posted some pictures of opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi, and others visiting him.

And former President Mohammad Khatami met with Tajzadeh, who served as deputy interior minister during his 1997-2005 tenure.

Tajzadeh campaigned for defeated presidential candidate Musavi. He was among over 100 reformists, activists, and intellectuals put on trial over the postelection unrest. He was reportedly under pressure to make a false televised confession (a picture of Tajzadeh during the postelection show trials).

Tajzadeh famously wrote a love letter to his wife from prison on the anniversary of their wedding that was posted on an opposition website and she wrote back. The public expression of love between the two received a lot of attention because it is very unusual in Iranian society and especially among the more traditional segments.

Also see:

GVF:  Photo: Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard meet with released prisoner Tajzadeh

GVF:  Photo: Karroub meets with released prisoner Tajzadeh

GVF:  Photo: Khatami meets with released prisoner Tajzadeh

Go to Radio Free Europe.

Ali AKbar Mosavi Khoini’s speech in Parliament where he openly criticizes the government.

An interview with Shahrbanou Amani, the speaker of House of Iran’s Political Parties and former lawmaker

Shahrbanou Amani believes Iranian reformists haven’t decided organizationally to remain silent. She says in the current political climate of the country when the voice of truth is made quiet, even some fair Principlists have separated their way from the monopolizing current which seeks more power.

In the following interview, Amani elaborates on the situation facing the Iranian reformists in terms of the ground to convey their ideas.

Why the reformists are unvoiced, their leaders do not comment on the latest problems raised in the country and do not take a transparent stance. Is it a strategy?

We have not opted for that. You see whenever the ground is prepared, the reformists show an enthusiasm to express their ideas. In my view as our society has become so tense, those who are prime firebrands of such tensions have even targeted sensible Principlits as well, the figures who have served the country but are under the threat of elimination, since those who hold the power, do not bear any voice except the echo of their own voice.

Furthermore when the clashes are intensified, the toleration for hearing the voice of truth, logic and ideas based on knowledge are shrunk. Currently the universities are among the rare places where the reformists can articulate their ideas.

What is the key problem of the reformists in conveying their ideas?

One of the key problems is that we don’t have a mass media. What can the reformists do? They don’t have access to visual and aural media. No TV and radio channel is allocated to voice their ideas, even among several TV channels none will give them just one hour to make their suggestions.

One of the issues discussed among our reformist friends (and once more I underline that it’s not an organizational option) is that we prefer to express our opinions by local media. When the spouses of the post-election detainees are interviewed by foreign media, they say we made our utmost effort to voice our concerns through Iranian media, but they didn’t allow us to do so.

On the other hand, the media serving the rival group has adopted a selective approach, censoring parts of the interviews and articles. For example at the 20.30 news program aired from the state TV, the programmers broadcast the parts of the items which may serve their goals. They are not faithful to the entire material. However it’s not a new tactic adopted by IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcasting) and other state funded media. In several consecutive years, they have tried to eliminate one of the main Iranian political currents which ironically have played an important role in the Islamic Republic’s campaigns and suffered many torturers in the course of the revolution.

You said you are not allowed to the media. Actually the reformists say we are deprived of the public forum, but they convey their ideas through the international media including Farsi language ones. The influence of such media is undeniable, since some accuse local media including IRIB of following a biased strategy against the government critics. For the same reason, some are under the influence of foreign media.

Actually right now the green movement and reformists are deprived of a public forum. Even at the late presidential election in June we didn’t have access to that. Some say how people joined you for the election. I would say because the round-the-clock trips made by many reformists and Principlists who campaigned for the other candidates except Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in their headquarters were greeted by people. Many of them are reputable people who selflessly devoted themselves to the country during the “sacred defense” (the eighth-years war in Iraq waged against Iran).

The key problem of the reformists was their limited face-to-face communication with people. Also their campaign was begun rather late. Mr. Mohammad Khatami [former President] walked out of the election and Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi [former Prime Minister] accepted running for the presidency rather late.

* Established in 2001, House of Iran’s Political Parties was intended to act as a supervisory body over the activities of political parties in the country.

Go to original article.

