Iran Election Guide

Donate to EAWV





Or, click to learn more

Search

Sunday
Aug072011

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "Come On, Bashar, Leave!"

2115 GMT: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has just given a televised speech in which he declared that the "bloodshed of innocents, which has nothing to do with morals nor religion, is not acceptable" in Syria and Saudi Arabia cannot accept what is happening in Syria: "There is no justification."

Abdullah continued, "We demand a stop to the killings and bloodshed. Stop killing and start reforms".

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its Ambassador from Damascus "for consultations".

2050 GMT: Douma outside Damascus tonight after Taraweeh prayers for Ramadan:

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Aug072011

Syria Document: An Activist's Guide to Arrest and Interrogation

Arrest is never as scary an experience as many might suspect. Arrest is a medal that you will wear on your chest, and one whose stories you will tell to your children.

Arrest is a mixture of a strange, unknown, honorable and incredible experience. The more diverse the circumstances of your arrest, the more extended your stay, and the more people you meet, the richer and more exciting your experience will be . This is why it is important that you do not forget to write your account as soon as you are out.

When you get caught the unknown will terrify you. But be reassured. The most difficult part has already passed --- these are the moments of arrest and the first beating. Try in moments of calm to regain your self-confidence and to raise your own morale, and to enjoy while you are receiving this honor -- because there isn’t much time left until this regime will fall, and you may not get another round.

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Aug072011

Iran Feature: Four Tehran Diaries "We Drink to the Freedom that Will Come One Day" (Spiegel)

Samaneh AhmadianI'm not happy with my classes here at all. Most of the professors have no clue, and yet they make it clear to us students that they consider us to be fools. The only professor I truly admire and respect is leaving the country....

There isn't much going on in the streets. Most people don't look very happy. It's been very hot, and both women and men are wearing lighter clothing. The morality police are harassing them even more than usual....

I would like to publish my thoughts so I could see what others think about them. But we hardly have any publications anymore that print critical ideas....

We are so happy about the hunger strike coming to an end. We drink to the political prisoners, and to the martyrs of our movement, like Neda and Hoda. We drink to the freedom that will most certainly come one day.

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Aug072011

Britain Latest: Unrest in North London Leaves Vehicles and Shops Ablaze (The Observer)

Two police cars, a bus and ­several shops were attacked and set ablaze in north London on Saturday night as violence erupted following a protest demanding "justice" over a fatal police shooting.

Officers on horseback and others in riot gear clashed with hundreds of ­rioters armed with makeshift missiles in the centre of Tottenham after Mark Duggan, 29, a father of four, was killed on Thursday.

At one point, rioters broke through police ranks and attempted to storm Tottenham's police station, pelting officers with bricks, bottles and eggs. As a police helicopter flew over Tottenham High Road, youths in masks and hoods added combustible material to two burned out police cars, included a bundle of documents and an awning ripped down from one of the shops. Some attempted to persuade the rioters to disperse, one young man shouting: "Go home now people."

But others filled bottles with petrol to throw at the police lines. Many lined up with makeshift weapons including metal bars and baseball bats to confront the line of police, but others seemed more interested in looting. At one stage a safe was dragged out of a book­makers, while others were seen with a television set and an electric guitar. Several arrived with shopping trollies to take away what they had stolen.

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Aug072011

Afghanistan: "Deadliest Day" for US as 30 Troops Die When Copter Shot Down (Rivera/Rubin/Shanker)

In the deadliest day for American forces in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter on Saturday, killing 30 Americans, including some Navy Seal commandos from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, as well as 8 Afghans, American and Afghan officials said.

The helicopter, on a night-raid mission in the Tangi Valley of Wardak Province, to the west of Kabul, was most likely brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade, one coalition official said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and they could hardly have found a more valuable target: American officials said that 22 of the dead were Navy Seal commandos, including members of Seal Team 6. Other commandos from that team conducted the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed Bin Laden in May. The officials said that those who were killed Saturday were not involved in the Pakistan mission.

Click to read more ...

Saturday
Aug062011

Iran Special: The List of the 100+ Journalists Detained Since the 2009 Elections --- Part 1 (Alinejad/Irani)

Since the disputed June 2009 Presidential Election, EA has periodically featured the names of journalists on Arshama3's Blog --- a list which is up to 70 entries.

Now another record of those reporters who have been imprisoned --- or who are free on heavy bail but always threatened with a summons back to detention --- has been compiled by Masih Alinejad and translated into English by Azita Irani. There is also the note of at least one journalist who was slain during the initial demonstrations after the election.

We will be presenting the more than 100 entries on a rolling basis over the next few days. And we will endeavour, with the help of Arshama3 and Alinejad, to keep the list up to date.

24. Hossein Nouraninejad

Nouraninejad, the head of Jebhe-ye Mosharekat Melli Eslami (Islamic Coalition Front), was arrested on 17 September 2009 and spent one year in prison. He was a staff reporter at the Iranian Labor News Agency and reformist newspapers. After the Presidential election, he played an active role in organising religious events for reformist groups, particularly in connection with political prisoners.

Nouraninejad was one of 16 political prisoners at Evin Prison who participated in hunger strikes protesting the ill treatment by prison guards. His mother and his wife, Parastou Sarmadi, repeatedly complained to the media about the prisoners’ situation, until the security forces attempted to arrest Nouraninejad's mother. They forced her to sign a consent form to her detention if she continued to protest the imprisonment of her son by talking to the press.

Click to read more ...

Saturday
Aug062011

Iran Pictures and Video: So a Water Fight Can Get You Arrested....

UPDATE 8 August: All of the detained Tehran "water fighters" --- the number is estimated to be 10 --- have been released on bail after they were charged with "anti-regime propaganda".

UPDATE 2100 GMT: Mardomak reports that 30 people have been arrested in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran over a "water pistol fight".

UPDATE 1600 GMT: TehranLive have now withdrawn the photographs which we have used in this entry. Because this may have been done to protect the identity of the adults in the water fight, we are also withdrawing the pictures of those who could be detained.

UPDATE 0650 GMT: Thirty youths playing water games in a park in Kermanshah have been arrested by morality police forces "for guidance"

Forget all the political conflict inside Iran, the hot story for the international media this week has been how the hot Tehran weather --- and a water fight in a park --- led to the arrests of young men and women.

Click to read more ...

Saturday
Aug062011

Bahrain Documentary: "Shouting in the Dark" --- Story of an Uprising Suppressed (Al Jazeera English)

Al Jazeera English presents a documentary on the rise and fall of this spring's uprising in Bahrain: "This is the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs, forsaken by the West and forgotten by the world."

Saturday
Aug062011

The Latest from Iran (6 August): Enemies Everywhere (and Beware of the Books)

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami2120 GMT: About Those Water Fights.... In our separate feature, we have been following the story of the regime's crackdown on the crime of public water fights, first in Tehran and now in other Iranian cities. Well, Ayande News is not so certain about the approach....

The website asks, "Which sin is bigger? Water games or slander, lies and corruption?" Considering the behaviour of "senior Iranian officials", it considers where there are "great sins" of misuse of public funds, embezzlement, and fraud. Without naming names, it describes situations of alleged corruption involving 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Vice President Hamid Baghaei.

Click to read more ...

Saturday
Aug062011

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Overwhelmed by Protests

2115 GMT: More night demonstrations in Syria, first in Homs, then in Kafranbel in the northwest:

Click to read more ...