Exclusif report on Iranian activities
Political, humanitarian and economical report on Iran (July, the 1st, 2009)1. Intelligence Ministry commandeers pro-Mousavi website – Iranian websites are reporting that the pro-Mousavi Kalameh website has taken over by officials from the Intelligence and Interior ministries. The reports add that the site’s managers have been arrested and that unreliable information is now being posted on the site.
2.Arrest of pro-Mousavi artists – Following the arrests and subsequent release of singer Hosseyn Zaman, security forces have now detained more pro-Mousavi artists, including film and theater actors Roosta and Mahtab.
3. Security Forces are seen beating youths:
4. Basij forces abducting wounded – Human rights activists are reporting that Basij forces are going to hospitals around the country and preventing medical personnel from speaking with individuals injured from the ongoing unrest and are not allowing them to ask patients how they were hurt. The activists say that some of the injured have been abducted and taken to unknown locations. According to one eye-witness, individuals who are not seriously hurt are choosing to stay away from the hospitals and medical treatment centers, fearing what may happen to them there. Rumors tell of ambulances taking people to detention centers rather than for treatment.
5. Two Ahwaz students abducted – Two Awaz Oil College students, Hossein Rahini and Amin Nikzade, have been abducted by unknown assailants. The two were involved in student protests outside the institution. Students at the college have announced that they will stage demonstrations until the two are released.
6. Restrictions on journalists' movements – Iranian authorities continue to impose severe restrictions on journalists in the country and are not allowing them to freely roam the streets and write reports on the ongoing events. Iranian websites are saying that very little information is getting out of the country, including about the events last night at Qaba Mosque. Many Iranian websites have not been updated since yesterday afternoon.
7. Behind the walls of Evin Prison – Most people arrested during recent events in Iran are being held at Tehran’s Evin Prison. Among them are dozens of journalists and bloggers. Authorities are not providing answers to questions from families, who are most concerned about detainees who are being held in the facility’s Wing 209, which is known as the torture wing. Posted on the prison notice board is a list of several hundred prisoners and this is the only piece of information available to the families. The Reporters without Borders organization has received numerous reports of prisoners being subjected to torture and has asked for human rights representatives to be allowed to visit the prison, likening it to the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile, following Pinochet’s coup and defining it as a bloody jail at which authorities are a law unto themselves.
8. Claim: 70-80 percent of ballots were marked with same pen and in same handwriting – According to Omidvar Rezaei, the brother of defeated presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei: “The Interior Ministry claims it has re-counted the votes from some of the polling stations, but this is an unofficial re-count. Even in this unofficial re-count, it turned out that 70-80 percent of the votes were made with the same pen and in the exact same handwriting, and they all contained the name of one of the candidates.”
9. Communication problems – Communication throughout Iran remains problematic for the third week running. Since the elections, most cellular telephones have been disconnected, text message services have been suspended and the Internet is running very slowly and is not accessible for the most part. Iran’s state comptroller has demanded an explanation from the communications minister.
9Bis: More calls for Nokia boycott – After Nokia admitted selling cellular telephone equipment to the Iranian government, Iranian bloggers and citizens have intensified their calls for a boycott of the phone company and its products.
10. Ayatollah Musavi Ardebili (picture on the right): What is worrisome is when the people turn their backs on us - Ayatollah Musavi Ardebili met with National Security Commission: At this meeting Ayatollah Musavi Ardebili said “I do not want to judge which side is right in this struggle and have no intention of doing so, but there is an issue here and that is that we must not do anything to put ourselves in opposition to the people. We must not do anything to make them say the Islamic government is incompetent or that Islam cannot solve their problems. Whether some fellow did or did not win the election is not our primary concern. The primary concern is that the people must not think their demands will go unmet. The people must be satisfied and made content with the issues that have arisen….One way that could be considered for getting out of the existing situation is to have a group accepted and trusted by all sides consider the matter and make its judgment final…What foreigners say about us has no importance. Ultimately the enemy will be hostile and does not wish us well. What is worrisome is when the people turn their backs on us. If we have peace domestically and the people are happy we will have no fear of what is happening abroad." (Emruz. June 29) 11. Proposal to set up temporary government? – Unofficial websites are quoting a political source on the fact that the election issue is yet to be resolved. According to the source, one of the current proposals concerns the establishment by the Expediency Council of a temporary government and the holding of new elections within six months to a year. The source says that Iran’s supreme leader and senior sources of emulation in Qom support the idea. Nateq Nuri has been named as a candidate to head the temporary government.
12. Majlis speaker in Algeria – Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani is on a visit to Algeria to attend an inter-parliamentary session of the Islamic Conference. During his address to the conference, Larijani called on the United States to stop intervening in the affairs of other countries.
13. Bahrain parliamentary delegation visits Iran – A parliamentary delegation from Bahrain has arrived Iran to attend meetings on cultural diversity and justice. ( 14. Saudi intervention in recent events in Iran – ‘Saudi Arabian opposition elements’ claim that the Saudi regime has been directly involved in recent events in Iran. According to the Saudi opposition sources, Saudi Arabia's National Security Council decided to take advantage of the unrest in Iran to undermine stability and security in the country.
14 bis: Saudi intervention in recent events in Iran – ‘Saudi Arabian opposition elements’ claim that the Saudi regime has been directly involved in recent events in Iran. According to the Saudi opposition sources, Saudi Arabia's National Security Council decided to take advantage of the unrest in Iran to undermine stability and security in the country.
14ter: Regime affiliated sources: Saudi Arabian intelligence service paying bribes to write against Velayat-e Faqihb – According to reports,the intelligence service of Saudi Arabia is paying some Arab press to write against the Shia and the inefficiency of the Islamic system based on Shia teachings. (Siast-e Ruz, June 29).
15. FM spokesman: Iran ready for talks on its nuclear program – Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi at his weekly news conference: "As the president said a few days ago, the Iranian nation is always ready for talks [on the nuclear issue].”16. Average gasoline consumption per week as of last week: 65.3 million liters.
17. Finance minister: Inflation rate has fallen below 15 percent – Iran’s finance minister cites a report published by the International Monetary Fund and insists that the inflation rate in Iran has dropped from 25 percent to just below 15 percent. (Abrar, June 30).
18. Iraq to become Iran’s main trade partner – The chairman of Tehran’s Trade Organization has announced that Iran exports some $2.5 billion worth of goods to Iran every year, with the sum to increase to $4 billion in the field of goods and $2 billion in the field of engineering and energy services. According to the chairman, Iraq is set to become Iran’s principal trade partner.