United 4 Iran rallies, Ahmadinejad's inauguration

Protesters in about 100 cities worldwide on Saturday demanded the release of hundreds of detainees in Iran who were arrested in the bloody aftermath of the Islamic republic's disputed presidential election, CNN reported.

They rallied against the Iranian government's brutal crackdown on citizens who protested the June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming it was fraudulent.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets after the election, clashing with security forces in a series of chaotic and violent encounters that led deaths, injuries and the arrest of many protesters who remain in jail despite pleas by families and friends.

Several of the demonstrations, especially in the U.S. and Europe, called for western governments to be more vocal about the reported human rights violations in Iran, according to the report.

Saturday's "global day of action" was organized by United For Iran and supported by several human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.

United For Iran is demanding U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon send a delegation to Iran to investigate the fate of political prisoners; the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including journalists; an end to state-sponsored violence; freedom of the press; and Iran's adherence to international agreements it has signed.

Ahmadinejad's inauguration set for first week in August

Iran President Amhmoud Ahmadinejad (photo source unknown).

Iran has announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be sworn into office during the first week of August.

I've been wondering when, if ever, this inauguration would take place, and where and how because of the challenges of it being done safely--for him, I mean.

After weeks of violent and not-so-violent protests in Tehran since the June 12 presidential election, countless of people must want his head on a stake.

The actual date of the inauguration has yet to be announced. According to the state-run Mehr News Agency, deputy parliament speaker Mohammadreza Bahonar said it will take place between Aug 2 and Aug 6.

After witnessing what transpired in Tehran after the elections, I can't imagine Ahmadinejad being able to walk or drive down any street in the city without getting a bullet in his head. I'm not taking sides here, by the way, just sayin'...

His second term will officially begin a few days after he takes the oath of office, when he participates in a ceremony officiated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Now, that's another one who should watch his head...if you ask me.

Sources: CNN
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

Obama sent direct message to Iran's leader

An Iranian woman holds a picture of Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed while protesting in the streets of Tehran, during a demonstration in Stockholm today. The Swedish capital has seen daily protests by Iranians demonstrating against the outcome of the recent presidential elections. (OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama sent a direct message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weeks before this month’s disputed election, Iranian sources told CNN today.

The letter requested dialogue and engagement between the two nations, CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported.

The sources said Khamenei has yet to reply to the letter, but nonetheless it “had set the negotiating table in order for both sides to sit around it after the election.”

Khamenei made an indirect reference to the letter in his sermon on Friday at Tehran University.

“The U.S. President said that we were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street,” the Iranian leader said. “Some people attributed these remarks to Obama and then they write letters to say we’re ready to have ties; that we respect the Islamic Republic and on the other hand they make such comments. Which one should we believe?”

One Iranian source said that the election dispute is wasting time on the issue of starting U.S.-Iranian negotiations.

The Iranian source said that before the election, “We thought President Obama would send congratulations to President Ahmedinajad” and his senior advisers had already prepared a response to the anticipated note, which never came.(Talk about wishful thinking.)

Well, perhaps if Iran had been more open about its elections process, if the results hadn't been so vehemently contested by candidates and voters alike, if the leaders had addressed the people's concerns, if hundreds of thousands of protesters hadn't taken to the streets for almost two weeks now, if Tehran hadn't turned into a burning and bloody battlefield of violent clashes between protesters and riot police, if civilians--including women and children--hadn't been wounded and killed, if the government hadn't ordered a ridiculous $3,000 "bullet fee" people must pay to recover the bodies of their loves ones, then, maybe that letter would've come.

Source: CNN
Copyright © 2009

Iran extends election complaints deadline 5 days

Tehran streets were quieter today. What that means in terms of the movement born from a massive protest against the June 12 presidential results, which declared incumbent President Ahmadinejad the winner, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei agreed to extend deadline for election complaints by five days, NBC news anchor Ann Curry said via Twitter.

Source: Ann Curry/NBC

Techonolgy wins in Iran, revolt continues...

Neda Agha-Soltan has became an icon of Iran unrest after she was shot and killed during a protest in Tehran this weekend. (Photo is a still from a YouTube video that captured her last moments before dying.)

All eyes and ears are on Iran, and for the first time it's not because of the award-winning coverage of the media.

Technology has turned average citizens into reporters and photojournalists whose real-time correspondence can be seen and heard throughout the world on computer screens, blackberries and cellphones via text messaging, blogs, emails and social network websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This steady stream of manic reports and images has made every person on the other side of the source an eye witness to these events.