Grand Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani, one of the senior religious figures, in a meeting with a group of reformist youth after listening to their remarks in response to their questions thanked them for caring about the country and said: “Power is a tool to defend people’s rights and if rights cannot be defended based on that power then that power will lose its legitimacy even if some would try to make up legitimacy for it.”

He added: “The reason that today in our society those who genuinely criticise government’s shortcoming are being treated as enemy is clear; it is because for them the power is the goal not the religious teachings and employing them. Therefore for reaching their goal they are suppressing their critics who have stepped forward out of care and justify this in any way possible. This is not a news issue and throughout the history there are many similar cases.”

Grand Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani regarding the term “absolute” used in describing the power for the Supreme Leader said that there has been wrong interpretations regarding this term and it does not mean that Supreme Leader’s power is above the law and the lawmakers did not have such intentions but rather it means that although it is the highest power of the establishment but still it should be within the boundaries of the law.

Grand Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani stressed that the biased interpretations of the constitution has created the current crisis in the country and emphasised that most of the problems were created because of these wrong interpretations and the most pronounced example of that is the unconditional oversight of the appointed bodies on the most important affairs of the country like the domination of the Guardian Council on the most important issues like the elections. He added that those taking advantage of these kind of unjust powers are responsible in front of God and in the eyes of the nation and on the judgment day they will be held accountable for their actions and violating people’s rights.

Go to original article.

Just as the grandson of Imam [Khomeini] has said to understand Imam [Khomeini] better, his loyal companions must be invited to express the realities that he lived and shed light upon the unknown moments of his life.

Go to Khordad 88.

Source: Mousavi FB

Ayatollah Dastgheyb, senior religious figure and a member of the Assembly of Experts, for the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution while criticising the current situation of the country said:l

Armed force should not interfere in political affairs, but it seems like today all the affairs of the country is in the hands of Revolutionary Guards and police and people have no say or will and this is the basis of the diversion from the principles of the revolution.

The anniversary of the Islamic Revolution every year is the continuation of the Islamic Revolution of 1978; and in one phrase people wanted “Independence, Freedom and Islamic Republic” and the goal of having independence was not to be depended to any foreign country not United States nor Russia nor China nor any other country

People want to have security not that anytime some attack their homes and do whatever they want, people don’t want their dignity be endangered not that any group can damage their dignity

The goal of Islamic Republic was so that the vote be the vote of the people, it means a democratic system based on people’s will same as it is in other countries

It is not possible that only one person run the country. There have to be laws and the Supreme Leader is also in the law. There have to be a law because one person cannot rule 70 million people

The armed forces, police, Revolutionary Guards and military should consider people’s benefit not their own benefit; it means that they should guard people’s lives, belongings and dignity and if a foreign country would attack they should prevent their attacks; not to sacrifice all these for their own benefit. The police should support the religious figures and scholars; and not that they do something to isolate them and leave no dignity for anyone except those who obey them

People on very anniversary of the Islamic Republic demand the exact execution of the constitution and ignoring this demand causes the diversion from the Islamic Revolution of 1978

The state-run TV and Radio should be fair and just and reflect the truth

The Guardian Council should guard the constitution which is base on the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him)l

The judiciary system should be independent and based on God’s laws

IND:  A very long piece with interesting insights.

Previous anniversaries have been marked by triumphant mass rallies in front of Tehran’s Azadi monument. By contrast, this year’s event threatens to be a bloody battleground witnessing a re-enactment of the extreme violence between security forces and opposition supporters that has marked several state-sanctioned public gatherings since Ahmadinejad’s allegedly fraudulent election victory, which has been the trigger for a cycle of anti-regime protest.

At the heart of such confrontational rhetoric is a battle for the very soul of the revolution and what it was designed to achieve. While supporters of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, swear loyalty to the concept of velayat-e faqih (leadership by an Islamic jurisprudence) devised by him, Mousavi and Karroubi have been suggesting with increasing boldness that the revolution has failed to free Iranians from tyranny. In fact, they claim, “leadership” by an Islamic jurisprudence has merely instituted a new form of political bondage.

