New Iranian Law On Reconsidering Relations With Terror-Supporting States

A new law has come into force in Iran calling for reconsidering trade and economic relations with countries supporting terrorism.

The law was ratified by the guardians Council, and signed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Reports did not give the names of the countries in question.

Source: Fars, Iran, July 3, 2009

Iranian Majlis Members: Put Those Behind Rioting On Trial

One hundred Iranian Majlis members have demanded that the country's judiciary authority put those behind the rioting on trial.

Source: IRNA, Iran, July 3, 2009

Email Circulating In Iran: Protests To Mark 1999 Student Riots Anniversary

The following is an email that is circulating, and which was sent to MEMRI, on demonstrations that will be held across Iran on July 9 (18 Tir) marking the 10th anniversary of the 1999 student protests.

Under the headline "July 9 – The Day of the Death of the Corrupt regime," the email gives meeting places, naming five locations in Tehran (including one next to the Russian Embassy) and also in other cities.

500 Mourning Mothers Beaten By Iranian Police

In Declaration No. 2 of a group calling itself "The Mourning Mothers," formed by mothers of arrested and wounded demonstrators, the group states that 500 of them were beaten and dispersed by the police during a gathering in Laleh public park in Tehran on Saturday, June 27.

The Mourning Mothers call for continued demonstrations, and ask mothers to gather and protest in silence every Saturday afternoon in Tehran public parks.

The group says that they will continue their protests until their children are released or their killers are punished.

Source: khandaniha.eu, July 3, 2009

Mousavi: Ahmadinejad Gov't Illegitimate

Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi stated on his website that he considers the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be illegitimate.

He said that he intends to continue fighting the election fraud through legal channels, and through establishing an expert organization which will operate to amend election law, remove media censorship, and release all detainees.

Source: Ghalamnews, Iran, July 1 2009

Iranian Official: We Didn't Execute Mousavi Supporters

The head of the Justice Department in Mashhad, Iran, Hassan Shariati, has denied foreign news reports that six supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi were executed on June 29 for protesting over the confirmation of the election results.

Source: Fararu, Iran, July 2, 2009

Report In Russia: Financial Problem Holding Up Construction At Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Plant

The Russian company Atomstroyexport, which is constructing the nuclear reactor at Bushehr, Iran, has announced that due to financial problems, the completion of the first unit of the reactor will be delayed.

The Iranian news agency ISNA stated, citing experts, that is possible that the company will complete its work on the reactor and will announce the completion only at the end of the project.

Source: ISNA, Iran, July 1, 2009

Khatami: Hundreds Were Killed In Protests

At a meeting with the families of protestors who were arrested, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said that the electoral victory of Iranian President Mahmoud was a velvet coup against the people and against the republican nature of the regime.

He stressed that the protests would continue in other ways.

He added that hundreds had been killed in the protests, and that the protestors had not sought to topple the regime, rather to change its policy.

He said that the public's lack of confidence in the regime would increase and that the repression was playing into the hands of the enemies of the regime.

Source: Parlemannews.com, Iran, July 1, 2009

Ahmadinejad: Elections A Victory For Anti-Imperialism Front

In a meeting with Venezuela's oil minister, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Iran's election "a great victory for the anti-imperialist front."

He said that Iran's status would be strengthened and that it would now be able to handle global issues with greater determination than in the past.

He said that Iran and Venezuela would stand together until the final victory.

Source: ISNA, Iran, July 1, 2009

Jundallah: We Killed 15 IRGC Troops

The anti-regime Iranian Sunni-Balochi opposition group Jundallah said that it has killed 17 Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) troops in a battle in Iranshahr, in Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeast Iran.

Thirteen Jundallah operatives who were handed over to Iran by Pakistan are currently on trial in Iran for anti-regime activity

Source: Fars, Iran, July 1, 2009; Jundallah website, June 30, 2009

Iranian Chief Of Staff: EU Must Apologize To Us

Iranian Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff Hassan Firouzabadi has demanded that the "defeated politico-economic alliance," the EU, apologize to Iran for interfering in its affairs.

He said that if it did not, it would be disqualified from conducting dialogue with Iran.

