Blogging the democratic revolution
The BBC has an article by the same name, dealing with the imprisonment and torture accorded to those who oppose the mullahs. Iran is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to keep an online diary. Web logs have become a popular forum for dissent. And the Iranian government has responded by arresting dozens of bloggers. Some of those detained are reportedly being held in solitary confinement and tortured. Bloggers Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both currently in prison in Iran. Mr Sigarchi has been in detention since 17 January while Mr Saminejad was first detained in November. “Freedom of expression…
Regime Change Iran’s daily briefing is up. New satellite intel shows that Iran is building an underground tunnel just north of the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) at Esfahan. It appears too big to be only for storage. It might be intended to house production facilities for some uranium conversion processes.. Iran already has about 500 tons of uranium concentrate. Update and observation from jriemer: Follow the road that goes along side the explosive storage site to a black topped building (on right of road) and appears to go into the mountainside. Definitely worth the daily visit.
In a sweeping post, The Faces of G comments on the new alignments: Several key anti-U.S. states have been more public in their movements and alignments. A week ago, North Korea boasted of its nuclear weapons. Syria and Iran get together to build a ‘common front’ Änothing new, just a PR stunt reallyÅ. Today, Russia stated it would continue to help Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear program. On Wednesday, CIA director Porter Goss warned that a Chinese military build-up could tip the cross-strait military balance with Taiwan. China didn’t like those remarks, but must at the same time walk a diplomatic tightrope,…
Regime Change Iran’s news briefing is up, with quite a few items that are easily missed otherwise.
Regime Change Iran has posted its Wednesday news briefing on what’s going on in Iran.
Michael Ledeen of NRO has a strong piece on the movement toward democracy and revolution throughout the globe. The tidal wave has even reached into the planet’s darkest corners, most recently shaking the foundations of the North Korean hermit kingdom. A new leader is announced at the same time the monsters in Pyongyang whisper “We’ve got nukes” and demand legitimacy from George W. Bush. Given the opacity of the country, and the irrationality of its leaders, nobody seems to know whether the Dear Leader is still alive, or, if he is, why the transition has been proclaimed. But the North…
Regime Change Iran posts a disturbing article in which an Iranian hardliner makes a choice declaration: ???????We don????????t need any guardian. And if necessary we will select our own president, ministers and parliament members. For without the Hezbollah forces the Islamic Revolution will collapse from within.??????? the hardliner added. On Iran????????s nuclear issue, Kharrazi noted: ???????We have oil, gas and all other natural resources and thus we don????????t need interaction with other countries. We are able to produce atomic bombs and we will do that. We shouldn????????t be afraid of anyone. The US is no more than a barking dog???????…
I take it they are playing it safe with a precarious situation: BAGHDAD, IRAQ – With a Shiite coalition set to take power in Iraq, American officials have begun grilling top Iraqi Shiite politicians to try to gauge the extent of their relationship with neighboring Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation ruled by its clergy. The nature of the Shiite coalition’s ties to Iran has become a crucial issue now that the cleric-backed alliance has emerged as the leading faction in the new Iraqi parliament and at a time when the United States and Iran are engaged in a war of…
From Regime Change Iran, though I wish they’d post the link to the Reuters article they cite: North Korea has sent a message of solidarity to Iran amid suspicions the reclusive communist state had boasted of having nuclear weapons to raise the stakes while U.S. attention is focused on Iran’s nuclear programmes. North Korea declared on Thursday for the first time it possessed nuclear weapons and pulled out indefinitely from six-party talks on its weapons programme, saying it needed a defence against a hostile United States. The North’s official news agency reported on Friday that two top officials had sent…
The Iranian government has banned Seymore Hersh’s article about U.S. special forces penetrating Iran from being reprinted in newspapers.
President Bush is stepping up the verbal pressure on Iran. And remember, verbal pressure from the U.S. can be deadly when ignored. “The Iranians just need to know that the free world is working together to send a very clear message: Don’t develop a nuclear weapon,” Bush said. “And the reason we’re sending that message is because Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a very destabilizing force in the world,” he said during a meeting with Poland’s president. Bush said he looked forward to discussing concerns about Iran with European allies. “It’s important we speak with one voice,” he…
The LA Times is running a story by a female Iranian journalist under a pseudonym. She details the process by which she was taken by the state, interrogated, and imprisoned. It is filled with enraging details and ends with sick irony. TEHRAN ???????? “Excuse me, Miss, but here in my hand I have a warrant for your arrest,” said a middle-aged man with a few days’ growth of beard. “Please do not make any noise as you walk calmly to the Mercedes parked at the corner.” When the man approached me, I had just left a bookstore. It crossed my…
i-Newswire, 2005-02-06 – Movements are afoot in both the House and Senate to pass legislation that would enable the U.S. government to support foreign and domestic pro-democracy groups opposed to the current Islamic republic of Iran. Aides for Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said the senator is drafting legislation that would resemble a bill he introduced in the last congressional session, the “Iran Freedom and Support Act.” Though the language in the new bill is being worked out, it is expected to echo the prior bill in that it would include financial assistance for opposition groups. The original bill did not…
It looks like Iran is getting upset that talks aren’t going anywhere. But that’s to be expected, really. I can’t think of a recent event in which European negotiations came to a benificial fruition. Except for Libya… oh, except it was the U.S. doing that. My apologies: TEHRAN, Iran – Iran will never scrap its nuclear program, and talks with Europeans are intended to protect the country’s nuclear achievements, not negotiate an end to them, an Iranian official said Wednesday. The remarks by Ali Agha Mohammadi, spokesman of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, are the latest in a hardening…
I just found this great blog called Stop Censoring Us, only to find out it is done by Hossein Derakhshan, creator of Editor: Myself and Blogs by Iranians. He definitely keep himself busy, so make sure to check out his blogs and support him.
