CLOSE-UP: The slap heard around the cyberworld: fact and fiction around a viral video

Much of the information coming out of Iran is in the form of footage uploaded to the Internet without the benefit of much description or explanation. Each installment in the Close-up series will provide an in-depth analysis of a single video.  
 
As the dust settles on the furor provoked by dramatic footage first touted as that of a dead protester's father being slapped by an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officer, it appears that the video illustrates a no-less-interesting case of internecine friction within the regime camp.



The video's wide circulation began on Monday and soon turned into an Internet sensation. In two days, just one YouTube channel registered over 76,000 views. The ensuing commentary came thick and heavy amid a wave of anger and revulsion. The rumors soon followed: the man was the father of a martyred protester, the officer was a Basij commander, authorities had refused to return the body unless the father pledged not to pursue the matter...

For the sake of disclosure, this blogger also joined the ranks of the pitchfork-and-torch mob and quickly described the video in a tweet on Monday as 'Father of a dead protester takes IRGC officer to task.' But upon reviewing several reports and carefully translating the full exchange, the facts appear to be inconsistent with the initial claims.

Abdollah Araghi

First, the individuals in the video. The man with his back to the camera describes himself as the father of a deceased young man and a 40%-disabled veteran of the Iran-Iraq war with 28 and a half years of service within the IRGC. This would almost certainly make him at least a mid-level IRGC officer and the fact that he addresses the IRGC officer using the word tow, the more informal second-person pronoun, instead of shoma may confirm that he is fairly senior. (NB The French equivalent would be the difference between tu and vous). The quality of the footage is poor, however the IRGC officer sitting to the cleric's left is almost certainly General Abdollah Araghi, Greater Tehran's IRGC chief and commander of the Mohammad Rasoulollah (Mohammed, Prophet of God) Brigade. Not only does the father refer to him as Mr. Araghi, but a comparison to one of Araghi's rare photos seems to bear this out. The cleric, again notwithstanding the poor quality of the video, appears to be Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's former representative within the IRGC. The footage can be compared to the photo to the right.

Movahedi Kermani

Several news sources confirm that the man's son was killed, but give a different account of the details. The man's son, a Basiji, was killed in an altercation with another individual living in a residential complex of buildings where a large number of IRGC officers and their families reside. The killer was a seyed, a direct male descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. He was supported by the IRGC which tried to obtain the father's consent to not execute the killer, but the father refused and the individual was hanged. Araghi subsequently mustered the IRGC and Basij's resources to organize a funeral service for the killer in the residential complex. The father not only complained about this misuse of resources, but said that he had been threatened by elements linked to the IRGC.

While these allegations have not been confirmed, they are consistent with the exchange that takes place in the video:

Father:
You've organized a funeral service for the killer in the same residential complex in which this innocent Basiji was murdered. Go ahead and organize a funeral service for the father of the killer too. Why did you use the sepah's (IRGC's) resources for the service of a murderer? They threatened me. I was harassed by rabble and louts. I announce here that if I'm killed, Mr. Araghi is responsible (he points to the IRGC officer). My life is in danger. I'm a 40% disabled janbaz (veteran of the Iran-Iraq War). I've served 28 and a half years in the sepah. But these people have supported a killer, that's my complaint. Why should the Revolutionary Guards defend a murderer and insult me. He insulted me.

IRGC officer:
We'll attend the service and you can go and complain. Do whatever you can.


Father:
You see. He says he'll go to a murderer's service. Ultimately, there is a God--

IRGC officer:
He's a descendant of the Prophet--

Father:
This descendant of the Prophet is a murderer. A murderer is null and void--

IRGC officer:
If you were a man, you would have consented--

Father:
Why should I have consented. If your child had been killed, would you have consented? What a foolish expectation! I was a man and had him executed. It was God's verdict!

IRGC officer:
Why are you shouting?

Father:
Why are you saying 'If you were a man'?

IRGC officer:
I'm saying what more do you want? He's been executed--

Father:
You're the one who isn't a man!

(IRGC officer slaps the father)

This video does not seem to show a dead protester's father being slapped by an IRGC officer. While the regime continues to commit horrendous crimes, any rumor-mongering and dissemination of untruths can only discredit the veracity of true cases of human rights violations in Iran.

Video roundup

Footage posted in the past 24 hours...

• A young woman in a bus in Mashhad reads a statement in favor of democracy and asks fellow passengers to participate in this Friday's demonstration. 'Come, so they can see how we lift up the Nedas and Sohrabs of this land with our green hands. Come, to experience the beauty of unity. Come, so we may say, If Iran does not exist, neither do I... On Friday September 18, I ask all fathers, mothers, and anyone who feels a sense of responsibility -- if you could just please distribute these (she hands out fliers) -- we eagerly hope to see you on Friday September 18, at 9:30 in the morning.'
  
