For DUers still paying attention to Iran, Friday afternoon run down.

[EFerrari]

This (Thursday) article gives a good summary of responses to the situation by different nations:

(06-18) 15:53 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The Obama administration again chose caution over condemnation in its comments Thursday on the Iranian election crisis, a careful tack followed by other democratic nations anxious not to damage prospects for engaging whatever government emerges.

Around the globe, most nations called for the will of the Iranian people to be respected without overtly taking a side. Authoritarian governments made little mention of the chaos, while activists spoke more harshly of the Iranian leadership, condemning alleged vote-rigging and the heavy-handed response of security forces.

President Barack Obama and his aides have repeatedly urged Iranian authorities to allow "robust debate" between supporters of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and those of moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi. They have also urged Tehran to deal transparently with allegations of election fraud but have stopped short of endorsing protesters' complaints.

snip

At the State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley said: "This is really about the Iranians and the relationship between the Iranian people and the Iranian government. This is not about the United States."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/06/18/national/w132624D31.DTL

Here's a link to the most recent reporting in the Arab media as reported by Mosaic. The first three stories are about Iran. (I'm sorry, they don't do transcripts. Maybe something to bring up with them.):

http://www.linktv.org/mosaic

And here is Amy's segment this morning:

As Part of Crackdown on Journalists, Iranian Security Forces Detain and Beat Canadian Journalist
Mcleodfs-web

In his first public remarks after days of demonstrations, Ayatollah Khamenei denied any possibility that last week’s vote had been rigged and defended President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as the rightful winner of the election. At the same time, the Iranian government continues to arrest journalists, prominent reformists and associates of the opposition candidates, including twenty-six-year-old Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, the top strategist for presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. We speak to Toronto Globe and Mail reporter George McLeod. On Sunday, he was arrested, briefly detained, and beaten by Iranian security forces.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/19/as_part_of_crackdown_on_journalists

Audio, video and transcript at link.

Here's al Jazeera's report of the speech:

Khamenei: Vote protests must end

Thousands of people gathered to hear Khamenei's
sermon at Tehran University

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has backed the outcome of the country's presidential elections and warned protests against it must stop.

"Street actions are being done to put pressure on leaders, but we will not bow in front of them," he said in a sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University.

"I want to tell everyone these must finish."

He said that any doubts concerning the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the president after the June 12 election would be investigated through legal channels.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/2009619972652612.html

If you have any other reports to share, thanks.

[lamp_shade]

1. Thank you. I've done some monitoring, but your report has it all.

[tabatha]

2. Funny, protestes brought him into power.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

3. Thanks for the summary.

Rec'd.

I fear an outcome like the crackdown in Myanmar last year, but I am completely impressed by the strong will of the Iranian people.

[Horse with no Name]

4. I fear

that they will mow those people down in the streets. I feel great sadness to that--and the lessons to be learned here will shape the history of Democracy forever.
I still feel that we have no obligation to interfere with their election process. Our presence would be more harmful to those fighting than helpful.
Had we NOT interfered with their leadership all those years ago, things would be very different for all of us. Iran Contra, the set-up of Jimmy Carter, to name a few would not have happened. Reagan wouldn't have happened.
Shit always rolls downhill and right now, that pile is pretty oppressive.

[EFerrari]

6. I share your fear, my friend.

Imho, there has been some hype about the government action so far but, it's entirely possible that a crackdown will make those reports true in retro. :(

[EFerrari]

5. NYTS: Iran’s Ruling Cleric Warns of Bloodshed if Protests Persist

June 20, 2009
Iran’s Ruling Cleric Warns of Bloodshed if Protests Persist
By NAZILA FATHI and ALAN COWELL

TEHRAN — Taking an unequivocal stand against days of mass protests, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly warned opposition supporters on Friday to stay off the streets and raised the prospect of violence if their defiant, vast demonstrations continued.

Sharply increasing the level of confrontation, he said that opposition leaders would be “responsible for bloodshed and chaos” if they did not stop further rallies in protest of last week’s disputed presidential election. He called for all sides to halt any violence.

He denied the opposition’s accusations that the vote was rigged, praising the officially declared landslide for the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as an “epic moment that became a historic moment.” Mr. Ahmadinejad was shown in photographs listening quietly in the audience.

Rendering irrelevant one the governments’ few concessions, a partial recount under way by the powerful Guardian Council, Mr. Khamenei said: “The Islamic state would not cheat and would not betray the vote of the people. The legal mechanism for elections would not allow any cheating.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/world/middleeast/20iran.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

[EFerrari]

7. HuffPo "live blogging" compilation.

This report seems to me full of inflated claims and seems to have an agenda but, fwiw:

Nico Pitney
[e-mail] | HuffPost Reporting
Iran Election Live-Blogging (Friday June 19)

This is the archive of my Iran election live-blogging from Friday, June 19. For the latest updates, click here.

