God Will Punish Iran If It Abandons Nuclear Program

Ayatollah Khamenei Brings God into Nuclear Debate

While the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei is ‎scheduled to present his next report on Iran’s nuclear program to the Governing Board of ‎the IAEA in three weeks, Iran’s supreme leader ayatollah Khamenei announced in a ‎speech that “the Iranian people publicly declared that they would stand up for their rights ‎and would protect them since God would reprimand them if they did otherwise.” ‎

In the same light, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry Ali Hosseini, said ‎yesterday that “the United States knows that Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful.” ‎Responding to reporters’ questions about the launch of “a new generation of centrifuges ‎in Iran,” Hosseini said, “Such claims are usually brought up ahead of ElBaradei’s reports ‎and when Iran and the Agency are making progress in their cooperation. We believe that ‎these claims are brought up to impose political pressure on the legal and technical process ‎at the Agency. If they have new information about Iran’s nuclear activities, as they did ‎before, they can give it to Agency officials, so that they can present their findings after ‎conducting their technical examination.” ‎

The United States suspects Iran of pursuing a program to develop nuclear weapons. The ‎Islamic Republic refutes this and has refused to comply with U.N. Security Council ‎resolutions. Recently, in a rally of thousands to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the ‎Islamic Revolution in 1979, president Ahmadinejad said, “Today, in our opinion, the ‎nuclear issue is over. Everyone has recognized Iran’s innocence and the enemies can do ‎nothing other than engage in paper work and propaganda.” ‎

Slight Increase in Number of Reformist Candidates

Only 22 Reformist Disqualifications Reversed

by: Arash Sigarchi-- 2008.02.14

The spokesperson for the powerful Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, announced ‎yesterday the Council's decision to reverse the disqualification of 282 candidates who had ‎previously been barred by the administrative and oversight committees from running in ‎upcoming parliamentary elections in March. ‎

The wide scope of disqualifications angered many prominent politicians in the Islamic Republic. ‎Prominent figures such as former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Khatami, and former ‎Majlis speaker Karoubi, publicly criticized the trend of disqualifications and even complained to ‎the supreme leader. ‎
Several other reformist figures, such as former president Khatami's top aide, Mohammad Reza ‎Aref, resigned from candidacy though they were qualified by the guardian Council. Aref ‎announced that he is resigning to protest disqualifications. Several prominent ayatollahs, such as ‎grand ayatollahs Montazeri and Makarem Shirazi, and ayatollahs Haeri Shirazi, Noormofidi, and ‎Amini also protested the disqualifications. ‎
Finally, the Guardian Council's website quoted the Council's spokesperson, Kadkhodaei, that, ‎‎"We will announce a new list of the qualified candidates in the coming days." ‎
Although the names of qualified candidates have not been officially announced yet, the Fars ‎news agency published a list of 273 qualified candidates on its main page last night. ‎
In a related news report, Mehr news agency reported that with the additional 22 qualified ‎reformist candidates, the number of reformist candidates vying for Majlis seats has increased ‎slightly. ‎
Officials from the reformist coalition told a Mehr reporter that they have heard the news of their ‎qualification, but have not received any official confirmations yet. ‎
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the reformist E'temad Melli party, Esmaeil Gerami ‎Moghaddam, confirmed reports of the qualification of additional reformist candidates. The ‎names of several members of the E'temad Melli party appear on the two unofficial lists of ‎qualified candidates. The party's spokesperson had previously announced that close to 70 ‎percent of the party's candidates had been disqualified. ‎
According to news reports, the Guardian Council has reversed the disqualification of Ayatollah ‎Khomeini's grandson, Ali Eshraghi. ‎

High-Ranking Clerics Criticize Disqualifications ‎

While Ahmad Jannati, head of the powerful Guardian Council, insists that the upcoming ‎parliamentary elections are "fully competitive," a number of high-ranking clerics have protested ‎the Council's decision to bar thousands of reformist and independent candidates from running. ‎Ayatollahs Montazeri, Makarem Shirazi, Ebrahim Amini, Noormofidi, Haeri Shirazi, and Bayat ‎Zanjani have all released statements condemning the scope of disqualifications. Ayatollahs ‎Montazeri and Makarem Shirazi are among the handful of living Shi'ite grand ayatollahs. ‎