  
  
  
• U2 continues to support the green movement with a special rendition of 'Sunday, Bloody Sunday.' 'For freedom on the streets of Iran,' Bono called out to the spectators at the Chicago concert, Saturday, September 12. 'Don't give up!' he cried out at one point in the song. Next stop, Toronto, tonight.
  
  
  
  
• Since this is the first video roundup on this blog, I coundn't resist concluding with one of my favorites. In this bizarre and hilarious episode, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is being interviewed live about his new cabinet. Don't adjust the sound, the gurgling noise comes from a fountain inexplicably placed between the journalist and Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad: 'Now we come to the Health Ministry and Mrs. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi (NB who is replacing Mr. Kamran Bagheri Lankarani). Everyone knows that Dr. Lankarani is one of the country's great managers. He was really successful in his post and worked hard. I have a special personal affinity for him. He's a pure and likable person. I once said, He's like a peach. You want to eat him, this young pious man.'
  
  
  
  

Musical pulpits: How the choice of Ghods Day's prayer leader put the regime in overdrive

Opposition poster - 'Green Ghods Day'

Will he or won't he? The question has been heating up Iranian newswires since Saturday.

Will Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani lead Tehran's Friday Prayer on Ghods Day, September 18, which the opposition has marked in green in its calendar and hopes to make a repeat performance of the multi-million-man marches of the movement's early days?

Rafsanjani, head of two key constitutional bodies, the Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Council, has become a reluctant figurehead for the green movement which has propelled him to that position with equal wariness.

Rafsanjani is a regular leader of Tehran's Friday Prayer, appointed as preacher by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and thus not easily impeachable. The last time he spoke at Friday Prayer was July 17 and despite his characteristic tightrope speech in which he attempted to be all things to all men, protesters flooded into the breach. The prayer hall at Tehran University holds about 5,000 people and the adjacent streets and empty lots another 50,000. Video footage showed even more protesters, extending far beyond the usual perimeter of loudspeaker-equipped avenues.

They chanted boisterously, their voices heard from outside the prayer hall, eagerly breaking taboos by responding to the official chant-master's 'Death to America, death to Britain' with their own 'Death to Russia, death to China!' Rafsanjani interrupted his speech, calling plaintively on the demonstrators, 'Please allow me. I'm saying it better than you would.' (Full footage of his speech here, text of the speech in English, courtesy Council on Foreign Relations here). Protesters subsequently took to the streets in a peaceful manner.



Rafsanjani usually preaches at the Tehran prayer once a month, but he was replaced on August 14 by Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Khatami (no relation to former reformist President Mohammad Khatami), temporary Tehran Friday Prayer leader and a hard-line supporter of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Reza Taghavi, head of the national coordinating body for Friday prayers, said at the time that Rafsanjani had relinquished his spot to 'avoid any unacceptable political exploitation' of the event.

A month on, it is Rafsanjani's turn once again. In recent years he has always preached on Ghods Day, an annual event created by Ayatollah Khomeini to protest Israel's occupation of Palestine.

But will he or won't he?

Ahmad Khatami, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

On Saturday, September 12, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Friday prayer committee chairman Reza Taghavi as saying that Rafsanjani would not lead the event 'to avoid any unacceptable political exploitation of Friday prayers.' It was the exact quote of a month before. Raja News, which is run by Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of Ahmadinejad government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham, quickly relayed the news under the headline 'Hashemi Rafsanjani is not Ghods Day's Friday imam.' The site wrote that because of the unrest surrounding Rafsanjani's July 17 sermon, 'a definite decision has been made to not invite him. Hojjatoleslam Seyed Ahmad Khatami will possibly lead.'

Shortly thereafter, Mehr news published an interview with Ahmad Khatami in which he denied he would be leading this week's event. 'The decision is made by the Supreme Leader's office and this week's prayer leader has yet to be determined,' Khatami said.

But then IRNA, the Islamic Republic's News Agency, jumped into the fray and published an article in which Khatami denied his previous denial. 'Despite what some sites have reported, I have not denied I will lead the prayers,' Khatami said.

The debate raged on the next day, Sunday. Sarmayeh newspaper's front page headlined, 'Rafsanjani: I have not renounced leading Friday's prayer.' The article went on to say that Rafsanjani's office had issued a statement rejecting previous reports that he had decided against preaching this Friday.

Jomhouri Eslami daily, close to Rafsanjani, also wrote that Rafsanjani had not abandoned the idea of leading the Ghods Day prayer. 'Jomhouri Eslami's reporter has reviewed the claims of certain sites and has ascertained that Ayatollah Rafsanjani's office has not been contacted about [this subject] and that he has therefore not decided whether to preach or not,' the newspaper said.

