Video roundup - Friday, 29 January 2010

• Al Jazeera presents an excellent report in English on Arash Rahmanipour, the young man hanged by the Islamic Republic Thursday morning along with Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani.
  
  
  
• CNN's Reza Sayah also reported on the executions:
  
  
  
• After weeks of being shut down, the Ghoba mosque in Shiraz was re-opened ten days ago. Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastgheib, a member of the Assembly of Experts who has voiced strong criticism of the regime, preaches at Ghoba mosque. The house of worship has continued to be a target of regime goons who have staged sit-ins and demonstrations, culminating in a particularly disruptive gathering on Wednesday night. A site set up by followers of Ayatollah Dastgheib posted a report yesterday which began, 'Last night was one of the most singular evenings at Ghoba mosque. Until yesterday and after more than ten days since Ghoba mosque in the city of Shiraz was re-opened, known individuals (who were not particularly young) linked to several armed and government groups would come to the mosque under the name of 'Young Supporters of the Leader' and would seriously disrupt operations by staying in the dormitories and chanting slogans. (For example, this group created difficulties for the studies of theological students by gathering and chanting slogans). They would provoke friction. But last night, the individuals linked to some armed bodies mustered all their forces to create what they called a grass-roots base of resistance by the name of 'the sea of the Leader' through their vigorous presence.'A few uniformed individuals can actually be seen among the troublemakers who chant, 'Death to those who oppose the velayateh faghih! (NB Principle of the guardianship of the jurisprudent, through which Khamenei derives his power)'
  
  
  
• In the lead-up to the protests planned for February 11 (NB anniversary of the 1979 revolution), this video offers comparisons between images of 1979 and 2009:
  
  
  
• Orchestral rendition of patriotic song 'Ey Iran!' sung by Roya Sabet in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan:
  
  
  
  

Karroubi softens stance? Desperate regime clutches at straws

My apologies for such a short post on a topic which has sent shockwaves through the press, but I believe that the following video goes a long way towards mitigating the importance of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi's alleged turnabout concerning the legitimacy of the presidential election and recognition of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's president.

Yesterday, the semi-official Fars News, close to the Revolutionary Guards, rushed to release the following report:

Mehdi Karroubi in an interview with Fars: 
I recognize the president elected by the Iranian people
Fars News Agency: Concerning the legality of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Karroubi said, I recognize the president

In an interview with Fars News Agency, in response to the question, Do you recognize the legal president elected by the Iranian people?, declared: I still maintain that the problems I raised apply, but with regard to your question, I must say that yes, I recognize the president.'

It is worth mentioning that Fars's supposed interview is the hasty exchange seen in the following footage which was taken at the conference of the Mardom Salari (People's Sovereignty) Party, headed by reformist Majlis representative Mostafa Kavakebian. Karroubi had just made a speech and was leaving the hall, followed by a coterie of journalists. None of the other reporters filed an article on Karroubi's alleged turnabout.

The video was released by the Bashgaheh Khabarnegaran (Journalists' Club) which is run by the political division of the Islamic Republic's radio-television. The regime therefore felt it important to distribute this video clip to support Fars's claim. To say that it is a weak endorsement is an understatement.

The Fars journalist sticks a microphone in Karroubi's face and asks, 'Do you recognize the popularly-elected president?'

Karroubi looks at the man, chuckles, and kisses him on the forehead. Then he walks away.

A column comes between Karroubi and the cameraman. At this point the ensuing conversation is inaudible. However, Karroubi can be heard uttering the word 'president.' He then turns to leave once again and the Fars journalist asks again, But do you recognize him?' Karroubi nods and continues on his way.

If Karroubi had clearly voiced his opinion on the subject during the inaudible part of the exchange, the Fars journalist would not have had to repeat the key question. In response, he got a nod.

A nod is not insignificant, but given the context, was it important enough to justify the ensuing uproar from Tehran to Berlin to Washington? You be the judge.

Close-up: Pro-regime satirical video ends with Mousavi's execution

Much of the information coming out of Iran is in the form of footage uploaded to the Internet without the benefit of any description or explanation. Each installment in the Close-up series will provide an in-depth analysis of a single video or a series of videos covering one event.

A satirical video clip released by a pro-regime blog portrays opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi as a would-be dictator supported by the West and leading fanatical mosque-burning protesters. The film ends with Mousavi's trial and execution.

Bachehayeh Ghalam (Children of the Pen), a blog which delivers a mix of fact, conspiracy theories, and disinformation in support of the legitimacy of the regime and against imperialism, posted the video entitled 'The Great Dictator' this week (film and translation at the end of this report). The site appears close to the 'pragmatic conservative faction' led by the likes of Ahmadinejad rival and Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and Majlis research center head Ahmad Tavakoli. As such, the fictional trial and execution of Mousavi appears to conform to the hardening stance of the pragmatic conservatives.

