Iranian Unity on Anniversary Will Deliver ‘Punch’ to Enemies, Says Supreme Leader
CNS NEWS: As the U.S. and European Union joined Monday in condemning “continuing human rights violations” by the Iranian government, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ratcheted up tensions ahead of Thursday’s anniversary of the Islamic revolution by vowing that the nation would deliver a “punch” to stun its enemies.

“Through its unity, the Iranian nation will by Allah’s favor stun the arrogant powers, including the U.S., Britain, and the Zionist regime on the 22nd of Bahman,” he said in a speech to air force personnel, using the Persian calendar date for February 11.

Khamenei’s remarks, in a speech to air force personnel, are the latest by top regime figures seeking to discredit opposition supporters ahead of the anniversary by accusing them of being agents or tools of hostile countries. >>> Patrick Goodenough, International Editor | Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Proteste in Iran: Teherans Machthaber rächen sich mit neuen Festnahmen
ZEIT ONLINE: Das iranische Regime versucht, die Lage im Land unter Kontrolle zu bringen. Für Ahmadineschad sind die Proteste ein Schauspiel des Westens, das er "zum Kotzen" findet.

Härte gegen Opposition, Drohungen gegen das Ausland: Das Regime in Teheran will die Kontrolle zurückgewinnen. Bild: Zeit Online
Nach den gewalttätigen Protesten vom Wochenende geht die Regierung nun mit äußerster Härte gegen die Oppositionsanhänger vor. Das Regime um Präsident Mahmud Ahmadineschad und dem geistlichen Oberhaupt Ajatollah Ali Chamenei versucht mit aller Macht, Herr der Lage zu bleiben.

Der Chef der freiwilligen Basidsch-Einheit der Revolutionsgarden, Mohammed Resa Naghdi, nannte die Oppositionsführer "Ungläubige" und deren Anhänger "Wüstlinge". "Die Basidschis würden nicht zögern, das Land von diesen Hetzern und ausländischen Söldnern zu säubern", sagte der General und drohte mit neuen Maßnahmen. >>> Zeit Online, dpa, Reuters | Dienstag, 29. Dezember 2009

Iran: Die Islamische Republik taumelt ihrem Ende entgegen
ZEIT ONLINE: Sicherheitskräfte versuchen, die seit der gefälschten Wahl im Juni anhaltenden Proteste gewaltsam zu stoppen. Doch längst haben sie das ganze Land erfasst. Von M. Gehlen

Ein Demonstrant hält seine blutverschmierte Hand in die Höhe. Er und Hunderte weitere meist junge Teheraner protestieren gegen das iranische Regime. Bild: Zeit Online
Was für ein Jahr für Iran. Im Februar hatte die Führung noch mit großen Umzügen, triumphierenden Predigten und provozierenden Reden den 30. Jahrestag der Islamischen Republik gefeiert. Als Krönung schoss man damals den ersten eigenen Satelliten ins All, während sich Präsident Mahmud Ahmadineschad stolz inmitten der unterirdischen Uranzentrifugen in Natanz fotografieren ließ. Iran präsentierte sich als kommende Atommacht und unbestrittene Hegemonialmacht des Mittleren Ostens – politisch, technisch und militärisch vorne. So war das selbstbewusste Signal an die arabischen Nachbarn. Und so lautete die Botschaft an die westliche Welt. Zehn Monate danach taumelt die Islamische Republik ihrem Ende entgegen. ... >>> Zeit Online, Tagesspiegel | Dienstag, 29. Dezember 2009

Iranian Protest Is Grassroots and Unstoppable, Say Activists
TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s panicking regime is once again seeking to suppress the Green Movement by decapitating it.

Just as it did after June’s hotly-disputed presidential election, it is arresting high-profile reformists, academics and journalists who support the opposition.

It hesitates to detain Mir Hossein Mousavi lest millions of his supporters take to the streets, but it has locked up his brother-in-law and is widely suspected of killing his nephew. It cannot arrest Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel laureate, as she is abroad, but it has imprisoned her sister.

