Video roundup

• 'If you build it, they will come...' Well, perhaps not. An anti-American film produced by the Basij students of Sharif University attracted something less than a crowd:
  
  
  
• Green fliers calling on protesters to join the November 4 rally flew out of a third-floor window at the northern Tehran branch of Azad University. 'It's a green wave,' says one young woman.
  
  
  
• Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri attacks Leader Ali Khamenei's legitimacy as a religious 'source of emulation' in this undated video. (translation follows)
  
  Ayatollah Montazeri:
  Let me say that getting four newspapers to launch attacks or rallying four kids in Ghom... the era of these things has passed. Even if they get the Friday prayer leaders to say something, everyone knows that these imams are in their pay. These things don't carry any weight anymore. The newspapers wrote so many things and the people just insulted them. These things must change. We have to tell Mr. Khamenei, 'Issuing religious decrees is not for you.' I've gathered 12 reasons here. We have to act on this, find a solution. What's this talk of marjaiyat? (NB The quality of being a source of emulation for Shiites) You're not on that level! I warned him about this. It was just before Ayatollah Araki's death (NB This senior cleric died in early 1994) and I sent this letter to him by way of Ayatollah Momen, and he received it. I'll just read point 7. I sent him this message and, well, he didn't want to listen.
  I wrote, 'Shiite marjaiyat has been an independent spiritual power. May this independence not be broken by your hands and may the seminaries not be placed under the yoke of the government. This is harmful for the future of Islam and Shiism. And however much your supporters strive, you will not find the scientific knowledge of the late Imam [Khomeini]. Do not allow the sanctity and spirituality of the seminaries to be mixed up with the [political] activities of the state bodies.'
  Who has the right to dispatch four kids to the seminaries to disrupt their work?! 
  'Do not allow the sanctity and spirituality of the seminaries to be mixed up with the [political] activities of the state bodies. In the interests of Islam, the seminaries, and yourself, your office should officially declare that because of your heavy workload in running the country, you cannot answer questions related to religious matters, and from now you will not respond to questions on religious matters. You should henceforth refer all such questions to the seminaries.'
  The date of this letter is the 12th of Aban (NB November 3), when they'd just taken Ayatollah Araki to the hospital. I sent this message through Ayatollah Momen. There were seven points and this was just one of them. And Ayatollah Momen told me about several of these gentlemen who had gone to see Mr. Khamenei to ask some questions. So I said, But he doesn't have any resaleh (NB collection of fatwas or religious rulings issued by a Shiite source of emulation). He said, Well, he says they're fatwas, so they're fatwas of the Imam. Isn't this weakening Shiite marjaiyat? They rallied four kids and brought them to the Association of Teachers [and Researchers of Ghom's Seminaries]. Four kids, on the night of Ayatollah Araki's death. I was in Ghom. They got them to march in the streets, there were no more than seven kids they had brought over from Tehran. They were saying, he [Khamenei] is among the [sources of emulation]. Well, without beating around the bush, he isn't on the level of a source of emulation and he doesn't have the right to issue fatwas! They've weakened Shiite marjaiyat with four Intelligence Ministry kids. These are the tragedies that we see in this country. May God preserve this country's independence.
  
  
• The country's universities continue to simmer in the days leading up to the mass rallies of November 4. The south Tehran branch of Azad University was the scene of protests on Tuesday. Students chanted, 'The Russian embassy is the den of spies' using a term that was used against the American embassy after it was raided by revolutionaries in 1979.
  
  
  
  
  
• Mostafa Kavakebian, former reformist Majlis representative from Semnan and publisher of Mardom Salari (NB 'sovereignty of the people') newspaper, sat down for an interesting debate with conservative Majlis representative from Tehran, Assadollah Badamchian. Badamchian sternly attacked the green movement, but Kavakebian wasn't about to roll over. (translation follows)
  
  
  Badamchian goes down memory lane and recounts some of the events surrounding the seizure of the American embassy in 1979, before chiding the green movement's planned slogan for November 4.
  Assadollah Badamchian:
  So what is the slogan? 'Neither eastern, nor western, a green national government.' No, a green Islamic government! Why national? [They say], because it is the day of the regime's nightmare of its own death; November 4 is a day of struggle against religious tyranny. They don't mention America or the den of spies. Why?
  