One of the latest posts on the site explains that the earthquake in Haiti was triggered by the United States using a HAARP weapon (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program). Hugo Chavez, Ahmadinejad ally and idol of some young Iranian radicals, made the same announcement last week, claiming that the Haiti earthquake was just a drill and that the ultimate target of the weapons system would be Iran:


Bachehayeh Ghalam is run by a young Iranian man who is also involved in a drive to boycott 'Zionist products.' He is linked to Majlis research center head Ahmad Tavakoli's news site, Alef. I am not divulging this person's identity because as far as I can ascertain he has exercised his right to free speech without directly calling for violence.

The well-produced clip pays more than nominal homage to Chaplin and is made to look like an old silent movie. It paints the opposition as a tool of foreign media and governments, and suggests that protesters are rioters and pushy women with no real links to Islamic values:



Video highlights:

0:00 - 0:28
Panel: 'The Great Dictator'
Footage of Mousavi on the night of the presidential election, June 12, 2009.
Panel: 'Ladies and gentlemen! The election is currently taking place...'
Panel: '...but I am the definite winner with a high proportion of the votes.'

0:29 - 0:45
Footage of BBC Persian newscast.
Panel: 'Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become president with 24 million votes.'
Footage of jubilation in the streets with the sound of cheering in the background.

0:46 - 0:58
The music becomes morose as we see footage of a round table on BBC Persian which includes Sadegh Saba, the new head of the service, and Ahmad Salamatian, former Islamic Republic foreign minister (1979) and post-revolution Majlis representative from Isfahan who has been a dissident based in Paris for over 25 years.
Panel: 'We are worried and there was definitely fraud...'
The regime has accused the foreign media of provoking the post-election unrest.

0:59 - 1:33
Mousavi with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, at his side. Rahnavard, a successful and influential intellectual, is another favorite target of the regime.
Panel: 'Iran will erupt in flames.'
Protesters, fires in the street, motorcycles ablaze...
Melancholy music as scenes of devastation are shown.

1:34 - 1:53
Barack Obama being interviewed on CBS.
Panel: 'We will support the people of Iran.'
Women demonstrate. The fact that they are wearing relatively skimpy outfits and no headscarves is a less-than-subtle way of suggesting they are loose and foreign-based.
Panel: 'Give back our vote.'

1:54 - 2:06
BBC Persian newscast.
Panel: 'Mrs. Rahnavard, what is the proof of fraud?'
Panel with laughter in the background: 'Because Mr. Mousavi is a Turk and married to a woman from Lorestan [Province].' Mousavi is from Azerbaijan Province, hence the reference to being Turkish. Rahnavard is from Lorestan Province. The opposition questioned Mousavi's low turnout in his 'home state.'

2:07 - 2:21
Footage of Mousavi's press conference.
Panel: 'I will hold firm until the end.'
Fire and destruction in the streets...

2:22 - 2:30
The show trials, including a closeup of Mohammad Ali Abtahi, close adviser to Khatami and senior member of the Association of Combatant Clerics. Abtahi, one of the most popular political bloggers in Iran, was arrested shortly after the election and is believed to have been coerced into giving a televised confession.
Panel: 'The fraud was an excuse. Everything was planned.'

2:31 - 2:37
Street protests.
Panel: 'Independence. Freedom. Iranian Republic.'
The original revolutionary slogan was 'Independence, freedom, Islamic Republic.' The new counter-slogan voiced during the post-election protests has particularly stung the regime and its supporters.

2:38 - 2:46
'Decent Iranians' being interviewed.
Panel: 'These people must be confronted with determination.'

2:47 - end
Footage of the show trials, presided by Judge Abolghassem Salavati.
Forrest-Gump-like special effect of Mousavi in prison garb and on trial.
Judge Salavati reads the verdict.
Panel: 'Mr. Mousavi will be severely punished.'
Footage of Saddam, his face pixelated, being hanged.
Panel: 'The End'

Will Tehran newspaper be banned again, this time for sexy logo?

Tehran Emrooz front page

In the midst of the Islamic Guidance Ministry's recent crackdown on the press, a hard-line weekly has attacked a national daily for its racy new logo.

Partoyeh Sokhan magazine, whose last front page headline was 'We will support the Supreme Leader until our last drop of blood,' published an article decrying what it saw as a dancing woman in Tehran Emrooz (NB Tehran Today) newspaper's redesigned logo.

offending logo

'The letters of the word Emrooz in Tehran Emrooz's logo have been changed in such a manner that they resemble a dancing woman,' the investigative weekly revealed. The magazine referred to the end of the letter R, which now resembles 'a female leg in the act of dancing,' and the ends of the letter O and Z, which have been modified to look like arms (NB The paper does not indicate whether the arms belong to a woman or a man.). The weekly wrote that other elements in the logo were questionable, but that they were 'not fit to be published.'

Tehran Emrooz daily is close to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, conservative mayor of Tehran and Ahmadinejad rival. The newspaper was banned in June 2008 for having published a special section on the third anniversary of Ahmadinejad's presidency which was deemed too insulting. The paper was only reopened in January of last year.

'We ask officials of the Islamic Guidance Ministry to address a warning to Tehran Emrouz and demand that it change its logo,' wrote Partoyeh Sokhan, which is not a satirical publication. '[The Ministry] is urged to exercise even greater attention so that other parties do not deliberately or unwittingly take similar steps.' No doubt the Islamic Guidance Ministry will soon be forming a special Rorschach brigade.