Last week, in an unusually hard-hitting interview on his website, Kalemeh, Mousavi – who served as prime minister under Khomeini in the 1980s – accused the authorities of filling the prisons with “the most sincere and devoted sons of this nation” and warned that the Islamic regime was in danger of becoming a worse dictatorship than the shah’s regime. “Dictatorships in the name of religion are the worst kind of dictatorships,” he said.

“In the first years of the revolution, people were convinced the revolution had completely destroyed all those structures through which despotism and dictatorships could be recreated,” Mousavi went on. “I was one of the people who believed this. But today, I do not believe it any more. Today, we can identify those very structures that have led to despotism… Therefore I don’t believe that the Islamic revolution has achieved its goals.”

To Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini as leader on the latter’s death in 1989, such talk is tantamount to heresy. Having publicly endorsed Ahmadinejad’s tainted election victory, Khamenei has committed himself to a course of depicting the Green Movement as puppets of a western-backed conspiracy bent on toppling the Islamic system in a “velvet revolution”.

In recent weeks, Mousavi and Karroubi had tried to bridge the schism between them and Khamenei by hinting at a compromise that would head off a final cataclysmic confrontation. They had called for changes guaranteeing free elections, a free press and the freedom to demonstrate, while demanding the unconditional release of all political prisoners. Crucially, in a step that implies acceptance of Ahmadinejad’s tenure as president – at least for now – they had also demanded that the government be held “accountable” for its actions. But these olive branches were offered before Mousavi’s latest statement, which further sharpened the divisions. Go to Guardian.

Despite the looming confrontation, behind the scenes, Iran’s opposition appears to be exploring the possibility of a compromise. But the difficulty is that any compromise would almost certainly have to involve Khamenei moving against Ahmadinejad, initiating a process within the political system that would involve the incumbent either being ousted or having his power considerably diluted. The leaders of the opposition risk losing the backing of their supporters in the streets if they are too willing to reconcile themselves with Ahmadinejad, given all the blood that has been spilled over the past six months.

Has Ahmadinejad become enough of a liability for Khamenei and his allies to move against him? The President faces a difficult term ahead, even without the unresolved question of his legitimacy. Critics of his government say it squandered billions during his first term on expensive social programs intended to buy political support. Now faced with increasing sanctions and lower oil revenues, the government is about to launch a new program to wean the economy from unsustainable subsidies, especially on energy — a move that is almost certainly going to be unpopular.

But much depends on just where the center of gravity in Iran’s regime lies in the postelection political landscape. Ahmadinejad spent much of his first term filling positions with allies from the Revolutionary Guard, the élite military force, and they returned the favor by orchestrating the postelection crackdown. It’s not clear now just who calls the shots. Also, concerned with the danger posed to the regime’s survival by internal strife, hard-liners may be tempted to pick a fight with the West to create a pretext for cracking down harder at home. Go to Time.

IND:  The Green leaders’ offers of compromise stink of desperation and will only reinforce Khamenei’s deeply held beliefs about not compromising under pressure.  Unless this was a prepackaged arrangement, such lopsided offers  will enable Khamenei to outmaneuver and outplay the Green leaders.  At the end, they will not gain  the confidence of the conservatives and will, more than likely, lose the respect of the youth.

Furthering a trend that has been visible for several weeks now, a prominent Iranian opposition leader made conciliatory remarks on Thursday that were apparently aimed at defusing tensions and ending the nation’s political crisis.

So far, however, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not demonstrated a similar willingness to compromise, say Iran experts inside and outside the country.

In an interview posted Thursday on a reformist Web site, Mehdi Karroubi, a candidate in last summer’s presidential election and former speaker of Parliament, seemed to be shifting the blame for the violent postelection crackdown away from Ayatollah Khamenei, offering an alternate target, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a reactionary cleric who heads the influential Guardian Council.

Speaking of Ayatollah Jannati, Mr. Karroubi said: “He says that claims of fraud are totally false and calls it a crime against the nation, but who does not know that he has committed crimes against the revolution, the blood of the martyrs, the imam and the dear people of Iran.”