On Monday, opposition news service Mowjeh Sabz took a stab at Fars news, saying the whole fiasco had been triggered by the 'coup d'état's news agency (Fars news)' which had 'published an old article from another news service and linked it to Ghods Day.' Mowjeh Sabz added that Reza Taghavi had denied making any statement concerning Rafsanjani to Fars news and had demanded that the article be removed from the site.

On Tuesday, September 15, IRNA posted a piece on the ongoing controversy, in which Hojjatoleslam Massoud Moradi, head of the coordinating committee for Tehran's Friday prayer, was quoted as saying, 'Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami will be the imam of Ghods Day's prayer in Tehran.' Moradi concluded, 'Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will give a speech before the sermon.'

Several hours later, Tabnak news countered with a report of its own. 'In an interview with Tabnak, Hojjatoleslam Massoud Moradi denied this news and declared that Ghods Day's imam will be announced in a few hours,' the site claimed.

IRNA riposted with an article headlined 'The strange denial of IRNA's news on Ghods Day's Friday prayer.' The official Iranian news agency wrote, 'This morning, because the name of the Friday prayer leader is traditionally announced on Tuesday, our reporter contacted Hojjatoleslam Moradi and he gave us the news that was published.' IRNA went on to write that Moradi had called back several minutes later and had asked that the article not be published because the final decision had not been made. 'According to his request, we took it off the news feed,' said IRNA. 'Our reporter contacted Hojjatoleslam Moradi again and complained, Why have you rejected news that you personally gave to us, the audio files of which are available, and which we subsequently took off the news feed upon your request? He said that after speaking to IRNA he had not been in touch with any other media outlet.'

At 12:18 PM GMT, IRNA released another piece, this time citing an anonymous source who reiterated Moradi's initial statement: Rafsanjani would not lead Ghods Day's prayer.

As of this report, the question has yet to be settled.

Will he or won't he?

For the protesters who aim to demonstrate in huge numbers on Friday, the answer may well turn out to be irrelevant.

Unchained letter - End of your religious tyranny in Iran, writes renowned scholar to Khamenei - Part 2

This is the translation of the second and final part of Abdolkarim Soroush's open letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. For part one and an introduction to Soroush go here.


Mr. Khamenei,

[...]

The green movement has been established with determination to create a green Iran. This movement has found its green martyrs, green poets and poetry, its green literature and arts and phrases. It is the fruit of 20 years of efforts on the part of intellectuals and activists in the political and cultural spheres. You are wasting your time trying to break it with your militarism.

This lion is not one that you can escape / There's no escaping the curse of God (NB Soroush recites from the mystical poet Rumi. The two lines immediately preceding this quote are: 'You bark like rabid dogs / you deny the Koran's truth'.)

The fading fear of the people and the vanishing legitimacy of the concept of Supreme Leadership are the greatest achievements of the revolt of honor over plunder

The fading fear of the people and the vanishing legitimacy of the concept of Supreme Leadership are the greatest achievements of the revolt of honor over plunder. The slumbering lion of courage and resistance has been awakened. Neither usurpation by the military, nor rape committed by the corrupt; neither dust thrown in the eyes of humanity, nor hot air to puff up the [regime's] ragged clothes; neither dependence on animal savagery, nor attacks on human sciences (NB Soroush refers to a recent speech by Khamenei in which he voices concern about human sciences taught in Iranian universities because they instil secularism.); neither the flattery of flatterers in your pay, nor the poetry of poem-selling fools; none of these will bend the back of the resistance. Religious tyranny has been besieged by blasphemy and religion, and it is time to cut it down in the green fields of the movement. We have asked this of God and God is with us.

There is no sweeter proof of your turning fortunes than the fact that all your celebrations have become mourning ceremonies. And whatever tweaked your mirth once, now brings you tears and tremors. The universities whom you wanted to kiss your feet, now provoke your nightmares. Street demonstrations, the usual gatherings, Ramadan, Moharram, the Hajj, and mournful prayers have all become curses which work against you (NB The regime has had to cancel one event after the other to prevent protesters from using the ceremonies for their own ends).

A moral society and a government beyond religion are the beacons of our Green nation

We are of a fortunate generation. We shall celebrate the disappearance of religious despotism. A moral society and a government beyond religion are the beacons of our Green nation.

We shall cherish and esteem freedom, that same freedom which you did not value and unto which you heaped injustices. You were sold fascism and told that freedom is whimsical and permissive. [...] If you had allowed the press to be free, it would have divulged corruption and the corrupt would not have dared engage in their misdeeds. If you had allowed people to criticize you, you would not have fallen into the abyss of dictatorship and the corruption of power. The people's true words would have dispelled your daze of ignorance. They are the schools of the nation, not 'enemy bases.' And what would have been so terrifying if the doors of those schools had been kept open and you had been able to learn there?

