June 2009

No Refuge

Written by a University of Tehran graduate, from first-hand accounts | 30 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] We all have our memories of late-night cramming. The lights are low everywhere;...

Why Do Arabs Not Revolt?

Photo/Stephan Geyer By RAMI G. KHOURI in Beirut The stark contrast between the street demonstrations in Iran in the past two weeks and the absence of any such popular...

'Thank You'

From Iran | 29 June 2009 I was nine and we were watching a movie on then-banned VHS. It was a harrowing tale of a woman and her daughter's...

Updates

29 June 2009 | 2:00 pm Eastern: [translated] After the 10 o'clock news, when the result of the Guardian Council's vote count was announced, the sound of Allah o...

Feminist waves in the Iranian Green Tsunami?

By GOLBARG BASHI in New York | 29 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] As pictures of women, young and old, religious and non-religious, have plastered our Internet and TV screens...

I could have settled for Michael Jackson

By M.E. Dabiri in Tehran | 28 June 2009 I say, I don't accept him as my president. I haven't accepted him for the past four years, and I...

Beheshti's Ghost

As the crackdown intensifies in Iran, the opposition is developing creative ways to fight back using the regime's own logic against it. Today, June 28, is the death anniversary...

Sunday updates

Cartoonist: Nikahang Kowsar Re "Rafsanjani breaking his silence," our political watcher, Muhammad Sahimi says, "I read what Rafsanjani said. It was not saying much. He was saying the standard...

Iran Inside Out

Pooneh Maghazehe, Hell's Puerto Rico Performance Still, DigitalC-print 2008, copyright artist and courtesy Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery. By LEILA DARABI in New York | 28 June 2009 The line...

Mousavi remains defiant

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 28 June 2009 Iran's Guardian Council -- the Constitutional body that vets the candidates and certifies the validity of the elections --...

Filmmaker Speaks Out

Bahman Farmanara: We cannot remain silent By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 27 June 2009 In a short open letter to the Iranian people, Bahman Farmanara, the distinguished...

The War of the Ayatollahs

By HANA H. in Tehran | 25 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] The fact that there is a war going on between "two senior revolutionary clerics" is not a big secret....

A View from the Frontline

Last week, a group of friends and I organized a medical team to help the wounded and injured in the streets. As we sewed up gashes and patched up...

Ahmadinejad and the Press

By JASON REZAIAN in Dubai | 25 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] Two days after the June 12 election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held a press conference for the foreign media in...

Who will lead?

Who will lead? The Experts Assembly has the power to remove Ayatollah Khamenei. By GARETH SMYTH in Beirut | 25 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] While Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini lived,...

Iran updates

25 June: From Iran (not Tehran): About an hour ago they brought in an young man in his early twenties who was severely beaten by the Basij. His CPK...

Iran's New Revolutionaries

By BABAK SARFARAZ in Tehran | 24 June 2009 For those steeped in the arcane art of Khamenei-watching, June 19 holds a special significance. On that day, after issuing...

The Assembly of Experts

Rafsanjani and the Leadership The Iranian Constitution is a roadmap in which all roads lead to the Supreme Leader. He exercises control over all branches of the government and...

The Abduction

By MICHELLE MAY in Tehran/Dubai | 24 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] The day after the Supreme Leader delivered his Friday prayer at Tehran University the streets of Tehran felt...

'The Viper of Kerman'

BOOK REVIEW: 'The Viper of Kerman', by Christian Oliver, Halban, ISBN 978-1-905559-12-1 Reviewed by Gareth Smyth [TEHRAN BUREAU] Anyone having difficulty assessing the veracity of reports from Iran --...

Leaving Tehran

By JASON REZAIAN in Dubai | 24 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] I decided to leave Iran a couple of days ago for several reasons. First of all, it was...

The Arabs' Forlorn Envy of Iranians

Broadly speaking, the Arab world has maneuvered itself into a lose-lose situation vis-a-vis developments in Iran -- despite different views of the Islamic Republic. By RAMI G. KHOURI in...

A Way Forward

Photo: Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 23 June 2003 Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered what was widely considered to be a completely polarizing...

Headlines

Photo/TehranBureau Voices from Iran [open Democracy] If my experience is any guide, Iranians outside Iran are living some of the most intense days of their lives. Since the first,...