4:48 PM ET -- "All those close to Mousavi have been arrested." Via Jeremy, Mousavi's international spokesman Mohsen Makhmalbaf writes for the UK Guardian:

I have been given the ­responsibility of telling the world what is happening in Iran. The office of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who the Iranian people truly want as their leader, has asked me to do so. They have asked me to tell how Mousavi's headquarters was wrecked by plainclothes police officers. To tell how the commanders of the revolutionary guard ordered him to stay silent. To urge people to take to the streets because Mousavi could not do so directly.


All those close to Mousavi have been arrested, and his contact with the outside world has been restricted. People rely on word of mouth, because their mobile phones and the internet have been closed down. That they continue to gather shows they want something more than an election. They want freedom, and if they are not granted it we will be faced with another revolution.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/19/iran-election-live-bloggi_n_218270.html

[druidity33]

18. text was chopped by HuffPo...

the original article is here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/19/iran-election-mousavi-ahmadinejad


The author is a VERY well known and respected filmaker... he would be a likely spokesperson for Mousavi (who is an Artist after all). I see no reason in particular to doubt his statement.

Perhaps the statement lost something in translation...

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

19. Maybe I'm too cynical to live but as soon as someone says he has been chosen

to tell me the truth, a little red flag goes up. :)

[druidity33]

21. i think...

the "chosen" part is cultural. It would be presumptuous for me, as an American to ever say that, but it's acceptable (and even expected) for the representative of Mousauvi to have phrased it that way (or to have been translated that way).

Different Culture.


:shrug:

[EFerrari]

22. That's a very good point -- I was reading with my English language ears.

As a translator myself, I should know better.

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[ColbertWatcher]

9. Excellent work, thank you for posting! n/t

[EFerrari]

10. The World is Watching Obama Warns Iran (AFP)

by Stephen Collinson Stephen Collinson – 1 hr 7 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama warned Iran Friday that the "world is watching" its actions, as tensions soared in Tehran after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded an end to street protests.

Obama expressed fresh concerns about some of the "tenor" of the rhetoric coming from Tehran, hours after Khamenei said at weekly prayers that there had been no fraud in last week's disputed presidential election.

Despite assurances by top officials that Washington would not inject itself into the crisis, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to condemn "the ongoing violence" against demonstrators by the government of Iran.

"I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor -- and tone of the statements that have been made -- that the government of Iran recognize that the world is watching," Obama said in an interview with CBS News.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090619/pl_afp/iranpoliticsusobama_20090619203250

[EFerrari]

11. UN rights chief concerned about Iran arrests (AFP)

Fri Jun 19, 12:14 pm ET

GENEVA (AFP) – UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday expressed concern over a spike in arrests after Iran's contested presidential election and the use of "excessive force" to quell protests.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights warned in a statement that illegal acts by militia and security forces "could provoke a serious deterioration in the security situation."

Pillay is "concerned about reports of an increasing number of arrests, which may not be in conformity with the law, and the possible illegal use of excessive force and acts of violence by some militia members," her office said.

A spokesman for the UN rights chief, Rupert Colville, said the number of arrests of political leaders and human rights activists was "not clear", but indirect information suggested it "appears to be somewhere in the hundreds."

"There's a lack of information, especially from the provinces," he told AFP.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090619/wl_mideast_afp/iranpoliticsunrights_20090619161916

[spanone]

12. 'caution over condemnation' fucking a.....bu$h* would have done something stupid by now

[CrownPrinceBandar]

13. Thanks for keeping an eye on this!

[EFerrari]

14. Amnesty International: Iran's supreme leader condones violent police crackdown on protesters

Iran's supreme leader condones violent police crackdown on protesters

19 June 2009
Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei seems to have given the go ahead for the police to launch violent crackdowns on people who continue to protest the country's election results.

In a televised address to the nation during Friday prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei called for an end to street protests against the outcome of the election. Instead of warning security forces, including the volunteer Basij militia, to act with restraint and in accordance with the law, he said that if people continued to take to the streets, the consequences would lie with them.

"We are extremely disturbed at statements made by Ayatollah Khamenei which seem to give the green light to security forces to violently handle protesters exercising their right to demonstrate and express their views," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"If large numbers of people take to the street in protests in the next couple of days, we fear that they will face arbitrary arrest and excessive use of force, as has happened in recent days, particularly as permission for a demonstration to be held in Tehran on Saturday 20 June has been denied."

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/iran-supreme-leader-condones-violent-police-crackdown-on-protesters-20090619

[EFerrari]

15. kick

[mogster]

16. BBC to use two new sattelites for their Farsi-language service

The BBC said Friday it is using two extra satellites to broadcast its Farsi-language service after days of jamming it blamed on Iran, as several Western broadcasters seek to overcome obstacles to transmitting coverage of the country's political turmoil.

The British state-funded news organization said the move was meant to help it reach its Iranian audience as the crisis over their country's disputed election deepens. It is also a challenge to Iran's religious government, which has accused foreign broadcasters of stirring unrest, singling out the BBC in particular.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15860/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ycPgmtov

[EFerrari]

17. Thank you, mogster.

:hi:

[EFerrari]

20. Bedtime kick.