The tactic will prove as futile now as it did in June. Decapitation will not work because the opposition is a bottom-up movement run not by Mr Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, its nominal leaders, but by its grassroots members. It is a massive campaign of civil disobedience. >>> Martin Fletcher: Commentary | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Iranian Becomes Hero After Criticising Ayatollah Khamenei to His Face
THE TELEGRAPH: A college mathematics student has become an unlikely hero to many Iranians after he insulted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to his face.

Mahmoud Vahidnia has received an outpouring of support from government opponents for the challenge – unprecedented in a country where criticising the supreme leader is a crime punishable by prison.

The confrontation happened at a question-and-answer session between Khamenei and students at Tehran's Sharif Technical University.

Some of those in attendance at the Oct 28 forum said the Ayatollah appeared taken aback by the questioning and left the meeting early.

The session began with a speech in which the supreme leader told the students the "biggest crime" was to question the results of the June 12 presidential election that returned hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. The Ayatollah declared Mr Ahmadinejad the victor despite opposition claims of widespread fraud.

After the speech, Mr Vahidnia raised his hand, then for 20 minutes he criticised the Iranian leader over the fierce crackdown on post-election protests, in which the opposition said 69 people were killed and thousands were arrested.

In brief excerpts broadcast on state TV, the thin, bespectacled Vahidnia was shown standing behind a podium, gesturing.

"I don't know why in this country it's not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you," said the student. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, November 06, 2009

Ahmadinejad 'Proud'* of Angering West over Holocaust Denial
HAARETZ: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he was proud that the West was outraged over his recent outburst of Holocaust denial, Iran's state news agency reported Monday.

The report by IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that angering the world's "professional man slayers" - an apparent reference to Israel and some in the West - was a source of pride for him.

He did not elaborate further. During a speech on Friday, the Iranian president told a Tehran crowd assembled for Quds (Jerusalem) Day Friday that, "The pretext [Holocaust] for the creation of the Zionist regime [Israel] is false ... It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim." >>> Associated Press and Haaretz Service | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

*What a sick little man Ahmadinejad is! "Proud" of angering the West? He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself! And what about that pathetic excuse for a religious leader, the so-called 'Supreme Leader', Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? What a joke he is!

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Blasts Israel in Sermon
TIMES ONLINE: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blasted arch-foe Israel, Western powers and foreign media networks in a sermon marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr earlier today.

Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final say in all Iran's national issues, said a "Zionist cancer" was gnawing into the lives of Islamic nations.

The annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally held across Iran on Friday, he said, was a "day of loud and clear shouts" against this "deadly cancer of Zionism which is gnawing into the lives of the Islamic nations".

The all-powerful cleric added that the "deadly cancer was spreading through the invading hands of the occupiers and arrogant powers."

His anti-Israel remarks came two days after the Quds Day rally during which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had also slammed Israel and reiterated his controversial belief that the Holocaust was a "myth." >>> | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Khamenei warnt Ahmadinejad vor Selbstüberschätzung: Erste offene Kritik der obersten Instanz Irans seit der umstrittenen Wiederwahl
NZZ ONLINE: Im Konflikt innerhalb der iranischen Machtelite hat der Oberste Führer des Landes, Ayatollah Khamenei, Präsident Ahmadinejad vor Selbstüberschätzung gewarnt. Dies war die erste offene Kritik Khameneis an Ahmadinejad seit dessen umstrittener Wiederwahl am 12. Juni.

«Auch wenn das Votum des Volkes Quelle des Stolzes sein kann, sollte jede Selbstüberschätzung vermieden werden, weil sie eine der grössten Fallen des Teufels ist», sagte er laut iranischen Medien am Montag bei einem Treffen mit dem Präsidenten und seinem neuen Kabinett.