The value of Twitter, a fun and "cute" website set up to enable friends and strangers to be in constant, instant communication with each other and to entertain them in the process, shoot up at rocket speed when it became the news source this weekend, with so-called tweets flowing at a rate of dozens per second, hundreds per minute.

Without these reports, news networks such as CNN would've been lost in the aftermath of the June 12 presidential elections, when confronted with increasing violence stemming from clashes between protesters and security forces the Iranian government banned foreign press coverage of the events.

Well, it didn't work.

Rather than decrease exposure, the communication blackout increased it by encouraging people to seek out information rather than wait for the media to feed it to them.

Without technology in the hands of ordinary people, the world would've never learned about Neda Agha-Soltan (right)--a 26-year-old woman described by family and friends as a "beam of light,” a music and travel lover but never an activist--shot by militia during a rally whose death was captured by a cellphone camera, the graphic images disseminated throughout the world turning her into the movement's first martyr.

Neda Agha-Soltan has become an icon of Iran unrest. In less than a minute, amateur footage shot using a cellphone and later posted on YouTube for all to see, shows Neda bleeding and dying after being hit by a bullet on the neck. This is one of many examples, possibly the most powerful yet, of civilians' ability to document and report events inside Iran despite government restrictions on foreign media as well as Internet and phone lines. (Getty/Handout)

What now?

The public outcry for democracy, justice and freedom has not been silenced despite the government's efforts to crush the masses of people that have taken to the streets of Tehran to protest the election results they claim were rigged to declare incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

The question, for me at least, has been, will it make a difference? Will their efforts to call attention to their cause spark long-term change in Iran or just lead to more of what we have already seen? How long before they give up? If the uprising produces nothing but more violence, why continue to put their lives in danger?

And danger is what they're facing everyday in Tehran--ongoing protests, rallies, fires, clashes, batons, rocks, tear gas, opposers, supporters, riot police...more violence and chaos.

I wonder if there's a point of no return, and if they have reached it.

A tanker would end this. But now that Iran knows a ban on foreign press coverage is useless, would it unleash such military force on its people while the world watches?

A leaderless revolution with many captains

Earlier today, one of the CNN anchors said he's been in contact with a 19-year-old young woman in Iran who has been sending him messages and photos via email. Soon after she was on the phone live from Iran.

The girl reportedly was badly beaten Saturday but returned to the streets today.

Below are some of her statements, some paraphrased and some in quotes, most of which were replies to questions from the anchor.

• When asked about beatings she said: "I have been beaten so many times...and this time it doesn't matter...I just want to help my brothers and my sisters...". She said she saw an old woman and three others being beaten at a bus stop by Basij (Iranian militia) who were telling them to leave, "but the old woman said this is her country...and she's waiting for husband to pick her up and would not move...they beat her and three others."
• About Neda, the woman who has become the symbol of this movement, she said she tried to go to the memorial but police stopped her. She added that people are chanting: "We don't want you to kill another Neda--we are all Nedas today."
• When questioned about a 5-year-old boy who was hurt by the Basij, she said they "hit him with motorcycle...a woman over him was crying for help and we went to help her but police would not let us."
• Regarding whether or not she thought the elections were a success, she replied: "I don't know why they make a fool of themselves because everyone knows...everyone took part in this election because we don't want Ahmadinejad to be president...that's why we all went out...we wanted Mousavi to be our president."
• When asked why she kept going back and risk being beaten again or worse, she said: "because I think it's my, um, responsibility, because many of my friends are in this situation, then I stay at home I worry about my friends other women other boys that are hit, then i think maybe I should go and help them."
• To a question about what she and others say to the police who beat them, she replied: "If you're Iranian you should not beat your mother, your brother, your sister."
• Regarding the role of women in the protests she said: "If you want the truth, I think that women are more than men...the women are all together...they are so more than men...the women, they don't have a chance to express themselves to say that we're important in the future of our country...and now we can play a role...it's a good chance for us."
• And, finally, when asked how she feels about the current state of affairs in Iran, she replied: "I'm absolutely optimistic because history has taught me that every revolution is fought like this...some people die, but nothing stays the same forever...this is how revolutions are...unfortunately we don't have a leader, and that's not good."

At the end of the call, she thanked the anchor for listening to her.

Former Crown Prince Pahlavi on Iran

Former Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Former Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi said Monday the protests in his country were supported by much of the military and clerical establishment and could end up bringing down the entire Islamic government.

Pahlavi, who has sought an end to the Islamic regime since his father was deposed in the 1979 revolution, said he had sources within the military and intelligence that were ready to switch sides, with some refusing to carry out orders to suppress the protests.

"It's almost a revolutionary climate," an at-times teary-eyed Pahlavi told reporters in Washington.

