It is widely believed that the reason this whole mess started was because Khameni wanted his son to succeed him. Ahmadinejad was supposed to help that happen is return for the hijacked election. Mojtaba Khameni needs all the help he can get because he (like his father) is not trained enough to be the spiritual leader of anything. Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/19/2009 14:13 ||
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A serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter SABINA AMIDI, a stringer to the JERUSALEM POST
of his role in suppressing opposition street protests in recent weeks. He has also detailed aspects of his earlier service in the force, including his enforced participation in the rape of young Iranian girls prior to their execution.
He said he had been a highly regarded member of the force, and had so "impressed my superiors" that, at 18, "I was given the 'honor' to temporarily marry young girls before they were sentenced to death." In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband."
"I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said.
Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?" "Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.
"I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her."
This rat bastard of a Basiji needs to die.
Not to mention the rat bastards who gave him this assignment, then evaluated his work. And the next several levels of management, all of whom signed off on the project, the Sharia consultants over in Qom who wrote the legal opinion permitting it... this is not one little Basiji-man run amok.
#2
Upon reading this, I remembered something I had read years ago, about this very same charming custom of the islamic republic. So, it wouldn't be an abberration, but something organic to this very regime, which hangs and stones pretty much anyone on motives we'd call absolutely frivolous, not to mention the corruption, moral and economical of the theocrats. Yet, they and their useful idiots/allies/stooges like chavez do believe they hold the moral high ground.
#4
Its crap like this that makes me want to believe that eradication of Islam is necessary - by killing every leader, authority and lay preacher they have, razing every mosque and madrassa, nuking and then seeding Mecca wiht long-lived radioactive isotopes, and destroying the Koran whenever and wherever it is found.
The bastards in Iran deserve to be hung by their own entrails for this sort of thing.
#6
They are so MOTIVATED at maintaining the crazy, you almost have to marvel...
at this point normalcy has been bred completely out of Islamic existence and only nuttiness can remain. Planned Obsolescence of Islam is in order, because the only people who want Islam are too crazy to know that they are nuckin futz.
A probe will be launched into the assault on one of the presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi in Friday prayers on July 17, Tehran Governor General says.
Morteza Tamaddon told Fars news agency that the attack will go under investigation as it was considered "suspicious." He also called on security forces to identify and arrest those behind the attack. "In our opinion, this incident is not a usual one. Suspicious elements have surely had a hand in masterminding and carrying out the plan," Tamaddon said.
Defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi was attacked by unidentified men without uniforms on his way to Friday prayers, the website of his party Etemad-e Melli reported on Friday. The website quoted his son Hossein Karroubi as saying that the veteran reformist cleric was beaten by men without uniforms when he got out of the car in front of Tehran University where the public prayer was being held. "His turban fell. They insulted him and called him very offensive and outrageous names," his son added.
Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi took part in this week's Friday prayers led by the Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the prayers, the first since the disputed election led by Rafsanjani, with thousands of Mousavi supporters taking to the streets after the prayers in a spontaneous demonstration. The security forces responded by the use of tear gas and baton charges to disperse the protesters.
Despite the official confirmation of the June 12 presidential election results which gave a second term to the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with two-thirds of the votes, Karroubi and Mousavi and many of their supporters continue to reject the veracity of the results.
Continued on Page 47
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07/19/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's Intelligence Minister provides his views on the post-election events, and seeks to explain the role of both domestic and foreign elements in creating the unrest.
In Friday comments, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i claimed that close aides to the defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi knew that he would lose the presidential race so they tampered with the election polls prior to the June 12 vote. "The balance tilted heavily in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from June 3 onwards in such a way that some key members of Mir-Hossein [Mousavi]'s campaign were sure of his defeat," he said. "But, they would, by no means, allow Mir-Hossein to know the situation. To keep up his morale, they even tampered with the opinion polls," he added.
According to the minister, the president's provincial visits had compelled Mousavi's supporters to relinquish the idea that the former premier would win the elections - an idea that they had formed after some of the candidate's provincial campaign tours. "Three days prior to the elections, when they were sure of Mousavi's defeat, they started a series of activities such as creating doubt about vote rigging," said Mohseni-Eje'i. "On the Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the elections, they reached the conclusion that they must disrupt the atmosphere by presenting the idea of vote rigging. And they kick-started the plan straight after the elections," he added.
Mohseni-Eje'i went on to add that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei met with some of figures who had objections to the election results "modestly and from a completely caring stance," and asked them to say whatever they pleased without any restraints. "[In the meeting], those individuals made some rude and insolent remarks. The Leader listened to their comments and advised them, but they continued to pursue their illegal path," he explained. The Intelligence Minister said that those who had tried to imply that the 'Republic' aspect of the government had been undermined must answer to the nation and God for their actions.