  Badamchian then faulted Mir Hossein Mousavi for declaring victory too early during a press conference on the night of June 12. Kavakebia rejoined with his own persuasive arguments.
  Mostafa Kavakebian:
  ...as for his [Badamchian's] comments about him [Mousavi] declaring that night that he was the winner... Well, Mr. Badamchian, go and look at the Islamic Republic News Agency's bulletin at 9:30 PM. It says that Mr. Ahmadinejad is the winner with 63% of the vote. (laughter) Before all the votes were counted! And that's exactly what the final count was: 63%. (applause) No, please, let's not allow this to become emotional. We want to have a debate. And when he [Mousavi] saw these announcements before the fact, he thought, I'm seeing the numbers for Tehran and the current situation, then I'm the winner. [...] Then he [Badamchian] says that the post-election demonstration was illegal. All right. What about Mr. Ahmadinejad's victory celebration in Vali Asr Square? Was that legal? He has the right to celebrate before the Guardian Council has made any announcements, but the people who have grievances should not come into the streets?
  

Journalist beaten after touching raw nerve by photgraphing banners congratulating new governor

A journalist was savagely assaulted by guards outside the provincial governor's office in Oroumiyeh last week, according to Iranian news sites and the reporter's site Zolfaghar.

Ahmad Naghizadeh, journalist, member of the Association of Young Jurists, and a spokesman for the presidential campaign of former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai, was beaten by security guards as he tried to take photos of banners congratulating Vahid Jalalzadeh on his first day as West Azerbaijan's provincial governor on Tuesday.

banner congratulating new governor

Naghizadeh was photographing the banners with his mobile telephone when he was set upon by security guards on the sidewalk, before being dragged into the governorship and kicked repeatedly as he lay on the ground, according to Asreh Iran.

Naghizadeh is a self-described Principlist, a conservative who seeks a return to the principles of the revolution, and his site is filled with religious references including a clock which measures the time since the disappearance of the Shiites' Messiah, Imam Zaman. But the Principlists have been wracked with deep divisions between supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of which is the new governor Jalalzadeh, and those of a more pragmatic wing led by Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani. 'The ringleaders and assailants in this incident sought to take revenge on this Principlist media outlet for its recent actions in seeking justice and resisting oppression,' said Naghizadeh on his news site.

banner for First VP Rahimi

The Principlist news site Alef, which is run by Majlis Research Center head Ahmad Tavakoli, another conservative critic of Ahmadinejad, recently published an article asking who was footing the bill for lavish congratulation banners and messages published in the press for First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, a bête noire of the pragmatic Principlist wing which has accused Rahimi of forging his doctoral degree. Such criticism could explain the disproportionate reaction of the governor's guards.

newspaper ad for First VP Rahimi

West Azerbaijan's medical examiner referred Naghizadeh to a specialist for damage to his middle ear, according to the reporter's blog.

Naghizadeh has registered a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office. A court dropped all charges against him on Wednesday, after the Governor's Office had filed a suit for upsetting the peace.

Regime fears patriotism: Cyrus tomb blocked as hundreds try to celebrate 'father of human rights'

Police blocked cars on their way to Pasargadae, the site of Cyrus the Great's tomb, and chased away hundreds who had convened at the complex in central Iran to celebrate Cyrus the Great Day on Thursday, according to opposition news sources.

October 29, designated as International Cyrus the Great Day, is the date the founder of the Persian Empire entered Babylon in 340 BC. His proclamation that day was inscribed on the Cyrus Cylinder, considered by some to be the world's first human rights charter.

Iranians from across the country were driving towards Persepolis and Pasargadae when their automobiles were blocked and turned around by the police on Thursday, according to Mardomak. The hundreds who had managed to make it to the mausoleum complex were chased away by security forces or blocked on the road going up to the tomb.