But even before Mr. Karroubi’s remarks were made public, the nation’s leadership demonstrated anew its threat to meet resistance with unflinching severity. Two prisoners, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani, 37, and Arash Rahmani Pour, 19, were hanged at dawn, the government announced. They had been convicted on charges of defying God and belonging to armed organizations.

The main reform strategy appears to focus on reaffirming allegiance to the supreme leader, accepting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the head of the government, at least for now, but not backing off any of the charges of election fraud or government-sanctioned violence against civilians. By focusing attention on Ayatollah Jannati, who has rejected all efforts at compromise, Mr. Karroubi added another possible element, appearing to give Ayatollah Khamenei the chance to re-establish himself as an arbiter between the reformers and the hard-liners, some experts said.

“Perhaps this is the contours of the compromise,” said Trita Parsi, president and founder of the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group based in Washington. “Possibly we are seeing a shift in pinning the blame, away from Khamenei, opening the way for him to reciprocate.” Go to NY Times.

Iran has sentenced senior reformist and former MP Mohsen Safai Farahani, arrested after the disputed June presidential election, to six years in jail, opposition websites reported on Sunday.

“Last night (Saturday), he was informed of the verdict after spending more than 200 days in custody. He was sentenced to six years in prison,” Kaleme and Parlemannews websites said.

They did not say what charges Safai Farahani was convicted of.

A veteran industrialist, Safai Farahani, 61, is one of the leaders of Iran’s largest reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, which strongly backed Ahmadinejad’s leading challenger in the vote, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Safai Farahani also served as an MP between 2000 and 2004, and as deputy economy minister and head of Iran’s football federation under the reformist presidency of Mohammad Khatami between 1997 and 2005. Go to AFP.

Iran has stepped up pressure on the opposition, arresting a dissident cleric and warning against using SMS and email messages to organise anti-government protests, reports said on Friday.

Mid-ranking cleric Mohammad Taghi Khalaji, who was close to late dissident Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, was arrested at his home in the city of Qom on Tuesday, reformist website Norooznews said.

“The (reason for) his arrest is not known yet but he had on several occasions backed protests against election results” which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad returned for a second term amid allegations of massive fraud, the report said.

The detained cleric’s son, Mehdi Khalaji, is a senior research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and two members of the US House of Representatives condemned the arrest.

“The regime’s intimidation and imprisonment of clerics critical of the current government must cease at once,” Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Howard Berman said in a joint statement.

Iranian clerics backing the opposition have faced mounting pressure by hardliners since the death of Montazeri, whose December funeral was attended by thousands of opposition supporters.

An outspoken critic of the Islamic regime he helped create, Montazeri joined the opposition by calling for protests and branding Ahmadinejad’s government as illegitimate. Go to AFP.

After lying low amid a torrent of official threats and even gunfire following the eruption of political unrest last month, Iran’s leading moderate politician-clerics spoke out today, heatedly.

Both former President Mohammad Khatami (pictured, above right) and former presidential contender Mehdi Karroubi issued strong statements condemning Iran’s ongoing crackdown against dissidents and urging compromise in the political rift between government opponents and supporters.

Even Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose brother over the weekend acknowledged that Rafsanjani had been silent, spoke out, saying the government needed to “use logic” to heal the political wounds that continued to divide the country following the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Activists and foot soldiers in the protest movement likely will take the statements as tacit approval of their attempts to heat up the political atmosphere and mobilize for demonstrations coinciding with Feb. 11 commemorations marking the 31st anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Karroubi said in his statement, carried on his Persian-language website, SahamNews.org, that Iranians were fed up with what he describedd as the government’s heavy-handed ways, citing violence against women, secret detention centers, show trials and mass arrests.

Khatami’s statement, carried on the website of his charity Baran, was less incendiary. He denied that the opposition was out to dismantle the Islamic Republic, and he condemned those more radical protesters who had made regime change their goal.

“Our slogan has been and will be: ‘Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic.’ And any other slogan is not approved by the majority of our people,” he said. “Any other slogan is a diversion from the path of the revolution.”  IND:  Khatami had his time.  It would be nice if he would step aside and let someone like Karroubi who has the B***S which he never had to continue the struggle against the regime. Go to LA Times.