Mohseni-Eje'i also accused the influential Iranian cleric and politician Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani of trying to prevent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection. "One of Hashemi-Rafsanjani's top priorities was to prevent Ahmadinejad from winning the elections, and a long line of Ahmadinejad opponents was formed wherein certain individuals and groups sought the same goal for various motives," he said.
The minister counted the following as some of the alliances that had lined up against Ahmadinejad:
"-United States of America, Israel, and several Western countries,
-domestic and overseas opposition groups,
-various political factions such as the Nationalist-Religious Movement,
-certain outcast parties such as the Communist Party of Iranian Kurdistan (Komala), democrats, and monarchists,
-the Allameh [Tabatabaei University] branch of the Office for Consolidating Unity,
-the Islamic Iran Participation Front,
-and the Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization"
"All these [groups] did not want to see Ahmadinejad in the presidential race. And for some people like Hashemi-Rafsanjani Ahmadinejad's defeat was a top priority," he said
The Intelligence Minister further accused the West of trying to "infiltrate" the Islamic Republic and "turn into an empty skin" through "soft measures."
"After failing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and their other attempts [to topple Iran's government], they found that they could by no means gain dominance over Iran through military means or economic sanctions," he explained. He even said that Israel had tried to assassinate President Ahmadinejad with the help of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) and other terrorist groups active in Iran's eastern regions. "The Zionist regime had met with the MKO on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting in Egypt and in Paris to assassinate Mr. Ahmadinejad," said Mohseni-Ejeie.
The MKO had said, however, that they would only cooperate if the US and the West remove their name from their terrorist blacklists, he added.
Continued on Page 47
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A hard-line editor considered to be close to Iran's top authority accused a powerful cleric on Saturday of backing "law-breakers," in comments highlighting the deepening divisions in the Islamic Republic after a disputed election.
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the Kayhan daily, also criticized former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for saying Iran was in crisis during a sermon on Friday.
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi RafsanjaniIn apparent defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rafsanjani said many Iranians had doubts about the official result of the June 12 vote and he also took issue with the way the authorities had handled the poll and its aftermath.
As he led Friday prayers at Tehran University for the first time since the election, tens of thousands of protesters outside used the event to stage the biggest show of dissent for weeks.
"Most certainly Mr. Rafsanjani is familiar with the definition of a crisis...[t]he most meaningful word to describe the current conditions is a conspiracy," Shariatmadari said in an editorial.
He said Rafsanjani, a moderate who backed Mousavi's election campaign, had done nothing to prevent the gathering of Mousavi supporters inside and outside Tehran University, where prayers are held each Friday and broadcast live on state radio.
Clashes erupted near the university between police and followers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who came second and still contests official results that showed President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had been re-elected by a wide margin.
The government has portrayed post-election mass protests last month as the work of local subversives, or "rioters," and Western powers seeking to topple the Islamic establishment.
"Supports law-breakers"
" Rafsanjani...not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers "
Hossein Shariatmadari
"At the same time he used every opportunity available to challenge the outcome of the election," wrote Shariatmadari, who earlier this month called for Mousavi and another leading reformist to be put on trial for "terrible crimes."
Noting Rafsanjani had urged everybody to abide by the law, the editorial added in a clear reference to Mousavi supporters, who have continued to defy a ban on demonstrations, that Rafsanjani "not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers."
The election stirred the most striking display of internal unrest in Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, since the 1979 revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite.
It has also further strained ties between Iran and the West, already at odds over Tehran's nuclear program. Western powers criticized the crackdown. Iran accused them of meddling.
Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts -- a powerful body that can in theory dismiss the supreme leader -- in his sermon also demanded the immediate release of people detained in the unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed.
The call for the lifting of media restrictions was welcomed by the United States on Friday. "There are universal principles that we feel are very important here... as Mr. Rafsanjani himself reflected today, freedom of the press and the ability of the media to fairly report what is happening there," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.
Rafsanjani however did not go as far as Mousavi in denouncing the conduct of the vote, but his remarks still posed a clear challenge to Khamenei, who has upheld the election result and accused foreign powers of fomenting the unrest.
According to Iranian media, at least 20 people died in post-election violence but some human rights groups say the actual number could be in the hundreds.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Who has the guns---in Islam force is always the ultimate argument.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choice of vice president has met with a hail of criticism, provoking calls from his Principlist supporters for the resignation of the newly appointed veep.