Der Oberste Führer des Landes hatte Ahmadinejad bei der Wahl unterstützt und diesen danach gegen massive Kritik verteidigt, die zu blutigen Unruhen geführt hatte. Jetzt erklärte Khamenei, auch wenn ein Teil der Kritik an der Regierung von ausländischen Medien gesteuert werde, so gebe es auch «wohlmeinende Kritik, die beachtet werden sollte».

Gleichzeitig griff er Kritik auf, Ahmadinejad habe einige seiner neuen Minister ausgewählt, weil sie ihm nahestünden und nicht weil sie am geeignetsten seien. «Es sollte nichts überstürzt werden, aber du solltest lieber Expertenmeinungen vor allem im Wirtschaftsbereich nutzen, weil das Ignorieren solcher Meinungen grossen Schaden anrichten kann», sagte Khamenei an Ahmadinejad gewandt. >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 08. September 2009

Iranian Opposition Plans New Wave of Resistance amid Claims of Torture
'Some young people are beaten to death just for chanting slogans,' wrote Mr Karoubi. Photo: TimesOnline
TIMES ONLINE: Despite nine weeks of savage repression since Iran’s hotly disputed presidential election, opponents of the regime refuse to accept defeat. They accuse the Government of torturing political detainees. They spread samizdat DVDs, use paintball guns to obliterate government posters, and attack government websites.

Mehdi Karroubi, one of the defeated presidential candidates, kept up the public pressure this week by claiming that male and female detainees have been raped in the Evin and Kahrizak prisons in Tehran, and that political prisoners were being tortured to death.

“We observe that in an Islamic country some young people are beaten to death just for chanting slogans,” Mr Karoubi wrote on his website.

Other detainees “were forced to take off their clothes. Then they were made to go on their hands and knees and were ridden [by prison guards]. Or the prison authorities put them on top of each other while they were naked... Do such treatments conform with Islam, which is a religion of mercy?”

Mr Karoubi’s allegations, which are supported by Western human rights organisations, seemed designed to deepen rifts within the conservative establishment over the way detainees have been treated.

They certainly appeared to strike a nerve. The regime has denounced them as baseless, and demanded Mr Karoubi produce proof. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a hardline cleric, used his sermon at Friday prayers to demand that Mr Karoubi be prosecuted. He said that the accusations were “full of libel, a total slander against the Islamic system” that helped Iran’s enemies.

With the security forces brutally suppressing any street demonstrations, grassroots activists are adopting subtler methods of resisting a regime that they consider illegitimate.

They still chant “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) from the rooftops every night, and write anti-regime slogans on banknotes, but they are also daubing graffiti (“Death to basiji”, “Death to the dictator”) on walls across the capital and using paintball guns to obliterate posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, with green paint. Sometimes they simply paint a black X across his portrait. >>> Martin Fletcher | Friday, August 14, 2009

Rebel Boycott as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Endorses Ahmadinejad Re-election
TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s supreme leader has formally endorsed President Ahmadinejad for a second term amid a boycott by leading opposition figures.

State television broadcast images of the ceremony today with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving the President his seal of approval.

The country’s opposition leaders and moderates boycotted the gathering in protest over the election they claim was fraudulent.

State media reported that the former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami as well as the defeated pro-reform candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi did not attend.

On Wednesday the President will take the oath of office before Iran’s parliament. Seven weeks after the election, however, the regime is still battling to crush the resistance of millions of Iranians who believe that the poll was rigged.

A new wave of protests linked is gathering over the “show trial” of more than 100 opposition figures detained in the crackdown that followed the ballot.

On Saturday, in an apparent effort to deter further protests, Iran put scores of opponents on trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, accusing them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a revolution. Yesterday it added ten more defendants. >>> Martin Fletcher | Monday, August 03, 2009

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Rounds on Conservatives in Bitter Feud
TIMES ONLINE: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s discredited President, spoke out against critics among his own hardline colleagues today as his authority was further eroded by bitter feuding.

The day after violent protests returned to the streets of Tehran, the President was forced to defend himself not from the pro-reformist opposition but against his former allies.