He said "a movement" was born on June 12, the day the presidential elections were held.

"It is not Islamic or anti-Islamic, it is not for capitalism or socialism, nor any other ideology or specific form of government. It cares little about historical squabbles before its birth. It is about the sanctity, even more, the sovereignty of the ballot box. It may not succeed immediately. It may have ebbs and flows. But, let me assure you it will not die, because we will not let it die," he said.

He noted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sealed his own fate by backing Ahmadinejad.

"A week (after the elections), the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic decided to stand erect as a dam in front of this movement, sanctioning theft of the ballot box and flagrant fraud, all in the name of Islam," he said.

"It was an ugly moment of disrespect for both God and man. It will not stand. The citizens of Iran will not stand it. And at the end, he will not stand."

Pahlavi, who was exiled from Iran and now lives in the U.S., warned that a failure of the protest movement would encourage more "extremism" in Iran and urged foreign governments to not fall for the "foreign interference" trap the Iranian regime would use to further crush human rights.

"Your governments have insisted that they would not interfere in Iran's internal affairs. I applaud that," he said. "Any such attempt will give the tyrants the excuse they need to paper over their own differences, and target every man struggling for freedom as a foreign agent. But that is not all they do. They are painting every statement in defense of human rights as foreign interference, benefiting from the confusion between the two."

"It is vital that the free world not fall for such cruel cynicism in the name of realpolitik," he added.

He said that Moussavi, who was part of the 1979 revolution, would soon have to decide whether he will seek a complete overhaul of Iran's regime.

"You can't at the same time hold allegiance to the regime and at the same time hold allegiance to the people," Pahlavi said. "This is no longer tenable."

If you ask me, I believe we won't be seeing Ahmadinejad any time soon because an assassination attempt is all but sure the moment he steps on any street of Tehran.

Sources: CNN, My Twisted Mind; Pahlavi story: mostersandcritic,PR Newswire
Copyright © 2009

Death toll climbs to over 150 in Iran fallout

According to media and eye witness reports from Tehran, more than 150 people have been killed so far, 19 today, in the aftermath of last week's presidential elections in Iran, with hundreds more injured.

In addition to city-wide chaos, reports of the Basij militia raiding homes and stores and showing up without uniform at hospitals to obtain the names of protesters are spreading via Twitter and YouTube, which has videos of these and other events unfolding in Iran as we speak. Basij militia reportedly is blocking access to embassy to which many are flocking seeking aid.

In unrest unseen since the Islamic revolution swept the country 30 years ago, supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who campaigned on promises of change for Iran, took to the streets after the elections last weekend to protest what they claim was a fraudulent vote count to declare President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

On Friday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted the vote count was legit, gave Ahmadinejad his blessing, and ordered the demonstrations to end.

Below are highlights from his speech:

"The result of the election comes out of the ballot box, not from the street."

"The legal structure of the election does not allow any vote rigging. Everyone who was in charge of the elections process confirms this fact — and to do so with a difference of 11 million votes...Sometimes there is 100,000 votes here, 200,000 votes there, or 1 million maximum, then one can question whether there has been some rigging or manipulation or irregularities. But there is a difference of 11 million votes. How could this be rigged?"

"I am urging them to end street protests, otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos.

"If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible."

More to come...

Sources: CNN, AP, Twitter

Stew of News - Commando, Caylee Anthony, Boyle

No more "going commando" in Florida city

A Florida city is cleaning up with a new dress code that requires city workers to wear underwear and use deodorant, AP reported Friday.

The city council in Brooksville recently approved a dress code that instructs employees to observe "strict personal hygiene" and prohibits exposed underwear, clothing with foul language, "sexually provocative" clothes and piercings anywhere except the ears.

Repeat offenders can be fired. (I would be sooo fired...if I didn't quit first.)

The city council approved the dress code in a 4-1 as part of a wider effort to update existing policies and ordinances. The one vote in opposition came from Mayor Joe Bernadini, who said the underwear edict "takes away freedom of choice."

"I voted against it. I think it takes away people's personal freedom in my opinion it insults their intelligence a little bit," he said, according to a First Coast News report.

Judge allows release of Caylee's autopsy report

Cayle Anthony.( WESH.com)

An Orange County judge decided Friday to allow the release of Caylee Anthony's autopsy report to the public, WFTV Channel 9 reported.

At a court hearing, George and Cindy Anthony did not get the answer they wanted. George was emotional as he spoke to Judge Stan Strickland to try to convince him not to release his granddaughter's autopsy report.

"Please show us some peace and some dignity by keeping this report sealed," he said fighting tears.