As part of anticipated changes in the structure of his new government, President Ahmadinejad appointed his close confidant Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei to the post of vice president Thursday night. Rahim-Mashaei, who has served as the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, will replace the incumbent first vice president Parviz Davoudi.
New first vice president Rahim-Mashaie stirred up fierce controversy after saying earlier in 2008 that despite the conflict between governments, Iranians are friends with the Israeli people. "Today, Iran is friends with the American and Israeli people," Rahim-Mashaei was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying. "No nation in the world is our enemy."
Following the remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was quick to react at the Friday prayers by saying, "Who are the Israelis? They are responsible for usurping houses, territory, farmlands and businesses. They are fighters at the disposal of Zionist operatives."
"The Iranian nation has nothing against Jews, Christians or followers of faith. However, it is mistaken to say that we are friends with the people of Israel in the same manner as we are friends with other people around the world," Ayatollah Khamenei said. Rahim-Mashaei later distanced himself from his earlier stance, saying that his comments had been misinterpreted.
The Islamic Society of Students Union on Saturday issued a letter to Rahim-Mashaei calling for his resignation. The union said Ahmadinejad supporters have already borne the burden of much insult against the president in the aftermath of the 10th presidential election.
Iran turned into a scene of opposition rallies after the re-election of President Ahmadinejad -- with nearly two-thirds of the vote -- with defeated candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi reject the election results as fraudulent. "It is in the interest of the Principlist movement that you resign from the post of vice president," read the letter.
The student union added that the issue of "Iran's friendship with Israeli people" would provoke a divide in the structure of the 10th government. The union also warned Rahim-Mashaei of the serious consequences of his appointment as vice president, saying, "This position comes at a high price for you."
In separate remarks, Hojjatoleslam Hamid Rasaei, a ninth administration insider and a Principlist member of the 8th Majlis, said, "It would have been much better if this appointment had not been made." Hojjatoleslam Rasaei said, "The public opinion has grown sensitive toward Mr. Mashaei", adding, "It would be much better if Mr. Ahmadinejad paid more attention to public opinion and Majlis before making appointments."
A senior member of Jame-e Mmodarresin-e Qom (the Qom Seminary Teachers Association) Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Mohammad Gharavi, for his part, criticized the decision by President Ahmadinejad describing it as "inappropriate."
"Many of those concerned are worried about [the consequences] of this appointment," Hojjatoleslam Gharavi said.
President Ahmadinejad earlier talked of plans to make "considerable changes" in his government and pledged that his new cabinet, to be unveiled in the coming weeks, would be "10 times" more powerful than the previous one.
In his first televised speech after re-election, Ahmadinejad said the changes were aimed at meeting the needs of his second presidential term.
Hojjatoleslam Rasaei said Mashaei's promotion to the post of vice president does not agree with public opinion, adding, "Even many of Mr. Ahmadinejad's supporters [inside his government] are in some way opposed to this appointment." He added that it would be much advised that the president made the new appointment after his inauguration for his second term in office.
The move by the Iranian president for cabinet reshuffles comes as Iranian opposition figures Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi continue to demand a re-run of the presidential election.
Continued on Page 47
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says Paris has one condition to recognize Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-election as Iran's president.
Speaking at a parliamentary session, Kouchner said France would recognize Ahmadinejad's re-election only if his presidency meets the approval of every Iranian. "If everybody in Iran acknowledges the election of a president, it would be unnecessary and futile to go alone in the opposite direction," Kouchner said.
The French minister went on to call for the continuation of support for the opposition movement "with a future among the Iranian people", and for a multiplication of "contacts with it."
Following the remarks by Kouchner, the French ministry of Foreign Affairs made it clear that the minister was referring to "a possible recognition, which would only happen in the event of an agreement from everybody in Iran, particularly other candidates in the presidential election."
The refusal of Western countries to acknowledge Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection as president comes as his rivals Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi continue to reject the vote result as fraudulent and demand a re-run. Following the defiance of the opposition figures, Iran turned into the scene of opposition rallies after the result of the June 12 poll handed President Ahmadinejad a second term in office with nearly two-thirds of the vote.
The post-vote unrest took a new turn when protesters gathered to hold a rally without an official permit from the country's Interior Ministry. The day turned bloody -- increasing the post-vote deaths to 20 -- when a number of protesters were killed by forces who according to Iranian officials were organized and controlled by foreign powers.
Continued on Page 47
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#1
Speaking at a parliamentary session, Kouchner said France would recognize Ahmadinejad's re-election only if his presidency meets the approval of every Iranian. "If everybody in Iran acknowledges the election of a president, it would be unnecessary and futile to go alone in the opposite direction," Kouchner said.