Source: Fars, Iran, July 1, 2009

Iranian Website: Shi'ites In Saudi Arabia To Shout 'Allah Akbar' From Rooftops

The Iranian website Shia Online reported that a group of Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia today called to their coreligionists in the country to take to the rooftops starting tomorrow to shout "Allah Akbar" for half an hour, to protest against the arrest of many Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia, and to keep it up until the prisoners are released.

According to the group's manifesto, which was posted online, "calling Allah Akbar shakes the thrones of the tyrants."

Calling "Allah Akbar´ from the rooftops is a tactic widely used by those protesting over the Iran election.

Source: Shia Online, Iran, July 1, 2009

Mousavi Supporters: Ahmadinejad Government Illegitimate

In response to the Iranian Guardian Council's confirmation of the election results, candidate Mehdi Karroubi said yesterday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the senior ayatollahs had rejected all his requests to investigate the complaints that he had filed.

He promised to continue his protest and to put his life at the service of the revolution, and called the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad illegitimate.

The Mojahedin-e Enghelab-e Eslami and Mosharekat parties, and Ayatollah Taheri Esfahani, who support Mousavi, also called the government illegitimate.

Pro-Mousavi Majlis members have demanded that the candidates' complaints be transferred to Iran's Judiciary Authority, Assembly of Experts, and Majlis investigatory committee for handling.

Sources: Etemad, Iran, July 1, 2009; Norooz news, Iran, June 30, 2009; mowj.ir, Iran, June 28, 2009

U.S. Sources: We'll Continue Efforts For Dialogue With Iran; Ahmadinejad Visits Libya

U.S. sources told the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the Obama administration would continue its efforts to engage Iran in dialogue, despite the events that followed Iran's presidential election.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to visit Libya tomorrow, to participate in the African Union conference.

Sources: Mehr, Iran, June 30, 2009; Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, June 30, 2009

Iran's Guardian Council: Elections Fair And Legitimate

At the end of the extension granted by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for examining presidential candidates' complaints of election fraud and a recount of 10% of the votes, Iran's Guardian Council yesterday confirmed the results and noted that it had found no irregularities whatsoever.

Council spokesman 'Abbasali Kadkhodai said that a meeting between council representatives and candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had produced no results.

Sources; ISNA, Mehr, Press TV, Iran, June 29, 2009

In Iran, Attacks On West, CNN

In a June 27 speech to members of Iran's judiciary authority, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country would bring the heads of the U.s. and the European countries to the International Criminal Court for their interference in Iran.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the Iranian daily Kayhan, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called the British Embassy in Iran a nest of spies, and wondered why Iranian authorities were not shutting it down like they did the U.S. Embassy in 1979.

In a speech in Algiers, Majlis speaker Ali Larijani said that CNN had paid money and distributed cellphones to Iranian citizens so that they would cry in front of its cameras, thus creating a false show of pressure and force in Iran.

Sources: Kayhan, Iran, June 30, 2009; ILNA, Iran, June 29, 2009; ISNA, Iran, June 27, 2009

Iran Recalls Baku Ambassador In Response To Peres Visit To Azerbaijan

Iran has recalled its ambassador from Baku in response to the June 23, 2009 Azerbaijan visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Israeli officials.

Even prior to the visit, a group of "supporters of Palestine" in the Iranian Majlis demanded that Peres's visit to Azerbaijan be cancelled.

Sources: ISNA, Iran, June 29, 2009; Majlis website, Iran, June 23, 2009

Iranian Regime Prepares to Punish Protestors

Elements in the Iranian Interior Ministry have demanded to outlaw the pro-Mousavi Mosharekat party and religious organization Majma-e Rowhaniyun-e Mobarez (Association of Combatant Clerics).

Basij Commander Hossein Taeb said June 28, 2009 that, during the protests, rioters wearing Basij and police uniforms were arrested.

President Ahmadinejad asked the head of Iran's judicial branch, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, to punish those responsible for Neda Soltan's death.

Amir Hossein Mahdavi, a senior official in Mousavi's campaign, who was recently arrested by the authorities, stated on TV that the claim about election fraud had been cooked up in advance by Mousavi's headquarters, and that the son of Hashemi Rafsanjani had financed a pro-Mousavi website that had attacked Ahmadinejad.

Pro-Mousavi MPs said in response that the confession had been coerced using methods reminiscent of the Shah era.

