"Is a blue-collar wave of protest on its way?"

Last week I tweeted translations of a Voice of America program on the economic crisis in Iran. One of the guests, Dr. Fereydoun Khavand, economics professor at Paris's René Descartes University, cited portions of an article which warned that blue-collar protests were becoming more organized and that "if the trend continues and nothing is done to counter the fall of economic centers, a blue wave of protest, similar to the Green Wave, will be unleashed." Judging by the great number of retweets and blogs which reposted the translation, the topic struck a nerve. No less interesting was the source of the article, the Alef web site, run by Ahmad Tavakoli.


Tavakoli, a Principlist member of the legislature, is a staunch supporter of the regime and heads the Majlis Research Center. He has managed other news outlets, most prominent among them the conservative Resalat daily, which he also founded. He has a Ph.D., presumably a real one, from the University of Nottingham.


Alef web site, like the man who runs it, is a vocal critic of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies. Though Ahmadinejad is also considered a principlist (or oosoolgara - one who seeks a return to the founding principles of the revolution), Tavakoli is close to the more pragmatic wing of the movement which is led by Majlis Speaker and Ahmadinejad rival Ali Larijani.


In early August, Tavakoli stated, "Mr. Ahmadinejad, now that you have been re-elected with 25 million votes, it is time to change your past ways and show greater obedience to the law. In the recent unrest, the rights of the people were violated… at the hands of some saboteurs [rioters] and some officers. I do not mean to undermine the efforts made to maintain security and neutralize enemy plots… but the reality is that the rights of the detainees have been violated and the law has been trampled." (quote courtesy of Tehran Bureau). Tavakoli was also one of over 140 legislators, including Larijani, Deputy Majlis Speaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar, and Majlis cultural committee chairman and former Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, who did not attend Ahmadinejad's Now Rouz or New Year celebration in late March.


The following is a translation of highlights of the Alef web site article by Mohsen Mehdian, posted on August 22, and entitled 'Is a blue-collar wave of protest on its way?'

On Sunday, the workers of the Bukan textile plant discovered that their manager was back at the factory after a long absence. He was accompanied by several Bank Melli experts who were making a list of the machinery and assets to be confiscated. A number of workers immediately rushed to the plant and told the manager that they were taking control of the machinery and that the experts had to go through their picket line if they intended to make lists or confiscate anything.

In Tehran, the workers of the Dena Tire and Rubber Manufacturing Company held up signs saying: 'Incompetent director, resign, resign!' and 'Sacking 4 representatives is an insult to 2,000 employees!' The Business Court of Justice has ruled that the fired employees must be reinstated, but management has refrained from carrying out this order so far. The workers have been demonstrating daily from 6 AM to 2 PM at the factory.

On Sunday morning, the workers of Haft Tappeh's agricultural-industrial plant went on strike to obtain back pay.

The economic downturn is getting worse. The Economics Minister says that monetary policy must be reformed. The Chamber of Commerce has warned of the continuation of the crisis and its experts have said that the recent events have led to a lack of confidence in the economy. None of the 33 foreign guests invited to a seminar at Sharif University attended. These guests did not even intend to invest any money and their applause at the event would have sufficed. Experts say that Neda's funeral and the show trials are to blame.

The authorities think they can turn things around by playing with the money supply. But their policies mean that the people's purchasing power has fallen by 52%.

According to official statistics, unemployment in Tehran has risen by 3%. There are news reports of layoffs over the past month and a half: 500 at Iran Wood Panels, 900 at Long-Distance Communications Industries, 230 at the Azadi Hotel... In 500 factories, 200,000 workers have not been paid for three to 50 [sic] months.

This is natural. Iralco [aluminum works] is forced to sell its goods 700 toumans under market value, and even then, given the high price of aluminum in Iran compared to world markets, buyers are staying away. Iralco's production has slumped by 50%.

With over one million tons of sugar imports last year, 50% of sugar manufacturers are operating at a loss. Production is practically at a standstill in the other 50%.

Bank check transactions have fallen by 42% in one year. Despite this, the number of bounced checks has increased by 7.8%, an unprecedented level since the end of the Iran-Iraq War.

Reports speak of a precipitous fall in 150 companies on the stock exchange

Household appliance makers are operating at 40% capacity.