Conservatives have cast doubt on Mr Ahmadinejad’s loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after a dispute over his vice presidential appointment two weeks ago.

He responded robustly today during a speech in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, which was broadcast on state television.

“Some in recent days have portrayed the relationship between the leader and the administration as in doubt. They tried to imply distance and rift,” he said.

“What they do not understand is that the relationship between us and the Supreme Leader goes beyond politics and administration. It is based on kindness, on ideology, it is like that of a father and son.”

He claimed the attempts by “ill-wishers” would yield no results, adding “this path will be shut in the face of devils”. >>> Nico Hines | Friday, July 31, 2009

Khamenei ordnet Schließung von Gefängnis an
DIE PRESSE: Der Ayatollah verfügt, dass es zu keiner "Ungerechtigkeit" gegen die Demonstranten kommen darf. Erster Schritt: Die Schließung eines Gefängnisses angeordnet, in dem auch oppositionelle Demonstranten inhaftiert sind.

Irans geistliches Oberhaupt Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hat die Schließung des Gefängnisses Kahrizak im Süden Teherans angeordnet, in dem auch oppositionelle Demonstranten inhaftiert sind. In der Haftanstalt würden die nötigen Standards hinsichtlich der Rechte der Gefangenen nicht eingehalten, begründete der Vorsitzende des Nationalen Sicherheitsrats, Said Jalili, nach Angaben des staatlichen Senders Press TV vom Dienstag die Anordnung.

Khamenei habe die Schließung angeordnet, nachdem er über die dort herrschenden Zustände informiert worden sei, sagte Jalali. Mitglieder eines Sonderausschusses des Parlaments, der die Festnahmen im Zuge der Proteste nach den Präsidentenwahlen untersuchen soll, wollten am Dienstag das berüchtigte Evin-Gefängnis in Teheran besuchen. Dort werden nach Angaben von Menschenrechtlern und Oppositionellen Gefangene misshandelt, gefoltert und hingerichtet. >>> Ag | Dienstag, 28. Juli 2009

Iran's Supreme Leader Orders Sacking of Vice-President
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hardline clerics and the country's supreme leader Friday and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a week-long standoff.

For days, the president had resisted pressure from hardliners, including a direct order from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to dismiss his choice for the key post of first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives when he made friendly comments toward Israel.

The final blow, however, appeared to be the public reading on state television of the order issued earlier by Khamenei to dismiss Mashai because he is "contrary to the interest of you and the government".

The issue created a rare rift between Ahmadinejad and the hardliners that form the bedrock of his support and comes at a particular [sic] sensitive time as he is battling opposition reformists who accuse him of winning the June 12 presidential elections through fraud.

"After the announcement of the exalted supreme leader's order, Mashai doesn't consider himself first vice president," IRNA quoted presidential aide Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi as saying late Friday.

The resignation capped a day of renewed pressure that featured conservative student street demonstrations and Friday sermons railing against Mashai's appointment. >>> | Friday, July 24, 2009

Supreme Leader Khamenei Diminished in Iranians' Eyes
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei openly sided with President Ahmadinejad with the election results still in dispute, 'opposing him is no longer the same as opposing God,' one analyst says.

Reporting from Beirut -- For two decades he was considered to be above the petty political squabbles, a cautious elder contemplating questions of faith and Islam while guiding his nation into the future.

But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose title of supreme leader makes him Iran's ultimate authority, has gotten his hands dirty. His decision in recent weeks to so stridently support the nation's controversial president after a disputed election has dramatically changed his image among his people, setting in motion an unpredictable series of events that could fundamentally change the Islamic Republic.

"Public respect for him has been significantly damaged," said one analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Opposing him is no longer the same as opposing God."

The venerated Khamenei has even become the target of public jokes and criticism.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "commits crimes, and the leader supports him," was a popular slogan during the riots of June 20, the day after Khamenei delivered a blistering Friday sermon in which he said that the election a week earlier had been won by Ahmadinejad.