Sources: Javan, Tabnak, Iran, June 29, 2009; Kayhan, ISNA, Iran, June 28, 2009; Parlamannews, Iran, June 28, 2009; ISNA, Iran, June 27, 2009

Iranian Foreign Ministry: Elections in Iran Are More Free than in the West

On June 27, 2009, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi rejected the announcement of the G8 foreign ministers denouncing the persecution of protestors in Iran.

He contended that the Western countries, which purported to be democratic, did not hold elections as free as those in Iran, and added that, if the G8 foreign ministers were really concerned about human rights issues, they would support the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza.

E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana stated that, in spite of the European countries' disapproval of the Iranian suppression of the protests, talks with Iran on its nuclear dossier must be renewed.

Source: ISNA, Iran, June 27, 2009

Rafsanjani: The Riots Are an Attempt to Harm the Regime; Iranian Daily: Britain and Dennis Ross Are Behind the Riots

Top Iranian official Hashemi Rafsanjani stated June 28, 2009 that the post-election riots were a conspiracy by clandestine forces wanting to create a rift between the Iranian people and the regime and to discredit the regime in the eyes of the people.

He condoned the extension granted by Supreme Leader Khamenei to the Guardian Council to examine the candidates' complaints, and called on the Council to resolve the matter in cooperation with the candidates.

The Iranian daily Vatan-e Emrouz, associated with the Ahmadinejad government, claimed that the British embassy in Teheran had been transformed into a venue for briefing rioters, and that its eight employees who had been arrested on June 27 had been responsible for organizing riots.

The daily also claimed that, in early June 2009, Obama's special advisor on Iran, Dennis Ross, had contacted the "forces of the riot project" and instructed them to act immediately after the elections, irrespective of the results, in order to topple the regime.

Source: ILNA, Iran, June 28, 2009; Vatan-e Emrouz, Iran, June 29, 2009

Saudi Arabia Will Participate in Islamic Solidarity Games, UAE Will Boycott Them

Hassan Mirza Aghabeik, executive secretary of the Islamic Solidarity Games slated to take place in Iran in October 2009, stated that Saudi Arabia would send a delegation of 328 athletes, and that the UAE had announced that it would boycott the games because the medals are engraved with the name "Persian Gulf" (instead of "Arabian Gulf").

Source: Khabaronline, Iran, June 29, 2009

Iran's Attempts to Stop Coverage of Protests – Like Trying to Block Out the Sun with a Sieve

Cartoonist: Amjad Rasmi

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), June 27, 2009

IAEA Director-General: Agreement between U.S., Iran Possible

IAEA Director-General Mohamed El-Baradei said that an agreement between Tehran and the U.S. administration was necessary, and that, in his assessment, it was also possible.

He added that Iran might posses the know-how and technology to manufacture a nuclear weapon, but that, in his opinion, it had no desire to do so, but only to obtain guarantees of its security and Western recognition of its interests in the Gulf and the Middle East.

Even if Iran manufactures one nuclear bomb, he stated, this will not turn it into a threatening nuclear superpower.

Source: Al-Ahram (Egypt), June 27, 2009

Iranian Attorneys Demand to Put Shirin Ebadi on Trial

A group of Iranian women attorneys demanded of Justice Minister Gholam Hossein Elham to prosecute human rights activist and Peace Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi for her "anti-constitutional" activity and for treason against the regime.

Source: Kayhan (Iran), June 27, 2009

Protestors Storm Iranian Embassy in Sweden; British Embassy Employees Arrested in Tehran

On June 26, 2009, about 150 protesters demonstrated against the events in Iran outside the Iranian embassy in Stockholm, some of whom even broke into the building.

Iran's ambassador in Iran, Rasoul Eslami, blamed the incident on the Iranian oppositionist organization Mojahedeen-e Khalq, on communist Iranian exiles and on supporters of the deposed Shah Pahlavi.

The Iranian website Asr-e Iran reports, citing the Iranian news agency Fars, that eight employees of the British embassy in Tehran have been arrested for organizing protests.

Sources: Asr-e Iran (Iran), June 28, 2009; Fars (Iran), June 27, 2009

Council Spokesman: The Recent Presidential Elections Were the Cleanest in the History of the Islamic Republic

Iranian Guardians Council Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei said that, after investigating the candidates' complaints, it transpires that there had been no election fraud, and that the recent elections had in fact been the cleanest in the history of the Islamic Republic.