This is not my country

Near Azadi Square, June 20, 6 p.m., Tehran. Photo/TehranBureau By HANA H. in Tehran | 23 June 2009 I am an Iranian and I love my country but what...

A Disgusting Fraud

By ROBERT DREYFUSS Gunfire, tear gas, and water cannons used by baton-wielding security forces in Iran have forced an uneasy calm on Tehran and other cities, but Mir Hossein...

Imprisoned Iranian Journalists and Politicians

*** new names offered by those posting will be added to the list even though we have not confirmed them independently. By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles Since June...

Grand Ayatollah Declares 3 Days of National Mourning

Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Declares Three Days of National Mourning By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 21 June 2009 Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the most important living cleric in...

Larijani: Between Khamenei and Kant

By MARSHA B. COHEN | 21 June 2009 Perhaps it's the same video clip being broadcast over and over again, exaggerating the significance of a particular moment caught by...

Mousavi's Defying Statement to the Iranian Nation

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 20 June 2009 In his Friday June 19 speech, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came down firmly on the side of...

Khamanei Condemns Tyranny

Quoting then (not-yet-Ayatollah) Hojatol-Islam Seyed Ali Khamanei, the current Supreme Leader at a speech in Qom: When illiteracy, poverty, hunger, injustice, and inequality have been uprooted, the Revolution has...

Mir-Hossein Mousavi 'ready for martyrdom'

Telegraph.co.uk Mir-Hossein Mousavi 'ready for martyrdom' as Iranians defy Supreme Leader Iran's By Angus McDowall Published: 6:12PM BST 20 Jun 2009 He dramatically raised the stakes in the standoff...

Gauntlet Thrown in Iran

Photo: In an apparent reference to vandalism, "We break idols, not glass." By ROBERT DREYFUSS Speaking to a government-organized throng bused in from around Tehran and as far away...

Iran Makes History Again

Protester holds up sign quoting Ayatollah Khomeini, "A nation derives its ("real," scribbled in) legitimacy from the vote of the people." Photo/via Flickr By RAMI KHOURI in Beirut |...

Rafsanjani's next move

Differences over foreign policy are central to the crisis in Tehran By GARETH SMYTH in Beirut TEHRAN BUREAU | The clearest sign of the bitter division within Iran's political...

Grand Ayatollah Rejects Election Results

Girls holding posters of Ayatollahs Beheshti, Khomeini and Montazeri at a rally in Tehran, circa 1980. Photo/ J. Javid Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri Rejects the Results of the...

The Leaders of Iran's 'Election Coup'

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders chant slogans during their meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, not pictured, in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/ISNA, Rouhollah Vahdati, File) By MUHAMMAD...

Poll Indicating Legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's Victory Called into Question

*Analysis by Sharif University alum [TEHRAN BUREAU] The only major doubt in the western media over significant fraud in Iran's presidential election came with the publication of a poll...

Why Ahmadinejad Did Not Win

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 17 June 2009 Much has been said about the outcome of the Iranian presidential election, which took place last Friday. President Mahmoud...

Another coup for the Hardliners

By MEA CYRUS in London | 12 June 2009 What happened at the polls today was sadly predictable. One strong indication right from the start was that the supreme...

1984

Two Iranian soldiers kiss before they go to battle (Iran-Iraq war). I was born in 1984, amid a devastating war that had laid waste and destruction to my country....

Iran's Power Struggle

By GARETH SMYTH in Beirut As he surveys the aftermath of the rioting in Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be assessing the crisis he faces. Referring the complaints from...

Turmoil follows silent protest

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Article 27 [Freedom of Assembly] states that "Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that...

The Recount Proposal

Mousavi's Camp Gives Cold Shoulder to Recount Proposal A hard-liner hardliner: Ayatollah Jannati (center) heads the Guardian Council. By HAMED YADEGARI in Boston | 16 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] On...

No Fools

By M. E. DABIRI in Tehran | Received June 15, 2009 (published 3 July 2009) [TEHRAN BUREAU] opinion This is an insult to one's dignity. If they had cheated...

Voter Frustration in Iranian Diaspora

Voters in London, New York, and across California are expressing concern and frustration over voting irregularities that they feel may be an orchestrated attempt to invalidate their votes. The...