At July 9 demonstrations, protesters mocked the ayatollah's son, Mojtaba, who many believe hopes to succeed his father. >>> Borzou Daragahi | Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Anatomy of an Iranian Revolution Delayed
THE JAPAN TIMES ONLINE: YPSILANTI, Mich. — The ongoing conflict between Iran's rulers and the Iranian public is the result of a head-on collision between two contradictory forces. In recent years, public attitudes in Iran have become more liberal. At the same time, power has shifted from conservative pragmatism toward a much more militant fundamentalism. The call by the most important group of Iran's clerics for the election results to be thrown out is but the latest sign of the fight back of both the reformist and pragmatic conservative factions.

Thirty years after the Islamic revolution, Iranians are growing demonstrably less religious and more liberal. Two face-to-face surveys of more than 2,500 Iranian adults, conducted in 2000 and 2005, clearly show the trend. The percentage of those who "strongly agree" that democracy is the best form of government increased from 20 percent to 31 percent.

Similarly, on a number of questions concerning gender equality — including political leadership, equal access to higher education, and wifely obedience — the numbers continued a downward trend. Those who considered love as the basis for marriage increased from 49 percent to 69 percent, while those who depended on parental approval fell from 41 percent to 24 percent. In 2005, a much higher percentage than in 2000 defined themselves as "Iranian, above all" rather than "Muslim, above all."

This trend is not hard to understand. The imposition of a monolithic religious discourse on society has made liberal values attractive to Iranians. But, while this was reflected in reformist trends in the country's wider political life, a movement toward militant fundamentalism took shape within the regime's power structure. Reform-minded politicians were partly to blame for this change. Far from opposing absolutist power as an impediment to religious democracy, they tried to persuade the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the value of reform.

But Khamenei had no interest in reform, as he made plain in dismantling the reform movement. The presidency of Mohammad Khatami, an avowed reformer, who served eight years, beginning in 1997, convinced the supreme leader that his authority would be assured only if the presidency was held by a subservient fundamentalist such as the current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In this, Khamenei was following the lead of the late shah, who kept Amir Abbas Hoveyda, a loyal retainer, as prime minister from 1965 until the shah was overthrown in 1979.

The problem with the supreme leader's calculation, however, is that Ahmadinejad is a loose cannon. His populist rhetoric and religious fundamentalism have alienated a large section of conservative-pragmatist clerics and their supporters. >>> Mansoor Moaddel*, © 2009 Project Syndicate | Wednesday, July 15, 2009

*Mansoor Moaddel, a professor of sociology at Eastern Michigan University, has conducted numerous opinion surveys in the Middle East.

Khamenei Junior, le pouvoir dans l'ombre du guide iranien
Moment de détente entre amis. À l'époque, Mojtaba Khamenei, le second en partant de la gauche, était étudiant à Qom. En chemise jaune, Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, un ex-membre du Bassidj. Photo: Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le deuxième fils de Khamenei se serait imposé avec discrétion dans la hiérarchie complexe du régime à Téhéran. C'est lui qui aurait notamment facilité les fraudes électorales et dirigé la répression.

Ses apparitions publiques sont rares. Son visage, méconnu du grand public. Agissant discrètement dans l'ombre du pouvoir de son père, le puissant guide suprême iranien, Mojtaba Khamenei serait, en fait, un des principaux chefs d'orchestre de la répression qui sévit aujourd'hui à Téhéran.

C'est lui, selon de nombreux observateurs, qui aurait «ouvert la cage aux lions» en cédant le contrôle de Téhéran aux gardiens de la révolution et en lâchant les bassidjis dans les rues de la capitale iranienne, pour mâter les manifestants qui contestent la victoire d'Ahmadinejad à la présidentielle du 12 juin dernier. Un état de siège qui rappelle les premières années postrévolutionnaires, juste après la mise en place de la République islamique d'Iran, en 1979.