Construction in Tehran has collapsed by 60%.

Outstanding debts to banks are at 56 trillion toumans.

The number of unemployed and semi-employed is being affected by this downturn and the regular bankruptcies of factories. Workers will fall below the poverty line and will turn to the black economy in greater numbers. The blue collars will be the losers of the new situation.

Reports in the past months speak of the widespread organization of blue-collar protests. If the current trend continues and nothing is done to counter the fall of economic centers, a blue wave of protest will be unleashed.

This wave will resemble the Green Wave and may even go beyond the efforts to foment the 'soft overthrow' [of the regime]. Some may even call it Operation Ajax 3 (NB Referring to the 1953 coup in Iran which was codenamed Operation Ajax by the CIA). The green wristbands will be replaced by blue collars. This grassroots movement will be provoked by fears of not being able to afford food for one's family, formula for one's infant, rent, education for one's child, or health care for one's spouse.

Every person who becomes unemployed will take at least four others below the poverty line. Cracking down on the Blues or even organizing trials will not prevent corruption or social decay.

We must shake ourselves out of this Green trance and be more concerned about the blue roar.

"A sense of vengeance is the only thing that keeps me alive..."

The Observers is France 24's citizen journalism site. It features reports and information from the news network's trusted sources.

This video was posted yesterday.



Minou: My name is Minou. I was arrested in one of the demonstrations in the month after the election. I was jailed for about a month. I was not surprised by the punches and kicks of the plainclothesmen, but I was shaken by the insults and abuse that took place in the detention center, which I think was in the Pasdaran district (NB Northeast Tehran). I'm not ready to talk about everything yet. I've only managed to keep going with the sedatives that I take. The worse thing about prison -- beyond the food, lack of beds, turmoil, insults, interrogations at all times of the day and night, and sexual abuse -- was that they wanted me to write down the names of all the men and women with whom I had had sex.They wanted all the details. I had to make up stories and confess to them. They kept touching me and making vulgar comments about parts of my body. They would beat my backside with a baton so I would give greater details of my sexual encounters. They loved it. When I would object, they would hit me in the mouth and threaten to rape me from behind. I can't say anything about those days and nights of interrogation because it makes me feel even worse. But I know that I will write it all down some day so that everyone knows what they do to the women of this country. I hope I live until that day. A sense of vengeance is the only thing that keeps me alive.

Shirin Ebadi: "Pursuing complaints against Saeed Mortazavi is easier now"

In an interview with Rooz, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi said that the ostensible promotion of notorious Tehran Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi to the post of deputy prosecutor-general made it easier to pursue complaints against him. "This cannot be considered a promotion. Mortazavi's responsibilities and power are much more limited in his new position," She told Rooz.

The strange case of Mortazavi's sacking, then return to favor in less than 24 hours has been widely analyzed. New judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani removed Mortazavi from his post on August 29 without mentioning his transfer to any other function. Many observers believed this signaled Larijani's desire to break from the past and curtail the actions of one of the most hard-line elements of the judiciary.

Mortazavi had been the bane of Iran's journalists during his stint at the Press Court, closing dozens of publications and jailing reporters. Later as Tehran prosecutor, he had zealously prosecuted dissidents and become directly implicated in the prison death of Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi in 2003. According to Alireza Nourizadeh, director of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London, "When the late Zahra Kazemi was tortured, we obtained evidence that Jafar Nemati, deputy to Tehran Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, and a couple of interrogators, in the presence of Prosecutor Mortazavi himself, raped Kazemi." His last accomplishment was the organization of the recent show trials.

But less than a day after he was fired, Mortazavi was named deputy under the new prosecutor-general, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who had also engaged in a game of professional musical chairs, having quit or been removed as Intelligence Minister just ten days before the end of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first term.

"When Mr. Mortazavi was Tehran's prosecutor, he unfortunately committed many transgressions," Ebadi told Rooz. "Some of the people whose rights had been trampled had lodged complaints against him at the Judicial Disciplinary Court."

Ebadi said that one of Mortazavi's latest transgressions has to do with the events that took place after the election. "Two days before the election, he issued a general arrest warrant against all individuals who would take part in street unrest. How did he know that something was going to happen and that anyone would take to the streets?" Ebadi said in her interview with Rooz. "Issuing a general arrest warrant of this nature does not exist in the law."