Ebrahim Nabavi, journalist and satirist, told the Voice of America, 'Because many occupations do not exist in Iran, people get pulled into other fields. For example, I believe that the person who wrote this commentary has a lot of talent for making pornographic films. Instead of writing stuff like this in Partoyeh Sokhan, he should go to California. [...] You don't even see such imagination in Boccaccio. These are rare talents. To take a letter A or a pen and to see six dancing women. [...] In other places, they get Gabriel Garcia Marquez, we have Mesbah Yazdi. (NB hard-line ayatollah and Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor).'

Readers are invited to participate in the homylafayette competition: 'What do you see in Partoyeh Sokhan's logo?' Please enter your comments below...

Case closed: Suspicious deaths of IRGC front company head and his wife not murder, says investigating magistrate

Majid Soleimanipour

Mohammad Hossein Shamlou, investigating magistrate at the 1st branch of Tehran's criminal affairs division, declared today that the mysterious deaths of a director of a holding company close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and his wife were accidental and caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Shahin Soleimanipour's lifeless body was found in her home in Tehran's exclusive Ozgol neighborhood on December 10, 2009. Her husband Majid was discovered unconscious and transferred to Shahid Chamran Hospital where he was declared dead.


View Ozgol district, Tehran in a larger map

The case would not have gained any more prominence than a short mention in the inside pages of newspapers, except for two facts. The deaths occurred at a time of heightened tension in a country known for mysterious and convenient disappearances. And, more intriguingly, Majid Soleimanipour was the managing director and member of the board of directors of the Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin company.

The consortium that Soleimanipour managed appears to have been a front company of the IRGC and had on September 27 bought a controlling stake in the Telecommunication Company of Iran for $8 billion in a purchase that was both rigged and the largest transaction in the history of the Tehran stock exchange. The operation provoked concern about the IRGC's increased ability to monitor telephone and Internet communications. Since the sale of the telecom stock was ostensibly carried out in line with the government's privatization drive, the Majlis launched a subsequent investigation in order to determine whether the company had simply been traded from one state body to another.

The consortium is made up of three companies: Tosse'eh Etemad, Shahriar Mahestan, and Iran Mobin Electronics Development Company, according to Masoumeh Taherkhani writing in Donyayeh Eghtesad. Tosse'eh Etemad and Shahriar Mahestan investment companies are directly run by the IRGC's social affairs mutual fund. Mobin Electronics belongs to the Setadeh Ejraieh Farman Emam (The Staff for the Enforcement of the Imam's Decree), a labyrinthine foundation directly under the authority of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office. (for a previous article on the telecom purchase, click here)

Davoud Zareian, Telecommunications Company of Iran spokesman, said that Soleimanipour had been working until 10 PM Wednesday evening and that the couple's dead bodies had been discovered in their bedroom. His comments were contradicted by the judiciary's official statement which said that Soleimanpour had been found in another room and that he had still exhibited a weak pulse before being taken to the hospital.

Seyed Massoud Miri, spokesman for the Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin consortium, said that the couple's son had found them on Thursday morning. In response to a question about why the son had not suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, Miri said that the son slept in another room.

Soleimanpour had close links to the IRGC. He was a senior official at Imam Hossein University, which is under the authority of the Revolutionary Guards. According to some reports, he was the acting commander of the institution. He wrote for the Imam Hossein University's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Journal, though it was not possible to confirm the claims of some sources that he was the quarterly's editor several years ago. Soleimanipour was also a senior member of the Iranian Society of Cryptology, set up by the research division of the IRGC. The ISC even issued a statement of condolence following Soleimanipour's death. The Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin consortium's public relations office states that he obtained a doctorate in computer science and information technology from a Canadian university.

Given the sensitive nature of the case, senior officials quickly became involved. A day after the bodies were discovered, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told the Islamic Republic News Agency that no signs of violence had been observed on the victims and that they had passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning. Jafari Dolatabadi said that the room containing the house's heating unit had been sealed off. 'The next of kin have not mentioned murder,' the prosecutor added helpfully, saying that the matter would be investigated.

Mohammad Hossein Shamlou

Mohammad Hossein Shamlou, investigating magistrate of the 1st branch of the Tehran criminal affairs division, was tasked with the investigation. Today Shamlou offered his findings to Fars News in a terse statement, which given the importance of the case appears both overly succinct and cavalier. 'The gas company's experts have determined that the cause of death of the late Soleimani (sic), purchaser of the telecom's stocks, was a gas leak in the evacuation pipes of the furnace room,' Shamlou said, not explaining what part of legal procedures in the Islamic Republic allows gas company experts to determine the cause of death.

'The gas company claims that the evacuation pipes are cracked in many places,' Shamlou told Fars News, apparently not having seen the cracks himself and taking the gas company's word for it.

Shamlou's powers of deduction also allowed him to conclude, 'The person responsible for the furnace room, the house's builder, and the overseeing engineer are at fault.'

Case closed.