«De lui, on ne sait pas grand-chose, concède Mohsen Sazegara, un ancien membre des gardiens de la révolution, aujourd'hui exilé à Washington. Mais tout laisse à penser qu'il a joué un rôle majeur dans le “coup d'État” et la répression postélectorale. Le guide suprême est connu pour être un homme qui n'a pas le courage de prendre ce genre de décision. On le sait d'ailleurs dépressif. Il est donc fort possible que l'influence de son fils ait pesé dans la balance», dit-il.

Cadet d'une fratrie de six enfants, Mojtaba aurait aujourd'hui 40 ans, à peine. Il est marié à la fille de Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, ancien président conservateur du Parlement iranien. Après avoir fait des études théologiques au grand séminaire religieux de la ville sainte de Qom, il disposerait du titre de hodjatoleslam (rang intermédiaire dans le clergé chiite). «Mes sources, en Iran, me disent qu'il est de ceux qui ont soutenu Ahmadinejad lors de sa première élection, en 2005, et ont tenu à le garder au pouvoir. Une sorte de reprise en main radicale lui permettant, sur le long terme, de briguer le poste de guide religieux occupé par son père», confie Sazegara. >>> Delphine Minoui | Lundi 13 Juillet 2009

As Iran Calms, a Struggle for Political Power Intensifies
Clerics during prayers in June. Many religious leaders have not spoken out in support of Iran’s president or supreme leader. Photo: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: CAIRO — The streets of Iran have been largely silenced, but a power struggle grinds on behind the scenes, this time over the very nature of the state itself. It is a battle that transcends the immediate conflict over the presidential election, one that began 30 years ago as the Islamic Revolution established a new form of government that sought to blend theocracy and a measure of democracy.

From the beginning, both have vied for an upper hand, and today both are tarnished. In postelection Iran, there is growing unease among many of the nation’s political and clerical elite that the very system of governance they rely on for power and privilege has been stripped of its religious and electoral legitimacy, creating a virtual dictatorship enforced by an emboldened security apparatus, analysts said.

Among the Iranian president’s allies are those who question whether the nation needs elected institutions at all.
Most telling, and arguably most damning, is that many influential religious leaders have not spoken out in support of the beleaguered president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Indeed, even among those who traditionally have supported the government, many have remained quiet or even offered faint but unmistakable criticisms.

According to Iranian news reports, only two of the most senior clerics have congratulated Mr. Ahmadinejad on his re-election, which amounts to a public rebuke in a state based on religion. A conservative prayer leader in the holy city of Qum, Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini, referred to demonstrators as “people” instead of rioters, and a hard-line cleric, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, called for national reconciliation.

Some of Iran’s most influential grand ayatollahs, clerics at the very top of the Shiite faith’s hierarchy who have become identified with the reformists, have condemned the results as a fraud and the government’s handling of the protests as brutal. On Saturday, an influential Qum-based clerical association called the new government illegitimate. >>> Michael Slackman | Tuesday, July 07, 2009

The Fight for Iran’s Future Is Far from Over
TIMES ONLINE: The Islamic Republic is dead. But will it be replaced by a Taleban-style emirate or democracy?

As the post-election crisis in Iran enters its third week, one thing is clear: the oxymoron that was the Islamic Republic is already dead.

If the radical faction led by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, wins the power struggle, Iran will drop its “republican” pretensions to become an Islamic emirate or an imamate. But if the opposition wins, the theocratic aspect of the regime will end, allowing Iran to become a normal republic in which power belongs to the people.

For 30 years, Iran has suffered from a split personality: trying to remain faithful to the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s ersatz version of Islam while pretending to have a people-based system of government.

The moment of truth for the death of the Islamic Republic came when Ayatollah Khamenei broke with tradition and declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the victor in the election even before the polls had closed. Over the past two weeks he has ignored demands for a rerun of the controversial election or even a complete recount of the votes, insisting that Mr Ahmadinejad is President not because the people elected him but because the Supreme Leader says so.