The Anthonys said releasing the report would cause them even more anguish and are afraid that the results will be exploited. (Frankly, I read the report and I don't see how it would increase their anguish nor how it would be exploited.)

"This last year has been an emotional strain for our entire family," George said. "The protection of our family's rights and privacy and emotional well-being, has been tossed aside over and over again." (It's a murder investigation. Shouldn't they get that by now?)

On June 10, their attorney, Brad Conway, filed a motion to block Caylee's autopsy result findings claiming that publicizing the report would cause endless speculation. At the time, Judge Strickland ordered a stay on the release of the findings.

WFTV Legal Analyst Bill Sheaffer Caylee's grandparents had no legal standing in the case to ask the judge to seal the public record and said there was no legal basis for their argument."Unless there's a legal basis other than emotional distress, which is not a legal basis, this judge will not block the release of this public document," Sheaffer explained.

Casey, 23, is in the Orange County jail facing first-degree murder. She is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.

Susan Boyle continues to skip performances

Susan Boyle (AP photo)

Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle has scrapped two more appearances on the show's U.K. tour, skipping last night's performance in Liverpool and today's show in Cardiff, Wales.

The singer's publicist said decisions on whether Boyle performed were taken on a day-by-day basis, BBC reported.

"She would love to be able to perform every single evening but she is aware of what she can and can't do," her publicist said in a statement. "I feel sorry for her because she doesn't want to let people down but also she needs to have a rest."

The rep took pains to shoot down British tabloid reports claiming Boyle was a no-show because she was hysterical and homesick for her cat, Pebbles.

Boyle, 48, has cancelled three other performances, nine dates into the tour. Britain's Got Talent stars are due to perform 25 times during the show's run, BBC reported.

She previously scrapped matinee and evening performances last Sunday in Manchester, provoking boos from the audience when a video montage was shown in lieu of her live renditions of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables and "Memory" from Cats. Boyle has also cancelled two performances at the Manchester MEN Arena last Sunday and one in Liverpool on Thursday, BBC reported.

She did rally for performances in Birmingham and her native Scotland, getting rousing ovations from crowds in Edinburgh and Glasgow earlier this week.

The trek wraps up July 5, and, if she's well enough, judge Piers Morgan has invited her to pop in on the fourth season of the U.S. edition of America's Got Talent, kicking off Tuesday on NBC.

The singer was treated for exhaustion at The Priory in London after the show that made her famous wrapped up.

Evidently, something's wrong. It's hard to imagine someone getting severely tired from singing one or two songs per show--that's all she has to do. It's something else.

I think her body, to which her thoughts and emotions are inexorably linked, simply is not equipped for the limelight and the brutal UK tabloids. If she were younger, one could expect her to just get used to it. Nevertheless, I'm optimistic because there are some powerful people nearby who want to help her.

Sources: The Associated Press, CNN, BBC, NBC, WESH, WFTV, First Coast News, E! Online
Copyright © 2009

Foreign coverage restricted in Tehran

Left: Al-Alam footage shows Ahmadinejad supporters rallying Tuesday in central Tehran. (AFP/Getty Images)

As thousands took to the streets again on Tuesday, Iran's government banned international journalists from covering rallies and blocked access to some online communication tools in the wake of last week's disputed presidential election, CNN reported Tuesday.

Reporters working for international news outlets, including CNN, could talk about the rallies in their live reports but were not allowed to leave their hotel rooms and offices.

The decision was an apparent reaction to video showing violence at recent demonstrations in support of Mir Hossein Moussavi, who is disputing the results of Friday's presidential election. The government has criticized some of that coverage and the images, describing them as biased.

Iran also blocked access to certain online communication tools, text and video, but many Iranians were able to find a way around the restrictions.

Iran's all-powerful leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appealed to the citizenry on Tuesday to stand behind the Islamic republic.

"Some people are against the unity of the Iranian nation and the solidarity of the Islamic system," Khamenei said in a meeting with representatives of the four presidential candidates, government-funded Press TV reported.

"Such acts and vandalism and some crimes that were committed are not related to the candidates' supporters, but to disturbers of peace, and all should stand against them," Khamenei said.

Right: A protester injured during Monday's demonstration in Tehran is carried to a hospital. (European Press Photo Agency)

Iranian government-run television was not affected by the media restrictions. It aired live coverage of Tuesday's rally in support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose supporters crowded the streets of central Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran's Guardian Council--an unelected panel of 12 top clerics and judges--agreed Tuesday to recount some votes in the disputed presidential election. But Moussavi asked instead for fresh elections.