Ayatollahs Protest Election Fraud

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 14 June 2009 Mir Hossein Mousavi's, the main reformist rival to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, letter to the important ayatollahs in the holy...

Sunday Iran Alerts

From Tehran: you have no idea what is going on right now! Im in Zafaranieh (Pesyan) and I can hear the uproar from Valiasr -- honking and shouting and...

Stolen Election

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 13 June 2009 Iran's rancorous presidential election took a completely unexpected turn. All indications were that Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi would win...

Mousavi Letter

In the Name of God Honorable people of Iran The reported results of the 10th Iranians residential Election are appalling. The people who witnessed the mixture of votes in long...

Iran's Green Party is Over

By AFSHIN SALIMPOUR in Tehran | 13 June Even before the earliest of the election results, word had spread that Mir Hossein Mousavi's private security team had doubled in...

Widespread Clashes in Tehran

Photo/Hamid Janipour By JASON REZAIAN in Tehran | 13 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] The polling stations had been closed a little over two hours. Although we were told that...

Spokesman: Political Coup

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 13 June 2009 In an interview, Mr. Mohsen Makhbalbaf, the distinguish movie director and spokesman for Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi, has declared...

Faulty Election Data

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 13 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] Iran's Interior Ministry has declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of yesterday's election. This has been rejected...

Alerts from Tehran

*Hour/time given U.S. Eastern (unless otherwise noted) REFRESH THIS PAGE REGULARLY from Iran sent 10:15 PM sunday june 3 Tehran-time Telephone report from my wife - They are open firing...

Baton-wielding police disperse Mousavi supporters

Photo: Vali Asr, above Abbas Abad, 13 June 2009, 4 pm, Tehran. Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:23am EDT TEHRAN (Reuters) - Police using batons moved to disperse supporters of...

The Expat Vote

Voters in London, New York, and across California are expressing concern and frustration over voting irregularities that they feel may be an orchestrated attempt to invalidate their votes. The problem...

Who Voted for Ahmadinejad?

By ROBERT DREYFUSS in Tehran | 12 June 2009 I went off in search of Ahmadinejad voters today in Tehran. They are noteasy to find. It's perfect election weather...

Why I Voted

By M.E. DABIRI in Tehran | 12 June 2009 I stood in line at 9:45 on a warm, sunny morning at the Al-Rahman Mosque, four blocks from my flat, in...

Snippets from Voters

*** This will be updated throughout the day. I just received three pieces of news from good sources in Tehran: 1. Mousavi's vote was 21 million more than AN....

The Supreme Leader's One Vote

By MEA CYRUS in London | 5 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] Back in 1997, many believe that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had made up his mind to back the...

Headlines

Headlines, Features, Reports [June 2009] Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8099115.stm Ahmadinejad defiant on 'free' Iran poll Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defended his "completely free" re-election as Iran's president, amid violent...

Retrospective

The Rise and Fall of Mohammad Khatami Part 1: Children of the Revolution [ feature ] At thirty, Ali is too young to remember the 1979 Islamic revolution. Because...

In a Different Voice

[ dispatch ] It's 3:00 a.m. A friend and I are cruising the streets of Tehran, which have turned into virtual discos. The music ranges from Persian pop to rap...

Isfahan and the Vote

A few nights ago, medics brought a few young men covered in green paint to Isfahan's Feiz Hospital. At first, doctors thought they were fanatical supporters of reformist presidential candidate...

Reaction to Rafsanjani Letter

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles In reaction to the open letter that former Iranian president and powerful politician Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani wrote to Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, several...

Isn't it Ironic

Mir Hossein, back in the day. Photo/Ghalamnews.ir Tehran | 10 June 2009 "I would like to talk to you about a lady, may I? You know her, she is...

The Mousavi Agenda

By TARA MAHTAFAR in Tehran | 10 June 2009 Mir Hossein Mousavi has dubbed his future administration 'Government of Hope' (dolat-e omid). In a nationally-broadcast interview last night, he...

Girl Power

By JASON REZAIAN in Tehran | 10 June 2009 It was to be one of Mir Hossein Mousavi's final campaign stops, a medium-size stadium in the lower half of Tehran,...