Ayatollah Montazeri told an Italian publication, "You can speak of freedom, particularly in ‎elections, only when conditions are such that all groups and especially the elite and professionals ‎are able to enter the scene, not when only people affiliated with a certain school of thought are ‎allowed to participate. Elections mean that people will be the electors, not the Guardian Council ‎or a special group; otherwise, these are called selections, not elections!"‎

In addition to Ayatollah Montazeri, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi is another grand ayatollah who ‎has criticized the scope of disqualifications. Though Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi sympathizes ‎with conservatives and was opposed to the reform movements, he protested the "disqualification ‎of many candidates," noting, "In some cases, fairness has not been observed, and even some of ‎the supreme leader's candidates have been disqualified… We hope that, in the remaining time, ‎reasonable objections are taken into account and that those who support and are loyal to the ‎regime would receive friendly vindication." ‎

Ayatollah Noormofidi, Gorgan's Friday prayer leader, told followers in a meeting, "What has ‎brought up many questions for concerned people from all walks of life these days is the issue of ‎widespread disqualifications. Some of the people that were disqualified are fully known by the ‎supreme leader, and I am certain that he would not have approved the decision to disqualify ‎them." ‎
Ebrahim Amini, the conservative Friday prayer leader of Ghom, called for the observance of ‎‎"Islamic ethics" and "laws" in examining candidates' qualification, adding, "Bigotry and close-‎mindedness cost us and undermine the reputation of the Islamic nation." ‎

Meanwhile, the conservative Friday prayer leader of Shiraz, Haeri Shirazi, condemned the ‎barring of reformist and independent candidates and announced his intention to resign with the ‎supreme leader's approval. ‎

Finally, Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat Zanjani, a high-ranking cleric in Ghom who sympathizes ‎with reformists, sent an open letter to Rafsanjani, Karoubi and former president Khatami ‎warning them that the Islamic Republic will be in danger of disintegration if they back down ‎from their demand to hold competitive elections. ‎

Though several high-ranking ayatollahs have criticized the government's handling of the ‎qualification process, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council denied reports that clerics have ‎began protesting the Council's decisions. The Council's spokesperson, Abas Ali Kadkhodaei, ‎told reporters, "I have not heard any criticism. Some have called for more precision, which we ‎accept and will certainly take into account, and if anyone's rights have been undermined, we will ‎work to restore those rights." ‎

Men in Uniform Position Themselves for the Elections

Arash Sigarchi - The massive disqualification of reformist candidates for the March 14 Majlis elections ‎that took place over the last few weeks in Iran overshadowed the strong military presence ‎in the politics of the country. The presence of the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards in the ‎upcoming elections is so prominent that in addition to the presence of its members in the ‎executive and supervisory boards, they shall also be at the elections stations either as ‎executive officers or as security officers enforcing security.‎

Soon after general Afshar took up his new post as the new chief of the country’s ‎Elections Board, it selected the members of the Executive Boards. I the past, it was the ‎practice to use university professors and presidents for these posts, this time, individuals ‎close to the Passdaran and the Basij mobilization force were handpicked for the job.‎
Their first job was to review the qualifications and background of the candidates who had ‎signed up to stand for elections. Passdaran members played the key role in eliminating ‎those candidates that are known as the reformists. Before these boards began their work, ‎Sobh Sadegh, an internal newsletter of the Passdaran wrote this, “Since reformists will be ‎eliminated from the elections process, they are advised to remove themselves from such ‎candidacy and withdraw from the elections.”‎
At the same time, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Iran publicly announced, ‎‎“We should be careful not to allow those individuals who look up to the US [as their ‎inspiration] to succeed in getting into the Majlis.” Other Passdaran commanders made ‎similar remarks. For example, the commander of the Ghazvin Passdaran division stressed ‎that the sixth Majlis (whose majority comprised of reformist candidates between 2000 ‎and 2004) should not be repeated. “We should not allow contaminated individuals to ‎enter the Majlis and contaminate it as well. The untrustworthy and outsiders should not ‎enter the Majlis,” he said. Such directives continued until quite recently. Just two days ‎ago general Nasser Shabani, commander of the Staff and Officer’s College of the ‎Passdaran (DAFOOS) verbally attacked reformers and criticized them for even having ‎the guts to nominate themselves for the Majlis.‎
It is clear that the Passdaran is bent on ensuring that the Majlis remains firmly in the ‎hands of the ideologues. And if any body still has any doubts, then one should listen to ‎the words of the representative of the supreme leader in the Passdaran. “We support the ‎ideologues,” he said. ‎
In addition to such directives, the other concern that many have about the Passdaran and ‎the Basij is their planned presence at voting stations. In the past it was a tradition to use ‎employees from the Ministry of Education or other government offices as monitors at the ‎voting stations. But now, according to a website close to reformers, “A proposal has been ‎made to replace these individuals with people from the Basij.” But concerns go beyond ‎even this. The plans are to use the Passdaran to enforce security at the polling stations In ‎this regard, the chief of police is on record to have said, “We shall utilize Basij and ‎Passdaran forces in consultation with the provincial and township security bureaus to ‎provide security for the elections.”‎
So, the Passdaran corps not only has members in the Executive Boards that vet ‎candidates to the Majlis, it also members in the Supervisory boards that are the main arm ‎of the Guardians Council, in the polling stations as monitors and as law enforcement ‎officers. All of this of course is in addition to having many candidates of their own for the ‎Majlis as well. ‎