In response to the suggestion of the Guardians Council to recount 10% of the votes, Mir Hossein Mousavi called to cancel the election results altogether and hold a new election, and also to form an independent mediation committee of senior ayatollahs acceptable to all sides.

Sources: Ghalamnews, Iran Daily, Kayhan (Iran), June 27, 2009

Khamenei Tears Green Stripe (Associated with Mousavi) Off Iranian Flag

Cartoonist: Jihad 'Awartani

Source: Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, June 26, 2009

What a Vote in the Iranian Elections Is Really Worth

Cartoonist: 'Abdallah Jaber

Source: Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia, June 26, 2009

Iranian Preacher: The Protests Are Targeting the Leader's Sanctity

Iranian Expediency Council member Ahmad Alam Al-Hoda, who is a mosque preacher in Mashhad and a supporter of Ahmadinejad, stated June 25, 2009 that the protests were aimed at violating the sanctity of the leadership, which derived from a connection to God.

He added that the regime had taken steps against this extremist stream even before the elections, for example by closing down a daily of a political group that had published an article titled "Hamas Is a Terrorist [Organization]; Israel Is in the Right."

Source: ISNA, Iran, June 25, 2009

Iranian Daily: BBC Correspondent Responsible for Neda Soltan's Death

Iranian media outlets quoted a report in the pro-Ahmadinejad daily Javan, which is affiliated with the IRGC, to the effect that a BBC journalist in Teheran, who has since been expelled from Iran, is responsible for the death of protester Neda Soltan.

The daily alleged that the journalist had hired a thug to kill a protester in order to film the incident.

MEMRI was not able to locate the Javan article in question.

Source: Tabnak; Khabaronline; Sarmayeh, Iran; June 26, 2009

Karroubi: Ahmadinejad's Government Is Illegitimate

In a June 23, 2009 meeting with the editorial staff of his newspaper, the reformist daily Etemad-e Meli, Mehdi Karroubi stated that he did not accept the election results and that Ahmadinejad's government was illegitimate.

He added that he had anticipated the rigging of votes in the elections, but had assumed that the large turnout would compensate for this.

He stated further that the anti-regime protests were not anti-revolutionary "Zionist ranting," as claimed by certain circles, but were simply the Iranian people demanding their rights.

Karroubi demanded to investigate how the "mafia networks" and "cancerous growths" that had managed to forge the elections had come into being.

Source: Soham News, Iran, June 24, 2009

Mousavi: I Will Not Give In; Peaceful Protests Must Continue

In a statement published June 25, 2009, Mir Hossein Mousavi stated that he had no intention of abandoning the struggle, in spite of the press campaign against him.

He reiterated his allegations about "sweeping election fraud" and persecution of the protesters, adding that those responsible for this continue to spread lies and to blame him for their own crimes.

He also accused Ahmadinejad and his followers of propelling the country towards chaos, and called on his supporters to keep their protests peaceful and within the confines of the law.

This, in order to avoid falling into the trap set by Ahmadinejad and his followers, who are trying to present this popular protest movement as unlawful and as allied with foreign elements.

A website affiliated with Mousavi's circles reports that 70 Iranian university professors were arrested after meeting with Mousavi on June 24, 2009, and have been taken to an unknown location.

Source: Ghalamnews; Iran, June 25, 2009; Kalemeh; Iran, June 24, 2009

Majlis Sports Committee Chairman: Soccer Players Won't Be Expelled

The head of the Majlis Sports Committee has denied reports that four players in Iran's national league were expelled for wearing green ribbons as a sign of support for Mir Hossein Mousavi during a game against South Korea.

Source: Press TV, Iran, June 25, 2009

Ahmadinejad to Obama: Change Before It's Too Late

In a speech today in the city of Asalouyeh in Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the American and European peoples were envious of the freedom in Iran and of the Iranian people's keen participation in elections.

He recommended to U.S. President Barack Obama to rectify his behavior, to refrain from interfering in Iran's domestic affairs, and to not repeat the disgrace of his predecessor George W. Bush.

Ahmadinejad said that despite the heavy sanctions, Iran was racking up technological and scientific achievement, and would attain the highest international status even earlier than anticipated.

