Courage in Iran
TIMES ONLINE – Leading Article: President Ahmadinejad must be greeted by protests when he attends the UN next week. We must show the courageous people of Iran that they do not protest alone

The thousands of Iranians who took to the streets yesterday to protest against the fraudulent re-election of President Ahmadinejad and the growing repression throughout Iran showed extraordinary courage. The police, the Basij militias and the Revolutionary Guards have been given a free hand by the Government and by Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, the Supreme Leader, to crack down on anyone daring to stand up to the new dictatorship. The result has been appalling.

Hundreds of people have been seized on the streets, thrown into prison and subjected to brutal and arbitrary torture. Students, women, even random passers-by have been beaten, had their limbs broken and their nails pulled out. Most disgustingly, protesters, especially the young men, have been repeatedly raped — a cynical and deliberate humiliation that undercuts Iran’s claims to champion public morality and Muslim values.

It was especially brave of the demonstrators to take to the streets yesterday, a major political occasion for the Government when it flaunts its anti-Israeli credentials by commemorating Quds (Jerusalem) Day. Mr Ahmadinejad set the tone with a gratuitously provocative and mendacious denial of the Holocaust, calling it a pretext for the occupation of Arab land and asserting that Israel was created on “false and mythical claims”. His ravings are hardly surprising and are wholly in keeping with previous attempts to provoke the West and curry support among Islamist extremists. The protesters were all the more courageous therefore in undercutting this chicanery by publicly mocking the regime’s support for militants in Gaza and Lebanon and insisting that “our life is for Iran”. They must have known the likely terrible cost of their courage. >>> | Saturday, September 19, 2009

Clashes in Tehran as Opposition Defies Regime Warnings
TIMES ONLINE: Supporters of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi fought running battles with riot police and hardliners on the streets of Tehran today as tens of thousands joined the first protests against President Ahmadinejad for two months.

The demonstrators defied warnings of a "decisive" crackdown from the elite Revolutionary Guard to mount the protest during the annual al-Quds rally, a mass display of solidarity with the Palestinians that is one of the set pieces of the Islamic regime.

Mr Mousavi himself was forced to abandon his own plans to join in the rally after an angry mob shouting "Death to the hypocrite Mousavi" attacked his car.

Another leading reformist, the former president Mohammad Khatami, was also roughed up on the streets of Tehran and had to leave after his robe was ripped and his turban fell to the ground. >>> Philippe Naughton | Friday, September 18, 2009

Iranian President Raises Stakes Against Israel
REUTERS: TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raised the stakes against Israel on Friday and called the Holocaust a lie, just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.

"The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false ... It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim," he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel "Qods (Jerusalem) Day" rally.

"Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty."

Ahmadinejad's anti-Western comments on the Holocaust have caused international outcry and isolated Iran, which is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program.

The hard-line president warned leaders of Western-allied Arab and Muslim countries about dealing with Israel.

"This regime (Israel) will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it ... This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end," he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio.

Britain was swift in condemning Ahmadinejad's remarks, calling them "abhorrent as well as ignorant."

"It is very important that the world community stands up against this tide of abuse. This outburst is not worthy of the leader of Iran," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said. >>> Parisa Hafezi and Firouz Sedarat | Friday, September 18, 2009