The following is footage (courtesy of mahastim.info and NedaSoltan Youtube channel)of some of the events that day. Security guards can be heard telling the people, 'The complex is closed.' One of the individuals tells the official, 'Someone was reading a poem about Cyrus and they took him away.'

Another person says, 'We are here for our patriotism, for Cyrus, for the human rights that find their source here.'

'I've come all the way from the Caspian Sea. Is this right?' complains one man, before another says, 'We've come from Ramsar, Abadan, from all over. We've come from all over.'

After conversing with the officials, the participants began chanting, 'We exist! We exist!' and 'Rest in peace Cyrus, we are awake!'

The crowd then shouted, 'Cyrus is our father, Iran is our homeland' and 'Long live Iran!'

They then chanted, 'Free thought is our inalienable right,' a noteworthy transformation of the regime slogan of 'Nuclear energy is our inalienable right' that had been prevalent in past years.

'Be free, oh Iran,' they shouted before embarking on a forceful rendition of the pre-revolutionary patriotic song 'Ey Iran.'

Student criticizes Khamenei at official gathering

(photos of Wednesday's event courtesy khamenei.ir)

A lone student at a gathering of the country's academic elite took the unprecedented step of criticizing Leader Ali Khamenei in his presence on Wednesday morning, according to the Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei and opposition news sites.

The young man, initially called 'a mathematics student at Sharif University and a winner at the International Mathematics Olympiad' by Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi, made his remarks after the official speakers had completed their speeches and before Khamenei was to make his address. The student has since been identified as Mahmoud Vahidnia. The gathering at Khamenei's complex in north Tehran preceded the 3rd National Conference of Young Elites.

Sharif University students news site reported that Vahidnia has been in the custody of the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards since Thursday evening. The conservative Alef web site, run by Principlist lawmaker and head of the Majlis Research Center Ahmad Tavakoli, claimed yesterday that Vahidnia was not arrested and published an interview with the Sharif University student. Whatever the truth of the matter, it is interesting to note that Alef described Vahidnia as 'a young academic elite who courageously voiced some criticisms.'

Vahidnia spoke for close to 20 minutes despite the protests of some of the spectators. As Khamenei looked on, he critiqued the state radio and television networks; the stifling security climate surrounding the press; the inability to voice criticism against the Supreme Leader; and the power structure in the country embodied by the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts, according to Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi.

The ambience at the gathering suggests that Khamenei did not expect the unscheduled speaker to voice such concerns, but that once the student had begun his criticism it would have been hard to silence him without loss of face in front of hundreds of the nation's academic elites. Khamenei has also played the part of a self-sacrificing innocent on past occasions, most famously at Tehran Friday Prayers, but his magnanimous calls of 'Well, if a few people want to attack me, let them' were always met with the wailing tears of the attendants.

Once he was at the lectern, the Sharif Univrsity student said that the previous speakers who had read from sheets of paper did not represent all the country's elites and that no one had elected them, said an individual who was present at the gathering. The eyewitness said that this first comment was greeted with applause.

Vahidnia denounced state radio-television's skewed coverage of the post-election events and the character assassination of popular figures. He reminded the participants that the head of the state media is named by the Supreme Leader. 'The radio and television networks operate under you and you name the head of the broadcaster. Either the broadcaster is acting this way according to your orders or you are not overseeing it,' said the student, according to the Voice of America. The Sharif University student also regretted the closure of opposition newspapers.

Vahidnia bluntly declared that the Leader should be open to criticism and that Khamenei's entourage had turned him into an idol, according to Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi. An eyewitness at the event reported that the young man said, 'When you, who are a father figure, treat your opponents in a certain manner, lower-level officials display the kind of behavior that everyone knows about and everyone knows about what occurred in the prisons.'

The student added that the current power structure, including the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts, is detrimental to religious democracy.

Though regime and opposition sources diverge on some of the details, the account of the events published by the Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader's personal archives, is extraordinary nonetheless.

student returns to seat'After the last person who was programmed to express his views, the participants awaited the words of the Leader of the Revolution, but he asked the master of ceremonies, "Is there anyone left among the friends who were supposed to speak?"' wrote Khamenei's office. The master of ceremonies responded, 'With your permission, every one of the thousand people here would like to talk,' to great laughter.