Ebadi also faulted Mortazavi for the recent cases of prison abuse. "According to the law, the prosecutor is responsible for all the events that have taken place in Kahrizak, other illegal detention centers, and prisons. Things have gone so far that even a member of the Majlis called for his prosecution."

Ebadi said that Mortazavi would not enjoy the same responsibilities or power in his new job. "Mr. Mortazavi will be one of six deputy prosecutor-generals. He does not have absolute power and his actions will be overseen. His decisions will not directly affect the freedom or rights of individuals."

Mortazavi will not be able to impose his views on the new Tehran prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, according to Ebadi. "The law does not allow a deputy prosecutor-general to influence the work of provincial prosecutors, including the Tehran prosecutor," she said.

"Mr. Mortazavi's position, in my opinion, has been weakened," she said, "and it will be easier to pursue disciplinary complaints against him."

Saeedeh Pour-Aghai: Another case of rape and murder?

Unconfirmed reports of the rape and murder of another female protester, Saeedeh Pour-Aghai, are emerging from two sources.

Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi, an opposition news site, reports that Pour-Aghai has been buried in an anonymous grave in section 302 of Behesht Zahra cemetery. According to this news site, Pour-Aghai was arrested as she was chanting Allaho-Akbar from her rooftop in Dolat Street, Tehran. Mowjeh Sabz continues, "After 20 days, her mother identified her corpse at a cold storage facility in southern Tehran. Authorities refused to release Pour-Aghai's body to her mother. Weeks later, her family learned that her body was in section 302 of Behseht Zahra."

Norooz first broke the story of dozens of anonymous graves in section 302 of Behesht Zahra cemetery last week. Video footage and additional corroborating information has been published since.

Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi continues, "Pour-Aghai's family decided to speak out despite severe pressure to keep silent. She was savagely raped, then murdered. Her body was doused with acid to hide evidence. Pour-Aghai's family was told she had died from a severe kidney ailment."

Saeedeh Pour-Aghai's funeral service was held at Gholhak mosque, in her neighborhood, on Saturday 29 August.

Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi went on to say that new information indicates that most who were buried anonymously in section 302 were women who had been raped. This news service also claims it has learned of a mass grave near Behesht Zahra. Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi says that details of these last two points will be published on their web site after they have been confirmed.

Mowjeh Sabz's article http://tinyurl.com/krfyuu includes a leaflet with Pour-Aghai's photo from her funeral service.

Later yesterday afternoon (Aug 30), Parleman News, the web site of the Imam Line Faction of the Majlis, published a relevant note. Parleman News explained that Pour-Aghai's father died two years ago from the protracted effects of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq War. "[Martyr Abbas Pour-Aghai] had defended the honor of the Iranian nation over the 8 years of the war. He had hoped that we would defend his honor after he had passed away. He had left his wife and young daughter in our hands. What did we do?," wrote Parleman News.

The Imam Line Faction site went on to say, "Saeedeh's funeral service, if you could call it that, took place yesterday [Saturday 29 Aug]. Her mother, a few relatives, and Mir Hossein Moussavi were the only ones in that grief-ridden service. Saeedeh was neither an overthrower, nor a velveteer. She was simply chanting Allaho-Akbar until three women and two men came and took her away forever that night. Her mother sought Saeedeh unsuccessfully, until a relative close to the government guided her to an industrial cold storage facility where she embraced her child's black and frozen body. Why was there nothing left of that youthful joy and enthusiasm? Yesterday, everyone wept."

Parleman News's note can be found here http://tinyurl.com/m9dmyo

Khamenei sees threat in human sciences

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced concern that over two million Iranians study human sciences, saying that such fields encourage secularism. Khamenei made the remarks on Sunday 30 August in a speech to university heads and administrators.

Shiraz University president Mohammad Hadi Sadeghi said he would resign as soon as the new Higher Education Minister was confirmed. Sadeghi told Mehr news, "There is no proper understanding of universities in Iran. The job of running universities now encompasses too many unrelated responsibilities."

Sadeghi had already resigned from his post in June following attacks on university dormitories by security forces and vigilante groups after the election, but had accepted to return to work. Those attacks left at least seven people dead, according to the Office to Consolidate Unity student movement.