More Candidates for the Majlis Are Rejected

Only 31 Seats Are Available for Reformist Candidates

Following the patchy news about the review of the candidates for the March 14 Majlis ‎‎(parliamentary) elections by the Guardians Council (the highest body that vets the ‎candidates for the elections), it is now clear that reformers have no prominent candidates ‎permitted to participate in the forthcoming Majlis elections. The elections process in Iran ‎involves the initial vetting of candidates to the parliamentary elections which takes place ‎by the Executive Elections Committees in the provinces. Following that, a higher body ‎the Guardians Council conducts its own vetting through its Elections Supervisory ‎Committees. ‎
In this regard, former vice-president during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency ‎Mohammad Ali Abtahi posted statistics regarding this disqualification. Following the ‎massive disqualification of reformist candidates by the Executive Elections Committees ‎of Iran’s Ministry of the Interior, the next higher body, the Election Supervisory ‎Committees belonging to the Guardians Council (which is tasked with reexamining the ‎qualifications of the candidates), rejected another 180 reformist candidates! According to ‎Abtahi, “Only 31 seats from a total of 290 in the Majlis are left for reformists to compete ‎for. “This means that from amongst the 909 known reformist candidates who announced ‎their candidacy to run for the Majlis, only 138 are allowed to run for the 31 available ‎seats,” according to Abtahi. ‎
With this development, the Supervisory Committees have completed a mission that began ‎with the Executive Committees, i.e. the elimination of all reformist candidates for the ‎eight Majlis elections to be held on March 14, 2008.‎
Initially there were some reports that the Supervisory Committees had approved the ‎qualifications of some of the reformist, thus paving the way for their candidacy. Among ‎them was Morteza Haji, a cabinet minister during Mohammad Khatami’s administration. ‎But he later denied such reports. Assadollah Kianersi, a member of the Etemad Melli ‎party also among the approved candidates. Montakhabnia, who was the leading candidate ‎son the list presented by Karubi was also approved, albeit after much behind the scenes ‎maneuverings. On the other hand, the candidacy of Abolfazl Shakuri, an MP in the sixth ‎Majlis and a close associate of the Karubi’s Etemad Melli party too was not approved. ‎Reports had circulated earlier that the Guardians Council had announced its criteria for ‎approving candidates, among which was the writing of a letter of repentance to the leader ‎of the Islamic regime by any one who had participated in a protest sit-in for the ‎disqualifications of the candidates to the seventh Majlis which would also denounce the ‎others who had participated in the sit-in. And despite his earlier public announcement that ‎he had not participated in the sit-in against the disqualifications and was “against the sit-‎in by other MPs”, Shakuri was still disqualified for running for the elections.‎
It is with these developments in mind that Abtahi believes there is no hope for the ‎presence of reformists in the upcoming elections. “Now that only 31 seats are available ‎for reformists to compete against, there are actually no candidates who have been ‎approved to participate in the elections,” Abtahi wrote on his web blog. I the provinces, ‎some groups that have pooled in candidates to form coalitions no longer have a reason to ‎continue their work as their candidates have been disqualified. Even among the few ‎prominent individuals who have been allowed to participate as candidates, the candidates ‎themselves question the rationale for staying in the game because they believe that ‎without the coalition groups, there will be nobody to campaign and work for them to get ‎the votes.‎

Budget for "Religious Activities" Expands by 600 Percent

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who promised to bring oil revenues to people's tables in his 2005 ‎presidential campaign, has arranged to bring oil revenues to mosques' tables by authorizing a 600 ‎percent increase in the "budget for religious activities" in next year's fiscal package. ‎
Last year, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance had a budget equivalent to 20.111 ‎billion rials for religious activities. The Ahmadinejad Administration has proposed increasing ‎this amount to 150.62 billion rials for the upcoming year, increasing the previous year's budget ‎by exactly 639 percent. ‎
The increase comes despite the fact that mosques have leftover funds from previous years in ‎which they failed to introduce enough programming to spend all of their allocated funds. ‎
The administration has also asked for a 307 percent increase in the budget for "cultural activities ‎in mosques," increasing it from 40.167 billion rials to 170 billion rials for the upcoming fiscal ‎year. ‎
In another section of the budget, the administration increased funds for "supporting and directing ‎cultural and religious activities," driving up the number from 90 billion rials last year to 320.825 ‎billion rials for the upcoming year, an increase of 264 percent.

January 30 Picked as Day of Solidarity with Imprisoned Students

Iranian Bloggers Unite in Solidarity with Imprisoned Students - 2008.01.23

By Arash Sigarchi:On the eve of the second month of incarceration of several prominent student activists across the ‎country, Iranian bloggers have decided to celebrate 10 Bahman [January 30, 2008] as a day of ‎solidarity with imprisoned students. ‎
A statement published on the websites of united bloggers referred to complaints made by ‎families of detained students against the judiciary: "These families, who are under severe ‎psychological pressure and live in deep worry, have repeatedly condemned the imprisonment of ‎their loved ones and asked for their release. Despite many efforts to bring about the release of ‎the aforementioned students, a great number of these dear colleagues remain in detention. Some ‎are not allowed to even have telephone conversations with their families." ‎
Naser Zarafshan, who represents several of these imprisoned students, divides the detained ‎students into three groups: "currently, the students are divided into three groups. The first group ‎is composed of students that the judiciary has announced will be released after posting bail. The ‎second group is composed of students who are still in interrogation and for whom no bail has ‎been set yet. The third group is composed of students who were arrested last week and of whom ‎we have no accurate information." ‎
It is worth noting that the judiciary has set bail amounts of 300, 500 and 1,000 million rials [33 ‎thousand, 54 thousand, and 108 thousand U.S. dollars, respectively] for several students who ‎have completed their interrogations. Many of these students remain in jail as they are unable to ‎post the excessive bail amount. ‎

Another Police Attack on Tehran University

Authorities are Silent on Violent Students Mistreatment - 2008.02.01

While the Sunday police attack on students at Tehran University resulted in injuries to ten ‎of them and the arrest of more than five, University officials either remained silent about ‎the incident or complete denied it.‎
After the bloody police attack on students on July 9, 1999, Iran’s Supreme National ‎Security Council under the chairmanship of reformist president Mohammad Khatami ‎banned the intrusion of police into university campuses. To enter the campuses, the ‎police was required to first obtain the approval of the supervisory board and president of ‎the institution. Last Sunday’s event has raised this question for students: on what pretext ‎did the police enter the University and beat up students. Was the entry sanctioned by the ‎school’s supervisory board or was it yet another unilateral decision on behalf of the ‎police.‎
The largest student organization Daftare Tahkim Vahdat issued a statement on the ‎incident and labeled the police’s entry into the campus as an “illegal” act, for which they ‎have filed a complained. “Following the protests of students over the condition of the ‎food that is provided by the school, plainclothes and uniformed police entered Tehran ‎University on Sunday and injured more than 10 students, while arresting between 3 to 5 ‎of them. The police intervention took place as the students had almost ended their ‎gathering who were on their way to their dormitories,” the statement read.‎
‎“Anti-riot police began entering the technical school at about 9:30pm on Sunday,” ‎according to Payman Arif, a student activist who confirmed that about 500 students had ‎gathered to protest the quality of the food provided by the school. Amir Kabir University ‎newsletter wrote that over 70 anti-riot police officers positioned themselves on Amirabad ‎street outside the university, along with other plainclothes police. The police booed the ‎students in response to the latter’s anti-police cries, and marched in front of their ‎dormitory buildings. According to the newsletter, following the police attack, the number ‎of participants in the gathering increased to a thousand people. At that time, students ‎shouted slogans against some officials of the Islamic Republic. The students also engaged ‎in throwing stones at the police outside the campus, forcing the police to take guard and ‎retreat from their positions. Scuffles followed and the students dispersed after the police ‎attacked them, into the early hours of Monday.‎