Full daily report about Iran
1. Variying reports on casualty levels: The number of dead protesters range from 19, according to Iranian state-run media, to 150, according to foreign media. The Iranian government has completely banned press-coverage of the protests. There are also contradicting reports on whether Musavi personally participated in the protests. He himself stated his willingness to die for justice, and even performed "the martyrs' ablution". Here is a link to a clip showing a young protester shot by security forces.Iranian citizens continue to report that Revolutionary Guard para-military militiamen were involved in suppressing the protests.
4. The riots spread to Isfahan, and other Iranian major cities. An eye witness account from Isfahan reported thats: "the entire city turned into one big garrison, crammed with security forces and special guards forces. Where did they get all these troops?! They brutally assaulted the protesters, preventing any kind of gathering. The streets are crammed with protesters, jamming the roads with their cars and blowing their car-horns. Tonight, there were many more people chanting ‘Allah Akbar’. I heard similar accounts from Shiraz too." On Saturday, a protester killed himself in front of Shiraz communal Imam. Unofficial reports claim his suicide to be a protest against the brutal suppression of demonstrations. According to various reports, the Kerman province was also rocked by riots.
(A link to demonstrations held in Isfahan on Friday)
5. Students released from detention describe their maltreatment by Interior Ministry forces: Students released after being arrested on Monday night by two undercover policemen, described their maltreatment during the detention. They reported that after being subjected to brutality and terror, they were placed in a basement inside Home Ministry building. There, they have been tortured and beaten for hours, and the beatings went on although the detainees were already bleeding. The students claim an organized group of plain-clothes servicemen entered the university, in perfect cooperation with Internal Security forces. According to one student, the policemen didn’t even cover their face, "since they were clearly backed by disobedience-suppression forces".
6. Thousands of Twitter messages sent from Iran report on deadly methods used by police and militia. Twitter messages sent from Iran report clashes between protesters and security forces including shots fired into crowds, boiling water poured from helicopters, and protesters arrested and taken away in vans, as smoke-covered scenes of clashes. In some cases the protesters chanted "death to Khamenei”, and set fire to cars .
7. Ongoing arrests of students and reformist activists:
- Secretary of the Committee for Defense of the Right to Study, Ziaoldin Nabavi, was kidnapped last Tuesday by unidentified persons. There has been no information on his condition since his detention, and no organization claimed responsibility. It is noteworthy that many students'kidnappings have been reported, from all over Iran
- Two journalists, Jila Bin Yaqoob, and her partner, Banhman Ahmadi Amoobi, were arrested yesterday at their home.
- Mass arrests of pro-Reformist activists in Isfahan. One of the detainees is Mehrdad Bal Afkan, a local Musavi's campaign-director.
- Chief editor of major pro-Reformist newspaper, Etemad Meli, Mohammad Qouchani, was arrested at 2 AM on Saturday. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ha seen seriously harassing this paper ever since the elections. Mohsen Safaei Farahani, a leading member of the Jebheh Moshareket party, was also arrested.
- Sima Didar, an Azeri political activist, and former editor of Tehran University journal in Turkish, was arrested last Thursday night. It is noteworthy that Didar's life-partner, engineer Ali Reza Farshi, was arrested during a protest held in Tabriz one month ago. Sima was told she could meet him in the Intelligence Ministry Tabriz detention center, but was detained right when she arrived there. This clip shows her husband's detention during the Tabriz protest.
- Mojtaba Pour Mohsen, a journalist and an editor of Gilan Emruz, was arrested at home, in the town of Rasht. Persons identifying themselves as Intelligence Ministry servicemen came to his residence, detaining him and seizing his PC, books and video-recordings. His newspaper deals with social and cultural issues.
- Hadi Ehtezazi, a national-religious activist in Hamdan, disappeared 3 days ago after leaving his house. His relatives seriously fear for his life. It is noteworthy that a few days before his disappearance, Intelligence Ministry ordered him to the city's Intelligence Department.
- Dr. Hossein Arab, a Tehran University lecturer, was reportedly abducted, with his wife and daughter, when walking in the streets of Tehran. Some websites claim that the event was videotaped with a cell-phone camera.