Over the past 30 years the Islamic Republic has organised 30 elections at various levels, from local to presidential. In every case the Supreme Leader merely endorsed the results once they had been established and announced by the Government. That kept alive the fictitious claim that the Islamic part of the system recognised the republican element. This time, however, that separation disappeared, as Ayatollah Khamenei not only announced the results but also stated publicly that he had wanted Mr Ahmadinejad to win.

The government-controlled media have highlighted the change in the nature of the regime. They now refer to Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech endorsing Mr Ahmadinejad’s re-election as “Fasl el-Khitab”, a theological term that means “end of the discussion”. Propaganda now refers to the ayatollah as “Emir al-Momeneen” (Commander of the Faithful), a title initially used for Ali ibn Abi-Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law and the first imam of Shiaism.

An editorial last week in Kayhan, whose editor is appointed by the Ayatollah, put the new situation in graphic terms: “Imam Ali is back, the Commander of the Faithful. But this time he is not alone!” The editorial said that Iran was now ruled by “the Vicar of Allah” in a “pure Muhammadan system”. >>> Amir Taheri | Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Amir Taheri is author of The Persian Night: Iran under the Khomeinist Revolution

Iran's Turmoil Opens Rift Among Shiites Across Mideast
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Unrest in Iran has opened a theological rift within the Shiite sect of Islam, undermining the Iranian regime's founding dogma that is shared by millions of fellow Shiites across the Middle East.

The concept, known as wilayat al-faqih -- literally "guardianship by a jurist" -- holds that, in an Islamic state, a divinely anointed scholar of Islamic law must exercise unquestioned authority over elected officials and the rest of the government.

Iran's current such incumbent, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, isn't just the top arbiter of the country's affairs. He also serves as the marjaa, or spiritual guide, for many Shiites outside Iran. Mr. Khamenei's image graces billboards in south Beirut, mosques in Shiite shantytowns of eastern Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and the walls of Shiite lawmakers' offices in Kuwait.

But, in recent weeks, this moral authority -- and the wilayat al-faqih ideology that underpins it -- has been shaken by Ayatollah Khamenei's handling of Iran's disputed June 12 presidential elections.

The Shiites, a minority sect of Islam, split from majority Sunnis some 14 centuries ago. Iran has long been the world's leading Shiite power; 90% of its 66 million people follow the Shiite faith.

With his open support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khamenei has departed from his traditional role as a neutral arbiter and consensus-builder. While opposition candidates have alleged fraud during the vote, Ayatollah Khamenei has hailed Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election as a "divine assessment" and ordered an end to protests. >>> Yaroslav Trofimov in Istanbul and Gina Chon in Najaf, Iraq | Friday, June 16, 2009

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY:
Wilayat al-Faqih (Supreme Jurist Leadership) >>>

Khamenei Vows No Retreat on Iran Election Result
REUTERS: TEHRAN - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Wednesday that a disputed election result would stand, despite street protests that Iranian officials say Britain and the United States have incited.

(EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.)

The opposition refused to be bowed. Reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi, who came last in the June 12 presidential election, called the new government "illegitimate" and around 200 protesters braved the security crackdown near parliament.
Riot police later used teargas to break up the protest.

Police and militia have largely succeeded in taking back control of the streets this week after the biggest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The hardline leadership is refusing to give ground.

"I had insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue," said Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran. "Neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost."

Iran is blaming the discontent on foreign powers.

"Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) were behind the recent unrest in Tehran," Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. >>> © Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved / Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Fredrik Dahl and Hashem Kalantari; Editing by Jon Hemming | Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Iran’s Dictator Gives Up Pretence of Democracy
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Just before noon on Friday, June 19, the Islamic republic died in Iran. Its death was announced by its “supreme guide”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had come to praise the system but buried it instead. Khamenei was addressing supporters on the campus of Tehran University, transformed into a mosque for the occasion. Many had expected him to speak as a guide, an arbiter of disputes – a voice for national reconciliation. Instead, he spoke as a rabble rouser and a tinpot despot.