All The President's Men

Photo/Maryam Rahmanian By JASON REZAIAN in Tehran | 9 June 2009 After our press cards were checked, we were hurried through airport-style metal detectors and into a cavernous mosque. As...

Rafsanjani's Letter

From Left: Iranian President and presidential candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's former premier and reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani leave a ceremony to...

Statement of Academics

8 June 2009 By Professor Ervand Abrahamian, City University of New York | Dr Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, School of African and Oriental Studies | Professor Haleh Afshar, University of York |...

Campaign roundup

Iran's Presidential Election, Part VII: Green Human Chain around Tehran, Overtime for Ahmadinejad, and the Possible Withdrawal of Karroubi This is the author's seventh article in a series on...

Taking Command

Tehran | 8 June 2009 Tonight marked the last televised debate between Iran's presidential candidates. In this last round, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced off against another conservative, his former...

Ahmadinejad v Mousavi

Select Excerpts of Debate between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad & Mir Hossein Moussavi on Wednesday June 3rd, 2009 First Segment Comments made & issues raised by Ahmadinejad: 1) "First off, I want...

Mousavi's Masterstroke

Mousavi Strikes Back By AFSHIN SALIMPOUR in Tehran Tonight, an hour and a half of live television redefined the nature of the election campaign -- for the second time...

Open Letter: Fatwa Issued for Changing the Vote in Favor of Ahmadinejad

By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles Read letter in Farsi [TEHRAN BUREAU] In an open letter, a group of employees of Iran's Interior Ministry (which supervises the elections) warned the...

Out on the Town

What happens after the foreign journalists go to sleep? Supporters come out en masse, but not just for Mir Hossein Mousavi. Photo: Behrouz Mehri /AFP/Getty Images By JASON REZAIAN...

Vote

Reformists on the Rise

Former Iranian premier Mir Hossein Mousavi speaks during a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 9,...

Obama's Home Run in Cairo

By ROBERT DREYFUSS in Dubai | 4 June 2009 [The Nation] I watched President Obama's Cairo speech from Dubai, the sprawling and frenzied city of gold and shopping malls...

Looped and Layered

Siamak Filizadeh, Bread, Cheese & Image, 2007 By LEILA DARABI in New York | 4 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] There are two kinds of Iranian art often exhibited in...

Rallying behind their man

By AFSHIN SALIMPOUR in Tehran | 4 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] "Can we come in to see him speak?," I asked innocently. "Journalists? You have to arrange with Mr....

Election Coverage

Link to (free) high-quality videos of debates Click here In Depth: commentary & analysis | By Muhammad Sahimi Part I: the political and economical landscape in Iran. Part II:...

The ghost of elections past

By AFSHIN SALIMPOUR in Tehran | 3 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] It was a masterstroke of attack in the form of defense. In Iran's second televised presidential debate of...

Report Ties Dubious Iran Nuclear Docs to Israel

By GARETH PORTER in Washington, D.C. [IPS] 3 Jun 2009 -- A report on Iran's nuclear programme issued by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month generated news stories...

Art House

Tehran Bureau's Art House is launching soon. Please keep us apprised of any upcoming art or photography exhibit in your neighborhood. It will be included in our arts listing. Email...

Iran's Ralph Nader?

The Curious Case of Mehdi Karroubi | 3 June 2009 [TEHRAN BUREAU] Mehdi Karroubi -- the former chairman of the Iranian Parliament, an ethnic Lur and an outspoken critic...

The Virtual Iran Beat

By GOLNOUSH NIKNEJAD [NIEMAN REPORTS] The Pakistani taxi driver I have directed to the Iranian Embassy pumps his brakes as we approach the U.S. Embassy, a seven-story building that...

Nieman Reports Iran

[TEHRAN BUREAU] Q&A with Melissa Ludtke, Editor of Nieman Reports The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard was established in 1938 "to promote and elevate the standards of journalism."...

Suitcases

Suitcases Suitcases of dried limes, dried figs, pomegranate paste, parsley laid in the sun, burnt honey, sugar cubes hardened on a baking sheet. Suitcases of practical underwear, hand-washed, dried...

Blind Luck

Pictured: Iranian football star Ali Daei. From Tehran to the BBC: How I became a sports journalist. By MANI DJAZMI in London [TEHRAN BUREAU] "The first male journalist to...