#2
which would only happen in the event of an agreement from everybody in Iran, particularly other candidates in the presidential election."
Not to mention the immediate construction of Huguenot cathedrals throughout Iran and French growth hormones which must also begin showing measurable results for President Ahmadinnerjacket.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Tehran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency has denied reports that Iran has restricted the agency's access to nuclear facilities in the country.
"The agency's surveillance cameras and inspectors are continuing to monitor Iran's nuclear program, especially in Natanz, without any interference or problem," Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh told IRNA on Saturday.
On Friday, reports surfaced that Iran is resisting IAEA attempts to increase surveillance of uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, central Iran.
The move was meant to keep in pace with the plant's increased size and complexity, diplomats demanding anonymity told the Associated Press.
"It is really difficult for them to figure out what's happening, given the mix of different things going on," said one of the diplomats.
The report also echoed a similar report by a German magazine which had said Iran was capable of producing an atomic bomb within six months.
Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND), however, denied that its experts estimated that Iran could make a nuclear bomb within a six-month period; as reported in the German weekly Stern.
The reports come as Iran's newly appointed nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, has expressed hopes that the West will make more efforts to end what he called "the last six years of hostility."
"We will enter the scene with a fresh perspective ... The Atomic Energy Organization will respect its international commitments as much as it will defend Iran's nuclear rights," he added.
Western powers accuse Tehran of secretly enriching weapons-grade uranium. Tehran asserts that its uranium enrichment is a peaceful drive to produce electricity.
Incoming IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano said last week that there is no conclusive evidence to prove that Tehran is enriching weapons-grade uranium.
TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iranian hardliners hit back at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Saturday for criticizing the conduct of last month's election and its aftermath, highlighting deepening establishment divisions. An editor seen as close to Iran's top authority said Rafsanjani was backing "law-breakers," a reference to opposition protesters, and a senior cleric accused him of creating rifts in the Islamic Republic and hinted he should face legal action.
In apparent defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rafsanjani said in a sermon on Friday that many Iranians had doubts about the official result of the June 12 vote, which showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won. Leading Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time since the election, the powerful cleric also declared that Iran was in crisis after the poll, which opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi says was rigged in the hardline incumbent's favor.
Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, an Ahmadinejad ally and a member of Iran's top legislative body, rejected Rafsanjani's remarks. "Who planted the seeds of doubt in the election in the minds of people? ... Isn't this sowing discord?" Yazdi told a news conference, according to the official IRNA news agency.
He added, according to Fars News Agency: "Those who planted doubt in society and those who irrigated it to make it sprout out of the soil and pour into the streets to violate people's lives and property ... should be dealt with legally."
The election stirred the most striking display of internal unrest in Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, since the 1979 revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite. At least 20 people died in post-election violence. Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. Riot police and religious Basij militia eventually suppressed the street demonstrations, but Mousavi has remained defiant.
Post-election events have also further strained ties between Iran and the West, already at odds over Tehran's nuclear program. Western powers criticized the crackdown. Iran accused them of meddling.
Rafsanjani's robust stance appeared to set him on collision course with Khamenei, who has openly backed Ahmadinejad in a departure from the supreme leader's accepted role as a lofty clerical arbiter above the political fray.
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters used the Friday prayers led by Rafsanjani, a moderate who backed Mousavi in the election, to stage the biggest show of dissent in weeks. Clashes erupted near the university between police and followers of Mousavi, who came second and still contests the official election results.
The government has portrayed post-election mass protests as the work of local subversives, or "rioters," and Western powers seeking to topple the Islamic establishment.
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the Kayhan daily, said Rafsanjani had done nothing to prevent the gathering of Mousavi supporters inside and outside Tehran University, where prayers are held each Friday and broadcast live on state radio. "At the same time he used every opportunity available to challenge the outcome of the election," wrote Shariatmadari, who earlier this month called for Mousavi and another leading reformist to be put on trial for "terrible crimes."
Noting Rafsanjani had urged everybody to abide by the law, his editorial added in a reference to those who defied a protest ban: "Mr Rafsanjani ... not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers."
Shariatmadari is seen as a close ally of Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure with the final say on all matters of state.
Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts -- a powerful body that can in theory dismiss the supreme leader -- in his sermon demanded the immediate release of people detained in the unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed. Rights groups say hundreds of people, including senior pro-reform politicians, journalists, activists and lawyers, have been detained by the authorities since the election.
Continued on Page 47
This article starring:
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/19/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter 
TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iranian hardliners hit back at former president 
