Sunday
Nov222009
Iran Video & Text: Maziar Bahari on His 118 Days in Detention
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 17:31
The Latest from Iran (22 November): Abtahi Sentenced, Ahmadinejad Scrambles
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Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, who was detained for almost four months soon after the 12 June Presidential election on charges of passing information to foreign organisations, has gone public with his story this weekend. He has been interviewed on CNN and CBS, and he has written an article for Newsweek
Within and beyond Bahari's account, which includes a recollection of his staged "confession" on Iranian television, is an important political tale. This is testimony to the emergence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the force within the Iranian regime, eclipsing other agencies like the Ministry of Intelligence and arguably leaders like President Ahmadinejad. Newsweek frames this as "an ever more fractured regime", but what if --- in the eyes of the IRGC --- the Revolutionary Guard is the "uniting force" before and 12 June?
The Newsweek article follows the CNN interview:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeg8iamawzI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WONlBpMxMHc&feature=channel[/youtube]
118 Days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes
Evin Prison, June 21, 2009 (around 10 a.m.)
The interrogator sat me in a wooden chair. It had a writing arm, like the chair I'd had in primary school. He ordered me to look down, even though I was already blindfolded: "Never look up, Mr. Bahari. While you are here—and we don't know how long you're going to be here—never look up." All I could see from under the blindfold was the interrogator's black leather slippers. They worried me. He had settled in for a long session.
"Mr. Bahari, you're an agent of foreign intelligence organizations," he began. I had gotten a look at him when he and his men had dragged me out of bed and arrested me a few hours earlier. He was heavyset—I later learned that the guards called him "the big guy"—taller and wider than me, with a massive head. His skin was dark, like someone from southern Iran. He wore thick glasses. But I would know him now only by his voice, his breath, and the rosewater perfume used by men who piously do their ablutions several times a day before prayers, but rarely shower.
I could see Mr. Rosewater's slippers right in front of my foot. He was towering over me.
"Could you let me know which ones?" I mumbled.
"Speak louder!" he shouted. He bent toward me, his face an inch away from mine. I could feel his breath on my skin. "What did you say?"
"I was wondering if you could be kind enough to let me know which organizations," I repeated.
"CIA, MI6, Mossad, and NEWSWEEK." He listed the names one by one, in a low but assured voice.
I was struck by Mr. Rosewater's confidence. I did not know then exactly which branch of the fractured Iranian government he worked for. When I was arrested, hundreds of thousands of protesters had been filling the streets of Tehran for a week, outraged over the disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There had been violence. The club-wielding militias known as Basij had inflicted much of it on the marchers, women as well as men. But some of the protesters had fought back too. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, had decreed that the protests stop, but nobody at that point was sure they would. At least, nobody outside Evin Prison was sure. Mr. Rosewater was another matter.
I would later discover that I had been picked up by the intelligence division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. Before the June election, this unit of the Guards was little known; whenever journalists and intellectuals ran afoul of the authorities they were usually questioned by the official Ministry of Intelligence. But the IRGC, which reports directly to Khamenei, had been growing dramatically more powerful. Many suspect that the Guards rigged the election. Certainly they led the crackdown that followed.
IRGC intel is now responsible for Iran's internal security, which means that its rampaging paranoias have suffused the regime. There remain players within the system who can make rational decisions about Iran's international interests; if there weren't, I would still be in jail. But the Guards are exacerbating the Islamic Republic's worst instincts, its insecurity and deep suspiciousness. As world powers try to engage Tehran to mitigate the threat of its nuclear program, it's critical that they understand this mindset and the role the IRGC now plays within the Iranian system. I learned all too much about both while in the Guards' hands.
Everything was an education inside Evin—from the questions Mr. Rosewater asked, to what answers made him beat me, to physical details.
Read rest of article....
Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis
Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, who was detained for almost four months soon after the 12 June Presidential election on charges of passing information to foreign organisations, has gone public with his story this weekend. He has been interviewed on CNN and CBS, and he has written an article for Newsweek
Within and beyond Bahari's account, which includes a recollection of his staged "confession" on Iranian television, is an important political tale. This is testimony to the emergence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the force within the Iranian regime, eclipsing other agencies like the Ministry of Intelligence and arguably leaders like President Ahmadinejad. Newsweek frames this as "an ever more fractured regime", but what if --- in the eyes of the IRGC --- the Revolutionary Guard is the "uniting force" before and 12 June?
The Newsweek article follows the CNN interview:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeg8iamawzI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WONlBpMxMHc&feature=channel[/youtube]
118 Days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes
Evin Prison, June 21, 2009 (around 10 a.m.)