At this point, several students stood up and were asked to sit back down by the organizers of the ceremony. 'But the Leader pointed to one of those young people and said, "That gentleman who was standing and was forced to sit down... You go ahead,"' according to Khamenei's office.

'The young student stood up and began speaking. Since the Leader could not hear him, he came to the lectern and, after introducing himself, began his comments. His words had a different tone compared to the previous speeches.'

'Do our radio and television networks present a true picture of the world and our country, or a false and caricature-like picture?' Vahidnia asked. 'Does state radio-television allow different opinions to defend themselves? Opinions which are criticized and even attacked in this same media outlet? Does state radio-television quote individuals and describe events in an honest and fair manner?'

The student then turned to the topic of critiquing the Supreme Leader. 'I have been reading newspapers and magazines in a serious manner for four or five years. In all this time, I cannot remember reading one article which has criticized the Leadership. Critiques of the Leader can be voiced generally or expressed in particular in the Assembly of Experts,' the student said, according to Khamenei's office. 'I feel that if this does not happen, it will lead to discord and spite. For example, a simple critical observation, because it does not find the proper place to express itself, can become malicious and unfair.'

As he had been speaking for a long time, the student asked Khamenei if he could continue, according to the Leader's personal office.

But the eyewitness who was invited to the event said that the Sharif University student had been heckled by a few Basijis throughout his comments and that someone finally handed a piece of paper to Vahidnia. After reading the note, the young man turned to Khamenei and said that he had been told his time had run out and he asked to continue. The Basijis called out a prayer and told the student to 'finish it up.'

Khamenei responded however, 'I would like you to continue. Time had already run out earlier, but you go ahead.'

Vahidnia began speaking about the way security forces had confronted demonstrators after the election. 'If we had more convincing methods and did not employ violence except when necessary, would our regime not endure better? Would our people not be more united? Because I believe that true unity, more than something which is obtained through advice, is the result of the behavior of the people towards the government and the behavior of the government towards the people.'

Once the Sharif University student had finished, several individuals stood up in protest and asked to respond, according to Khamenei's web site. The eyewitness at the event said that the student was applauded enthusiastically.

'His very words show that criticism is possible,' said one participant, according to the ayatollah's office. The Leader said, 'Put this down to the lack of time and show tolerance. God willing, God will give us the capacity to understand properly, see properly, and speak properly.'

'It was now the host's turn, and everyone impatiently awaited the Agha's words or, to better describe it, his reaction,' said Khamenei's office, using the term which means sir or gentleman, and refers to the Leader. According to the eyewitness at the gathering, Khamenei appeared somewhat disconcerted and said that he had not wanted to talk about such issues and that he would have preferred to discuss scientific and academic topics.

'In these student and university events that take place here, when I see some people not express comments that they think I don't like out of regard or respect... I am upset when they are not uttered. I am absolutely not upset when they are uttered,' said Khamenei, according to his office. 'How I wish that the opportunity existed for these things to be said, so that one could bind those pages together and open the book of utterances, so that many truths could come to light.'

The Leader said that he was also dissatisfied with some of the actions of the state radio-television, but that, as ususal, he considered fairness to be the necessary condition for healthy criticism.

But in response to the student's question about the accuracy of the state media's portrayal of the country, Khamenei while agreeing with the criticism, turned it on its head and made the strange observation that, 'The picture is incomplete. There are many noteworthy and great advances that Iranian radio and television do not show. [...] If radio-television could properly reflect the truth in the country, in the same way that the television in this or that western country can portray lies as truth by employing great experience and through artistic exploitation, the young generation would have much greater devotion to its country, its religion, and the regime of the Islamic Republic.'

And Khamenei's response to the coverage of the election was equally equivocal. 'I'm dissatisfied with many of the programs of the [state radio-television.] I was not pleased that, from March and even before, there was television coverage of some of the election campaign trips, comments that were made, demonstrations that took place, and disputes that existed.' Many observers were amazed at the extraordinary openness of the media coverage of the presidential election campaign, which reached a climax with a series of unprecedented and heated debates between the candidates. Khamenei apparently regrets the lack of censorship during those few months.