We will cherish religion, that same religion that you made a tool of your power and in whose name you gave lessons in slavery and melancholy. You did not understand that joy and freedom walk alongside true faith [...] and that religious power corrupts both religion and power. Governing a joyous, free, informed, and nimble people is an achievement, not lording over a bound and dejected nation.

I ask myself who I am writing this for? For a regime whose luck has turned? [...] And then I recall the words of God:

When some of them said: 'Why do ye preach to a people whom Allah will destroy or visit with a terrible punishment?' - said the preachers:' To discharge our duty to your Lord, and perchance they may fear Him.' (Sura 164 'The Heights')

If I once aided the evil-doers out of error or sin, I ask for your forgiveness and absolution

God, bear witness. I who have spent a lifetime longing for religion and teaching religion, distance myself from this despotic regime's oppression, and if I once aided the evil-doers out of error or sin, I ask for your forgiveness and absolution. Oh God of wisdom and virtue, accept our prayers [...] and leave not your friends in the hands of enemies.

Call the winds to tear away despotism's tabernacle and call fire to burn the roots of oppression. Call the seas to drown the pharaohs and the earth to bury the qaruns (NB According to the Koran, 'Qarun was a man from the people of Moussa, but he oppressed them.') Call the clouds and the rains that they may rain grace and justice and joy and compassion upon this persecuted people, and that this barren land of the oppressors may become the flower field of the just.

Abdolkarim Soroush

Weekend roundup

A review of the most important news of the weekend.

• Alireza Beheshti, senior member of the opposition committee looking into the abuse and deaths of protesters, was released from prison late Saturday. Beheshti was arrested at home on Tuesday after the search and closure of his offices on Monday. He is the son of iconic revolutionary figure Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, the first judiciary chief of the Islamic Republic who was assassinated in 1981. Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, visited Beheshti shortly after he was freed. The release, said to be the result of heavy backroom pressure from senior leaders, is considered a setback for the regime hard-liners. (Previous report on his arrest)
   
• Supporters began assembling outside Ayatollah Youssef Saanei's office in the holy city of Ghom on Saturday evening after he delivered a fiery speech against the regime. Congregants, gathered in a mosque on the occasion of Ghadr Night, the night of the revelation of the Koran to the Prophet Muhammed, began chanting even before leaving the premises:
  
  
  
  They subsequently demonstrated outside Saanei's office, chanting 'With God's help we will reach victory, death to this deceitful government!' 'Political prisoners must be freed!' 'Long live Mir Hossein [Mousavi], May Karroubi stand long!' and 'Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, my life only for Iran!'
  
  
  
  Ayatollah Saanei had already delivered a highly critical speech in Gorgan on August 12, in which he implied that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a 'lying bastard.' Ahmadinejad has filed a lawsuit against Saanei.
  
  
• Human rights lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah was released from prison on Sunday after posting 500 million toumans ($500,000) in bail. He had been arrested in his law office on July 8. Dadkhah is a member of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's Center for the Defense of Human Rights, and has often defended political prisoners in court.
  
  
• Five months after arriving in Tehran, British Ambassador Simon Gass finally presented his letter of appointment to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday, in a ceremony that Raja News and Fars News termed 'a humiliation for Britain.' Gass presented his letter in a joint ceremony attended by other newly-appointed ambassadors from Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and New Zealand. Ahmadinejad reportedly did not smile when addressing Gass and in response to the British ambassador's assurances that Britain did not want to interfere in the affairs of Iran, said that the Iranian people would not allow anyone to interfere anyway.
  
  
• Mamousta Borhan Aali, a Friday prayer leader in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, was shot and killed at his home. Borhan Aali was a supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and had campaigned for him during the presidential election.
  
  
• The archives of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have filed a lawsuit against arch-conservative Keyhan daily for alleging that the archives had been infiltrated by traitors. The full text of the complaint in Farsi can be read here. Keyhan daily is run by Hossein Shariatmadari, close adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his representative at the Keyhan Institute. 
  
  
• Candlelight vigils were held at Behesht Zahra cemetery for dead protesters, including Neda Agha Soltan and Sohrab Aarabi. The woman weeping at Neda's grave (the YouTube user incorrectly uses the word 'thumb' instead of tomb) is allegedly her mother and can be heard saying, 'You had so much left to say. Your eyes say so much. What were you seeking, my dear Neda?'
  
  
  
  And at Sohrab Aarabi's grave:
  
  
  
  
• Rooftop chanting was allegedly stronger than usual after Ayatollah Khamenei's bellicose Friday Prayer sermon,  according to several videos posted over the weekend: