International solidarity with Iranian student movement - Bahareh Hedayat

International solidarity with Iranian student movement - Bahareh Hedayat

the Green Movement can never be branded and slandered with epithets of foreign-conspirators and unreligious

Iranian reformists rally Green Movement supporters

Iranian reformist organizations called out to supporters of the Green Movement to join the February 11 demonstrations for the anniversary of the Revolution to once more announce their protest to the alleged fraud in the June presidential elections. Iran's Coordination Council of the Reformist Front called on the supporters of the Green Movement to join the February 11 demonstrations. The Front's announcement on the occasion of the 1979 Revolution's anniversary stated that the Green Movement is "conclusive of the nation's complete solidarity" and on February 11, it will shout out: "Yes; to the Islamic Republic! Never; to authoritarian rule!" The Council, which is comprised of 17 reformist parties and organizations that came together in May of 1997, announced that the Green Movement can never be branded and slandered with epithets of foreign-conspirators and unreligious. They also emphasize that "violence and murder and arson and vandalism are in no way connected with the Green movement's course of action." The reformist group, Combatant Clerics Association also rallied people to participate in the February 11 events adding that the legitimacy of the Supreme Leadership is dependent on the satisfaction and will of the people and therefore, it remains accountable to the people.

They also call on all protesters "to exercise the utmost patience and endurance in the face of all violence and violators" during the February 11 demonstrations.

Opposition leaders have repeatedly maintained that pro-government forces make every effort to provoke protesters into violence in order to justify their own violent confrontations with them.

Human rights activists in Iran fear that the national webmail service is part of a bigger plan to localise the internet within Iran's borders although many believe it is too late for Iran to do so effectively

Iran.ir: an ominous sign

Iran.ir: an ominous signAs Iranian protesters gear up online again, the state is clamping down with a new state service replacing foreign email accounts. Since the disputed election last June, Ahmadinejad's government has sought different ways to further crack down on the internet in Iran. Now, access to almost all reformist websites is blocked, including those of the reformist candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi. Last week Iran launched a national webmail service via iran.ir, intended to replace free foreign webmail services with a domestic one that is easier to control. All government employees are being urged to use it instead of foreign webmail providers. According to the Iranian official figures, 95% of Iranians currently use Yahoo Mail, Gmail and Hotmail accounts. Human rights activists in Iran fear that the national webmail service is part of a bigger plan to localise the internet within Iran's borders although many believe it is too late for Iran to do so effectively. Recently, officials have blocked access to Google Translate, which has provided English to Persian, Persian to English service since June. But, as has happened in China, is filtering Google the next step? Although iran.ir does not yet have the capacity to provide free webmail services for everyone, it will do so shortly. Gmail is reportedly blocked in some parts of Iran and its audio and video attachments are impossible to download. At least 5m websites are filtered in Iran, but for clever users, filtering is pointless; thousands of proxy sites distribute the net's wider content to blogs or email addresses. But even these users have so far been unable to bypass the block on Gmail attachments. You might think that this is only going to inconvenience a few people, but you would be wrong: Iran has nearly a million bloggers, around 10% of whom are active. Iran's native language is also among the top 10 languages used online. The power of the internet in Iran became clear for the ... Read More

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 1 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 1 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 2 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 2 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 3 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 3 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 4 of 4)

IRG-Guard Defector "Ehsan Eslami" Confessions (part 4 of 4)

Karrubi decried the state of affairs in the country. He called "the people" the "true owners of the revolution" and said they "are living under very difficult conditions

Regime faces further criticism ahead of anniversary

A major Iranian opposition leader slammed his country's regime Wednesday and what he termed its tyrannical behavior after the disputed presidential elections in June. Mehdi Karrubi spoke out a day after reformist and opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi criticized the government, saying remnants of the "tyranny" and "dictatorship" that prevailed under the toppled Shah of Iran's regime persist today. Karrubi, whose statement appeared on Moussavi's Web site, denounced "tyranny, arrests and imprisonment of journalists, students and political activists, show trials, executions, and heavy-handed sentencing of those who are unjustly and wrongly accused as well as a greatly increased military environment." Their statements came as the regime marks the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The authorities are holding a series of events to commemorate the Shah of Iran's overthrow. Celebrations began this week and culminate on February 11. Moussavi and Karrubi have urged supporters to demonstrate. Iran appears to be trying to clamp down even more tightly on opponents as the anniversary approaches. A leading Iranian human rights activist and journalist was arrested Wednesday, activists said.

Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi was taken by security agents who searched his home and took personal belongings including his computer, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said in a statement, calling him "one of the most important sources of objective human rights information and analysis in Iran."

It is not clear where he is being held. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the arrest.

Iran has been trying and executing people accused of demonstrating against the June 12 presidential election victory of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the final results, Ahmadinejad was declared the winner over Moussavi, a result seen by many Iranians as questionable or rigged.

The initial protests broke out last summer and have persisted. At least ... Read More

Enghelab - Revolution

Enghelab - Revolution Song

Japan Ex Iraninan Diplomat Abolfazl Eslami message to his colleagues

Japan Ex Iraninan Diplomat Abolfazl Eslami message to his colleagues