Hossein Derakhshan is reporting that Orkut and Yahoo! Messenger will possibly be banned in Iran. This, coupled with all of the other internet shutdowns, shows a real fear among the regime there of the communicative power of the web. They can close their borders, but ideas like liberty transcend any kind of oppression; it’s practically born in us. The internet just helps connect these people, and this ability to organize is something the mullahs feel they need to scratch out. He also has some good comments about lifting the embargo on Iran. I agree. Killing trade actually helps oppressive regimes…
Via Andrew Sullivan, the SMCCDI is reporting that millions of Iranian are cheering the news of U.S. moral support for the cause of freedom, Reports from across Iran are stating about the massive welcoming of President George W. Bush’s inaugural speech and his promise of helping to bring down the last outposts of tyranny. Millions of Iranians have been reported as having stayed home, on Thursday night which is their usual W.end and outgoing night, in order to see or hear the Presidential speech and the comments made by the Los Angeles based Iranian satellite TV and radio networks, such…
This really doesn’t come as a surprise anymore. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Dick Cheney said on Thursday that Iran was at the top of the administration’s list of world trouble spots and expressed concern that Israel “might well decide to act first” to eliminate any nuclear threat from Tehran. Israel might act first? I’d rather bet in conjunction, whether we acknowledge it or not. “If, in fact, the Israelis became convinced the Iranians had significant nuclear capability, given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide…
Hossein Derakhshan from “Editor: Myself,” and a guy I respect very much, has posted his concerns over if Bush is referring to invading Iran in his inauguration speech. But, as an Iranian, I have to say who doesn’t like peace and freedom? But what Bush has brought Iraq is not — and will probably not — be freedom and peace. So if I was sure that by invading Iran, innocent civilian wouldn’t get killed by American “smart bombs”, public facilities wouldn’t be looted, and women and children wouldn’t be raped or kidnapped, and generally the country would be in a…
Here is some interesting commentary I came across via Right Wing News. Senator John Kyl is calling on action against Syria and Iran because of their heedless attempts to reinforce terrorism around Israel and Palestine. Some have called on President Bush to “seize the moment,” and quickly broker some kind of a deal. But a better approach is to give Abbas time to demonstrate himself whether he will do what is necessary to achieve lasting peace. The United States should instead focus its efforts on areas that the Israelis and Palestinians simply cannot, namely the external factors that could influence…
Daniel Storobin from Global Politician is pondering the possiblity of a U.S. invasion of Iran and Syria. Now let’s pick it apart, because I only agree with him to a point, at which point some things stop being considered. Some reports also suggested that Iraq was chosen as the second step in the War on Terror to surround Iran, with American troops to the east of the Islamic Republic in Afghanistan and to the west of it in Iraq. While such claims remain unsubstantiated, having well over 100,000 American soldiers stationed right next to Iran certainly does help Washington and…
Can anyone help Hossein Derakhshan get to the UNESCO conference on free speech in cyberspace? So does anyone know someone who might be of help, especially in the French councilor in Toronto or in the Embassy in Ottawa? To give some background info, he is a college student and a leading activist for freedom in Iran. I write a bit about him here. This is what he plans to do there, if he can make it: At least to embarrass the Iranian delegation which will be arrogant enough to take part in such conference, even with its horrible record of…
And here is Hersh’s entire piece along with the Pentagon press release.
Bush announced just a day after a reports of espionage in Iran by Seymour Hersh that he will not rule out action. Awesome. “The Iranian regime’s apparent nuclear ambitions and its demonstrated support for terrorist organizations is a global challenge that deserves much more serious treatment than Seymour Hersh provides in the New Yorker article titled “The Coming Wars,” the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Lawrence DiRita, said in a statement. Hersh sounds more like a phony — well, loser is a better word — the more I read about him. A much more extended response about him here. And here. Very…
Lawrence DiRita of the Pentagon issued a two-page statement rejecting claims of operations in Iran and other countries. There were four specific refutations named. Among these, and let me pat myself on the back, were quotes made by a “government consultant” and a “high-level intelligence officer.” You see, this is why anonymous quotes don’t work. And he was called on it, so he better hope he can prove himself.