As for criticism of the Supreme Leader, Khamenei said, 'I didn't say that no one should criticize me. I welcome criticism. And, of course, people do criticize. It is not the place to explain this point. There is criticism, much criticism, not a little criticism. I receive these and understand them.'

A Basiji stood up at this point and cried out that he would like to come up and kiss Khamenei's hand, said the eyewitness at the gathering. Khamenei pulled out his kerchief and left it for him, before disappearing behind the curtain at the rear of the stage. The elite had been told that Khamenei would lead a prayer at the end of the ceremony, but his hasty departure precluded that.

According to Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi, Vahidnia was confronted by intelligence agents after the ceremony.

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'Either my corpse will come out of Evin prison, or I'll be freed': Hengameh Shahidi goes on hunger strike

Hengameh Shahidi

A jailed adviser of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has gone on a hunger strike to obtain her release and protest the abusive conditions of her detention, according to Iranian media reports.

Hengameh Shahidi, a prominent journalist and women's rights activist, went on a hunger strike on Sunday evening, a day before being transferred from wing 209, the security and intelligence section of Evin prison, to the general ward. The authorities had informed her family that she would be freed on 100 million toumans bail (about $100,000) a month ago, but have gone back on their word, according to Mowjeh Sabzeh Azadi.

Shahidi was arrested on June 30. As a senior member of the Etemad Melli Party, she advised Karroubi on women's affairs during the presidential campaign.

Shahidi with Karroubi

Prison authorities have threatened to take Shahidi before Evin's disciplinary committee if she continues her hunger strike, but the Norouz news site reports that the outraged political activist told her family, 'Were the individuals who beat me in the basements of Evin prison brought before the disciplinary committee?'

Displaying the kind of psychological torture they have employed since her arrest, intelligence agents told Shahidi that she would be released on Monday. 'Two nights ago, resorting to ruses and giving promises of my release, they took me to the gates of Evin, but after I had endured severe mental pressure, the Intelligence Ministry handed me over to the normal prison authorities instead of releasing me,' Shahidi said.

Shahidi has also refused any medication since Sunday. She must take 28 pills a day to treat her heart condition and chronic depression, and her family and lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaie, are extremely concerned by this development. But according to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Shahidi said to relatives, 'This is the only way I can protest the situation I am in. Either my corpse will come out of Evin prison, or I'll be freed.'

Fariba Pajouh

Shahidi went on her first hunger strike in late August after having spent 50 days in solitary confinement. She was moved to a cell which she shared with another political prisoner, journalist Fariba Pajouh, in wing 209 on September 6. She was only allowed to walk in an outdoor yard three times a week for 20 minutes, wrote Iran Human Rights Voice.

Fellow prisoners who have since been released have said that Shahidi was subjected to intense mental and physical abuse to get her to confess to illegitimate relations. Wing 209's interrogators appear to have an abnormal prurient interest in sexual matters. Pajouh, Shahidi's cellmate, has reportedly also suffered at the hands of guards eager to get her to confess to sexual misdeeds.

Shahidi was repeatedly threatened with execution and, at least on one occasion, a noose was placed around her neck and she was told to prepare for death.

After visiting her daughter in late August, Shahidi’s mother stated, 'When I saw her, she was not fully conscious. When I pulled her into my arms and stroked her head and her back, she cried out in pain. I told her to resist and to not confess against herself. She said: "They give us pills that drain your consciousness and incapacitate your thought processes. Every day, they come into my cell repeatedly and say, We want to take you to be executed."'

Shahidi's lawyer Mohammad Mostafaie was prevented from meeting her to get her signature on an attorney-client agreement. He complained to the prosecutor in early October and was finally granted a visit. Mostafaie said on Saturday, 'Criminal charges are being brought against Ms. Shahidi and her case has been transfered to the courts.'

Azadeh Shahidi, her sister, told Norouz today that her family had been unable to have any physical contact with Hengameh for two weeks. 'Yesterday, we finally managed to talk to her through a glass screen,' she said.

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