Moussavi asked his supporters to forgo their planned rally Tuesday in the same area as the pro-Ahmadinejad gathering at Vali Asr Square in central Tehran. Instead, his supporters gathered at another location in Tehran, according to video footage of the rally.

Moussavi has contested the results of Friday's election, which showed an overwhelming victory for Ahmadinejad. His supporters have taken to the streets every day since the election, often clashing with police and Ahmadinejad's backers, asking for fresh elections. An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a recount would provide another opportunity for the government to manipulate the results.

Source: CNN
Copyright © 2009

Unrest in Iran upon disputed election results

Right: Iranian riot police stand in front of a cloud of tear gas, as supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi fight running battles using stones and petrol bombs against police, as they protesting the results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, today, June 13. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Hell just broke loose in Iran. Just watch the videos of protesters clashing with police and you'll see what I mean. Be glad you're not there.

Riots broke in Tehran as news of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide election victory spread throughout the city.

Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the vote while chief rival Mir Hossein Moussavi received 33.75 percent, the Iranian government said Saturday. The reformist opposition candidate is contesting the results, claiming fraud.

At a press conference, Mousavi declared himself "definitely the winner" based on "all indications from all over Iran." He accused the government of "manipulating the people's vote" to keep Ahmadinejad in power and suggested the reformist camp would stand up to challenge the results, AP reported.

"It is our duty to defend people's votes. There is no turning back," Mousavi said, alleging widespread irregularities.

Millions of mostly young Iranians desperate for change and who supported Mousavi in passionate pre-election rallies were crushed and furious. They clashed with police and set up barricades of burning tires upon learning about the results of the election.

Correspondents say the violence is the worst seen in Tehran in a decade, BBC reported.

A statement from Mousavi posted on his website urged his supporters to resist a "governance of lie and dictatorship."

"I'm warning that I won't surrender to this manipulation," he said. "The outcome of what we've seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran sacred system and governance of lie and dictatorship."

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad said Saturday the election in which he secured another four-year term was "free and healthy," rejecting allegations of irregularities by a moderate rival in the vote without making direct reference to Mousavi's remarks, Reuters reported.

"Everybody should respect people's vote...we need a calm atmosphere to build the country," Ahmadinejad said amid the protests.

The results flowed quickly after polls closed showing the hard-line president with a comfortable lead, defying expectations of a nail-biter showdown following a month of fierce campaigning and bringing immediate charges of vote rigging by Mousavi, AP reported.

It was even unclear how many Iranians were even aware of Mousavi's claims of fraud, according to the report, as communications disruptions began in the later hours of voting Friday, suggesting an information clampdown, according to various news reports. State television and radio only broadcast the Interior Ministry's vote count and not Mousavi's midnight press conference.

Sadeq Mahsouli, the country’s interior minister, on Saturday lauded the “unprecedented” turnout. He had said 85 percent of 46 million eligible voters had gone to the polls.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, closed the door on any chance he could use his limitless powers to intervene in the disputes from Friday's election, AP reported. In a message on state TV, he urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad, calling the result a "divine assessment" and the voters’ turnout a show of Iran’s “pride” and “honor.”

Iran does not allow international election monitors. During the 2005 election, when Ahmadinejad won the presidency pledging to revive the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution, there were some allegations of vote rigging from losers, but the claims were never investigated.

His face covered with a green scarf symbolizing his party's color, a supporter of Iranian reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi holds a stone as others burn a trash bin in Tehran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Mousavi supporters clashed with police and set up barricades of burning tires as authorities claimed the hard-line president was re-elected in a landslide. (AP Photo).

The U.S. and Canada challenged Iran's claims that hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election, but much of the rest of the world remained silent Saturday despite claims of fraud and scenes of clashes on the streets of Tehran.

Iran is a key economic player in the region, a perceived threat to Israel's national security, and a major worry for the U.S. and allies who fear Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.

"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," Clinton told reporters in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said his country, too, was "deeply concerned" by reports of irregularities.

Most countries appeared to be taking a wait-and-see approach, including the European Union and China, Germany, Italy and Japan--nations with strong economic ties to Iran.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said concerns about ballot counting that candidates have expressed are an issue for Iranian authorities to address.France said it was closely following the situation.

Following are the latest headlines related to this story:

• Iran's opposition leader Mousavi calls on all his supporters to avoid violence.

• A senior US official tells Reuters that the U.S. is "not yet ready" to pronounce the outcome of Iran's election; urges peaceful resolution.

• Cell phone service in Tehran is down while Facebook and websites affiliated with Ahmadinejad's top opponent have been blocked.
  

Source: BNO News, AP, Reuters, CNN, BBC, USA Today, CBS News