Source: Mehr, Iran, June 25, 2009

Iranian Website: 70 University Professors Who Hid Mousavi Arrested

An Iranian website close to Mir Hossein Mousavi's circles reported that 70 professors from universities across the country had been arrested, after meeting yesterday with Mousavi and transferring him to an unknown location.

Source: Kalemeh, Iran, June 24, 2009

Karroubi: Ahmadinejad Government Is Illegitimate

At a June 23 meeting with the editors of his newspaper, the Etemad-e Meli daily, Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi said that he does not accept the election results, and does not see an Ahmadinejad government as legitimate.

He said that he had anticipated fraud in the election, but thought that the extensive turnout would thwart the attempts by certain circles to steal the election.

He stressed that during marches, the people were not changing slogans against the regime – rather, they were demanding their rights and the exposure of the real voting results. This, he said, was in contrast to certain circles' false claims that these were "zionist shouts" against the Islamic Revolution.

Karroubi demanded an investigation into how mob networks, which he called a "cancerous growth," had been created, and into how they had changed the fate of the elections.

Karroubi also rejected claims that the protestors had deviated from the framework of the revolution, saying that all four presidential candidates had headed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and were former regime leaders.

Source: Saham News, Iran, June 24, 2009

Mousavi: I Won't Surrender – Continue With Silent Protest

In an announcement today, Mir Hossein Mousavi said that he would not quit the battle despite the publicly funded media campaign against him in the country's newspapers, news agencies, and websites identified with Ahmadinejad.

He reiterated that the election was a "great fraud," and that those who protested against it had been attacked illegally, killed, and arrested.

Those responsible for these deeds, he said, were continuing to frame innocent people and to spread lies, and were attributing to him the deeds that they themselves had carried out.

He said that despite the accusations against him, and the threats to put him on trial, he could not for a moment ignore the threat that Ahmadinejad was posing to the regime of the Islamic Republic, or the people's need to stand fast in its demand to actualize its rights.

He accused Ahmadinejad and his supporters of dragging the country into chaos, harming the regime, and serving foreign interests, and called on his supporters to demonstrate silently and legally so as not to fall into the trap set by Ahmadinejad and his supporters who are trying to depict this social and protest movement as lawbreakers with foreign connections.

Source: Ghalamnews, Iran, June 25, 2009

Iranian Daily: BBC Correspondent Behind Killing Of Neda Soltan

The Iranian media are quoting an article in the Javan daily, which is close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and supports Ahmadinejad, as saying that the BBC's correspondent in Tehran, who was recently expelled from the country, was responsible for the killing of Neda Soltan.

According to the paper, the correspondent asked a hired thug to kill someone so he could make a documentary film.

MEMRI has searched for the article in Javan but has not found it.

Sources: Tabnak,, Khabaronline, Sarmayeh, Iran, June 25, 2009

Iranian Cleric: Protestors Trying To Eliminate Leadership's Sanctity

The prayer imam of the Iranian town of Mashhed, Ahmad Alam Al-Hoda, who is a member of the Assembly of Experts, which supports Ahmadinejad, said today that the protestors are trying to eliminate the sanctity of the leadership establishment, and that that sanctity emanates from a relationship with God.

He noted that even before the elections the regime had acted against this extremist stream, by closing the newspaper of a political group that published an article titled "Hamas is terrorist and Israel is right."

Source: ISNA, Iran, June 25, 2009

Ayatollah Montazeri: Iranian Regime's Actions Could Bring It Down

In an announcement, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri stated that the actions of the heads of the Iranian regime, who presume to rule in the name of Islam, do not reflect the religion, and are unacceptable.

He stated that the regime's repression is distancing the people from it and from Islam, and warned that the use of the military to spill the people's blood is reminiscent of the actions of the deposed Shah Pahlavi, and could lead to the regime's downfall.

He demanded that the regime heads apologize to the people and set up an objective commission to bring the issue of the elections to an end, in a way acceptable to the people.

Montazeri also told the London daily Al-Hayat that he was not ruling out relations with the U.S. if it would benefit Iran, but rejected relations with Israel.

Sources: Khandaniha.eu, June 25, 2009; Al-Hayat, London, June 24, 2009

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