According to a reliable source Rafsanjani's daughter, Faeze, and his son, Mahdi, were forbidden to leave Iran -in Farsi-, for their involvement in organizing the recent disorders and illegal rallies. All pro-government media have recently escalated the anti-Rafsanjani campaign, attacking his relatives as well. Fars News Agency even on blamed Rafsanjani's relatives all the predicaments of Iran for the last 27 years.
7. The parliamentary committee of inquiry met with Rafsanjani: The ‘Truth Finding Committee’, formed by Iranian parliament to investigate the election-related riots, held a meeting with Ayatollah Rafsanjani, to discuss issues related to the elections and their aftermath.
6. Iranian government banned Rafsanjani's (picture) relatives from traveling abroad:
8. Iranian citizens cannot send or receive email messages: According to Reformist newspaper Etemad Meli, Iranian government's restrictions on communications are increasing: SMS communication is impossible, and recently, email services were also blocked. In addition, more papers were banned: Aftab Yazd was not issued on Thursday; Khabar, Hayate No and other papers were also banned; Jomhuri Eslami was issued late.
9. The Ministers of Intelligence and Internal affairs will report to a closed session of the Majles on recent events: The Ministers of intelligence and internal affairs are scheduled to appear at a restricted session of the Majles to report on the violent clashes. The Commander of the Internal Security Forces is expected to answer questions too.
10. Members of Iranian parliamentary committee of Inquiry found evidence of organized plain-cloths' servicemen attacks against demonstrators: While Iranian state-run media blames the recent violence in Tehran on pro-Musavi's protesters, an Iranian parliamentary committee of enquiry, which includes several parliament members, found evidence that riot-control and plain-clothes security forces' servicemen were directly involved in public disorder, and had received orders from undisclosed sources. One committee member claimed that the attack on Tehran University was even more massive than during the 1999 students' riots. The debate escalated into physical violence between parliament members. (This debate was reported on Thursday). Parliament members asserted that "an organized group, with unidentified commanders, is involved in the disorders". The photos and images released establish these people's direct participation in assaults on Iranian citizens, and compelled Iranian parliament members to discuss it in an open session. It is noteworthy that opposition websites report on HAMAS and Hezbollah forces’ involvement in suppressing the protests.
11. Iranian professors from universities all over the world called UN Secretary General to sent a special envoy investigating human rights violations in Iran: Tens of Iranian-born professors from universities all over the world wrote to UN Secretary General, condemning the suppression of protests in Iran, and demanding the UN to send a special envoy for investigating human rights violations. Meanwhile, today, Iranian lawyer and laureate of Nobel Prize peace, Shirin Abadi, called on the international community to stop violence in Iran. in a speech made in Geneva she stated her expectations that the international community make efforts to stop the Iranian government's violence against its own citizens.
12. Official reports - Several terror-cells linked to Israel were arrested: Iranian Intelligence Ministry reported the arrest of several terror cells which planned terror attacks "for the sake of starting panic and tension". The Ministry claimed one of the cells planned several bombings in crowded urban centers on Election Day. The Ministry claimed the cell members confessed having contacts with Israeli Intelligence.
2. Security forces joined protesters at certain locations. widespread rumors, not yet confirmed by either party, have it that in certain places, security forces' servicemen joined the protesters.
3. A report from a protester injured in Tehran demonstration: "Currently, I can hear chanting of “Allah Akbar” from rooftops, and it cheers me up a little, easing my pain. Today's protest ended up horribly, although they started fine. I joined other protesters in front of Tehran University, and then we marched towards Enqelab square. It was crammed with protesters, and they all marched, in perfect order, to Azadi square. Suddenly, a group of policemen in black assaulted us, attempting to arrest two protesters, but the crowd scared away the police, protecting the protesters. More and more people joined us, and we started chanting "security forces, support us!". But then, they were ordered to assault us. Those in the front suffered the hardest blows, by clubs and belts. The last thing I remember was falling and breaking my leg. Fellow-protesters took me to a hospital. The nurse told me that if I can afford the expenses,she recommends that I be admitted under a a false name to escape arrest" (link in Farsi).