At issue was the June 12 presidential election that millions of Iranians, perhaps a majority, believe was rigged to ensure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a two-thirds majority. Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic republic has organised 31 elections at different levels. All have been carefully scripted, with candidates pre-approved by the regime and no independent mechanism for oversight.

Nevertheless, the results were never contested because most Iranians believed the regime would not cheat within the limits set by itself. Elections in the Islamic republic resembled primaries in American political parties in which all candidates are from the same political family but the contest is free and fair. The June 12 election was exceptional because three of the four candidates challenged the results.

Once the initial shock had passed, everyone looked to the supreme leader to find a way out of the impasse. Instead, Khamenei came out with a long lyrical monologue, hailing the election as a “miracle” and a “triumph for Islam”. Never before had Khamenei commented on the results of elections beyond accepting them as an expression of the popular will. The Khomeinist system was supposed to be 80% theocracy and 20% democracy, regardless of how bizarre the combination looked.

On Friday, the 20% democratic part disappeared, as Iran was transformed from an Islamic republic into an Islamic emirate headed by the Emir al-Momeneen (Commander of the Faithful) Ali Khamenei. As Iranians marched in the street in support of more freedom and democracy, Khamenei served notice that he was determined to lead the country in the opposite direction.

A sign that the self-appointed emir wanted to jettison the republican part of the system was there for all to see. The diminutive Ahmadinejad was relegated to the third rung of the faithful praying behind Khamenei. Sandwiched between two mullahs with giant turbans, he was almost hidden from public view. For almost a week the usually voluble Ahmadinejad has been kept off the airwaves. Suddenly the office of the president has become irrelevant. Ahmadinejad is there not because the people wanted him but because the emir found “his views closer to mine than the views of others”. >>> Amir Taheri* | Sunday, June 21, 2009

*Amir Taheri is an Iranian journalist and author

Clashes Show Depth of Fury
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Yesterday’s open defiance of the supreme leader was astonishing and shows how fast events are moving in Iran

The two men cradled the woman as she collapsed backwards onto the street, a pool of blood at her feet. The men pressed their hands on to a bullet wound in her neck as her hands fell limp above her shoulders.

Within seconds, her eyes rolled sideways and her pale features were obscured by haemorrhaging from her nose and mouth. Her would-be rescuers shrieked in panic. There was nothing they could do to save her.

The scene, captured on a number of mobile phones, unfolded yesterday in Tehran as protesters fought running battles with riot police and militia on the streets of the Iranian capital.

Another video showed hundreds of people milling about in a street with fires burning in the road. Some were collecting rocks. A helicopter buzzed overhead.

At least five shots were heard and soon after a group of men raced through the crowd carrying a man by his arms and legs. His head was lolling. He was laid on the ground and a crowd gathered. A large blood stain filled the centre of his white shirt. He lay still and appeared to be dead.

Yet more footage emerged of young men throwing stones at riot police. A number shouted “Death to Khamenei!”, underlining the seriousness of the protests. As supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei traditionally occupies an untouchable position in Iranian society.

There was also video of a member of the security forces who had been knocked off his motorbike. A black-clad woman tried to protect him as a number of people, many of them wearing suits, kicked and punched him. A motorbike was on fire a few feet away.

Last night these videos revealed the extent of the defiance of the regime that has sprung from last week’s disputed presidential election. Yesterday tens of thousands of supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claim Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent, stole victory in the election, poured on to the streets again. They were confronted with water cannon, tear gas and targeted gunfire.

The largest crowd gathered near the University of Tehran, after evading a riot police cordon which had tried to disperse them. Soon a volley of 20-30 shots rang out - which state television later claimed were warning shots - and the group broke up into roaming knots of protesters. Street battles then erupted as they took the fight to police with rocks.

As night fell it was unclear how many people had been killed or injured in the clashes. What was certain was that Iran was entering uncharted territory. >>> Marie Colvin in Tehran | Sunday, June 21, 2009

YOUTUBE: Basij Kills Young Girl in Tehran's Streets (Warning: Graphic)


Hat tip: Pastorius >>>