The interrogator sat me in a wooden chair. It had a writing arm, like the chair I'd had in primary school. He ordered me to look down, even though I was already blindfolded: "Never look up, Mr. Bahari. While you are here—and we don't know how long you're going to be here—never look up." All I could see from under the blindfold was the interrogator's black leather slippers. They worried me. He had settled in for a long session.
"Mr. Bahari, you're an agent of foreign intelligence organizations," he began. I had gotten a look at him when he and his men had dragged me out of bed and arrested me a few hours earlier. He was heavyset—I later learned that the guards called him "the big guy"—taller and wider than me, with a massive head. His skin was dark, like someone from southern Iran. He wore thick glasses. But I would know him now only by his voice, his breath, and the rosewater perfume used by men who piously do their ablutions several times a day before prayers, but rarely shower.
I could see Mr. Rosewater's slippers right in front of my foot. He was towering over me.
"Could you let me know which ones?" I mumbled.
"Speak louder!" he shouted. He bent toward me, his face an inch away from mine. I could feel his breath on my skin. "What did you say?"
"I was wondering if you could be kind enough to let me know which organizations," I repeated.
"CIA, MI6, Mossad, and NEWSWEEK." He listed the names one by one, in a low but assured voice.
I was struck by Mr. Rosewater's confidence. I did not know then exactly which branch of the fractured Iranian government he worked for. When I was arrested, hundreds of thousands of protesters had been filling the streets of Tehran for a week, outraged over the disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There had been violence. The club-wielding militias known as Basij had inflicted much of it on the marchers, women as well as men. But some of the protesters had fought back too. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, had decreed that the protests stop, but nobody at that point was sure they would. At least, nobody outside Evin Prison was sure. Mr. Rosewater was another matter.
I would later discover that I had been picked up by the intelligence division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. Before the June election, this unit of the Guards was little known; whenever journalists and intellectuals ran afoul of the authorities they were usually questioned by the official Ministry of Intelligence. But the IRGC, which reports directly to Khamenei, had been growing dramatically more powerful. Many suspect that the Guards rigged the election. Certainly they led the crackdown that followed.
IRGC intel is now responsible for Iran's internal security, which means that its rampaging paranoias have suffused the regime. There remain players within the system who can make rational decisions about Iran's international interests; if there weren't, I would still be in jail. But the Guards are exacerbating the Islamic Republic's worst instincts, its insecurity and deep suspiciousness. As world powers try to engage Tehran to mitigate the threat of its nuclear program, it's critical that they understand this mindset and the role the IRGC now plays within the Iranian system. I learned all too much about both while in the Guards' hands.
Everything was an education inside Evin—from the questions Mr. Rosewater asked, to what answers made him beat me, to physical details.
Read rest of article....
Reader Comments (6)
I thought "Room 101" was just a Chapter in a book - looks like it is real though and is in Iran.
I shudder to even think about being in it. What kind of inhuman beasts lurk there? How do they shield their eyes when they enter the light of day? How will they live with themselves on their final day.? Oblivion for them, their "religion" will be of no use to them then.
Barry
Shudder is right. Horror! Horror! It is the heart of darkness, and barbaric, evil, yes evil, people are torturing thousands as we read these lines and more. This is real. The question is what should humanity do beyond writing comments. I really wish a major figure such as President Obama and other leaders of free states will say they support the struggle of Iranian people, and at least recognize that the actions of the IRI are blatant abuses of universal human rights. They should indicate that lies do not work any more, that the West is now seeing through it. Solidarity. Not too much to ask, but with tremendous impact.
RE "This is testimony to the emergence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the force within the Iranian regime, eclipsing other agencies like the Ministry of Intelligence and arguably leaders like President Ahmadinejad."
Hmmm ... are you perhaps coming around to the point I was making Post 2 on:
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/11/22/the-latest-from-iran-22-november-ahmadinejad-scrambles/comment-page-1/#comment-14643
? ;-)
Mhmud Tehrani, the nephew of Khamenei in an Interview with Radio Free Europe on 9/10/09 said “I don't think Ali Khamenei has a lot of power, it's likely that all of this is being run by the Revolutionary Guard, and Ali Khamenei is forced to deal with the [Revolutionary Guard] in order not to lose his role as the supreme leader.”
http://www.rferl.org/content/Khameneis_Nephew_President_Revolutionary_Guard_Running_the_Show_In_Iran/1819768.html
It reminds me of Koestler's "Darkness at noon". IRI has become a worthy successor of Staline's regime.
no comments from Samuel ? Maybe Mr Rosewater is his cousin...