Banned Tehran rally to go ahead on Saturday, wife of opposition leader Mousavi says

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

A key rally against Iran's presidential elections will go ahead on Saturday - in defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei - opposition sources say.

The wife of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and an aide to another rival candidate Mehdi Karroubi, said the rally would go ahead.

=snip=

On her page of the social networking website Facebook, Mr Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard said the rally would go ahead.

An aide to Mr Karroubi also told the BBC that an opposition rally would take place, and that it would be attended by Mr Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami - the former president, key reformist and ally of Mr Mousavi.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8110582.stm

---

Iran rally to go ahead on Saturday -Karoubi aide

Source: Reuters

TEHRAN, June 20 (Reuters) - A protest rally against a disputed presidential election will go ahead on Saturday, an aide of defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi said, a day after Iran's top authority demanded an end to such street protests.

"The demonstration plan has not been cancelled and accordingly it must be held this afternoon," said the Karoubi aide, who declined to be named. (Editing by Louise Ireland)

From: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSDAH026699

-- --- --

This is on an Iranian social networking site:

TEHRAN PROTEST CONFIRMED: Saturday June 30 4:00 PM Enghelab Sq. Tehran. Iran Please Share any which way you can.

Send me a request by private message if you want a link to it...

(I kept the BBC's "Breaking News" ticker headline in the title: http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

[MADem]

1. Here's the full details

Tehran protest rally to go ahead
A protest rally against the disputed presidential election will go ahead in Iran today, an aide of defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi said, a day after the country's top authority demanded an end to such demonstrations.

"The demonstration plan has not been cancelled and accordingly it must be held this afternoon," said the Karoubi aide, who declined to be named.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a strong warning yesterday to leaders of street protests since the June 12 vote that they would be responsible for any bloodshed.

His words appeared to hint at a future crackdown by authorities on rallies after the election, which Khamenei said was fairly won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and not rigged, as defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi alleges.

At a mass rally in Tehran on Thursday, demonstrators held banners saying they would gather again two days later at around 4pm (1130 GMT).

An ally of Mr Mousavi, Mr Ahmadinejad's main challenger in the election, said yesterday the moderate politician had not called for people to take to the streets this weekend.

But his supporters may decide to show up anyway, as they did in their tens of thousands on Tuesday despite a call by Mr Mousavi for them to stay home.

If they proceed in defiance of Khamenei's explicit warning, they risk a severe response from security forces, which have so far not tried to prevent Iran's most widespread street rallies since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Reuters

Edit to correct (thanks Doug!) Link: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0620/breaking7.htm

[dipsydoodle]

2. Severe responses always remind me of

Kent State May 4, 1970. Hopefully this won't be more so.x(

[tsuki]

4. All of this reminds me of Prague Spring, '68. nt

[dipsydoodle]

5. Indeed

But there were more deaths in Ohio.

Even todays young are aware of that due to Neil Young / CSNY. "This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio..."

[tsuki]

14. I was talking about the Dubcek-Novotny in Czechoslovakia. I was

living in Europe and it was a huge story there.

[ohio2007]

21. It's very much like Sprintime for Prague but on a fast track and shorter lived

the mullahs thugs only in it for the paycheck


btw

Google translate is detecting Farsi/Persian. not 100% accurate

http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=es#auto


دانشجويان تهران دانشگاهها را تعطيل كرده وبه سمت ميدان انقلاب كردند



Tehran University students have closed the Vbh side were Enghelab

[MADem]

41. Englehab is one of the large squares, I think it means Revolution, so that

would be the Revolution Square (renamed after Shah got the boot).

[tsuki]

79. I am watching today. I had hoped that a more peaceful settlement

would have happened, like in 1968. Khanenei is insane.

[razorman]

27. Unfortunately, I am afraid it will be.

The mullahs are not nice or tolerant people.

[OKDem08]

3. this could get ugly.... n/t

[MADem]

8. It probably will. The "mourning demonstrations" are how Shah was taken down.

There was a continuous cycle of martyrdom and demonstration, martyrdom and demonstration.

The demos just kept getting bigger.

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. Al Jazeera reports that organizers say they are going ahead - rally starts in 2 hours

Tehran's Chief of Police says they will arrest anyone taking part.

We will see.

[Turborama]

7. Al Jazeera English just broadcast this, they also said state TV is denying it n/t

[MADem]

9. Police aren't all in lockstep, lately, neither are the Army.

It's baseeji and Pasaradan who are the head knockers, and (supposedly, I have no way of verifying) about five thousand Arab imports from Hizb'ollah in Beirut who aren't shy about doing wet work.

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. well that's the question, isn't it?

will the state security apparatus continue to subordinately follow orders?

That time will tell. Even enraged people may not necessarily want to cross that line, since it would indicate that the state itself is imperil. Which maybe it is. But no one I know are prepared to bet on which way that wind will blow. Especially considering that, unlike with the Shah, the hardliners do no doubt have several million deeply loyal supporters who will fight to defend the regime. As upset as many people are with the regime, is there enough of a critical mass who are prepared to risk civil war for a most uncertain outcome? That is simply hard to say.

As one of of the Al Jazeera Iranian commentators is now saying, to directly challenge the authority of the Surpreme Leader is in effect at this point an act of war. Are they prepared to cross that line?

[MADem]

13. Will Iranians kill their own children? That's the other question.

People KNOW in their hearts that Ahmadi lost. Even the baseeji and the Pasaradan--they KNOW. They saw the debates. They saw nutty Ahmadi telling people about halos and how no one blinked when he talked, and they saw him waving that folder and making dire insinuations about Mousavi's wife. They saw. Even his soft support, the lazy status-quo-ers, went "Naaaah, this guy's a fucking loony tune."

The reason people are so ticked is because it's not like Bush-Gore. They know it wasn't a landslide--heck, they know it wasn't even close.

There will be a demonstration, so I guess it IS throw-down time. I hope Rafsanjani has his ducks in a row and enough clout with the Assmbly to crowbar Khameini outta there.

[EFerrari]

15. Whoever was charged with stealing this election did a horrible job.

Had they kept it to a few points, this would never have happened. But they took the one democratic process that most people felt they could count on and made a mockery out of it.

[MADem]

10. Confirmed from Mousavi's hanoom!

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8110582.stm?ad=1

LATEST FROM TEHRAN
Jon Leyne

The opposition leader Mir Hussein Musavi has not made the direct statement himself but his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who has played a key role in his campaign, has said on her facebook site that the rally is going ahead.

If so, this will be the most direct challenge to the authority of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A huge turnout is expected. Iran and the world will be watching to see how the Iranian security forces respond.

On her page of the social networking website Facebook, Mr Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard said the rally would go ahead.

An aide to Mr Karroubi also told the BBC that a rally would take place and that it would be attended by Mr Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami - the former president, key reformist and ally of Mr Mousavi.

But the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says events are moving quickly, with the website of Mr Mousavi's Kalameh newspaper saying he was due to make an imminent announcement.

Iranian officials have warned protest leaders not to launch fresh demonstrations.

Abbas Mohtaj - head of Iran's State Security Council and also deputy interior minister - issued a direct warning to Mr Mousavi.

"Should you provoke and call for these illegal rallies you will be responsible for the consequences," he said in a statement.

[DRoseDARs]

12. Violent crackdown and bloodbath to begin shortly thereafter...

The revolution will not be televised. It will be tweeted.

[pnorman]

16. Elsewhere on DU, a few posters were throwing water on all these street demonstrations.

They were self-proclaimed socialists, the type I usually refer to as "ultra-doctrinaire socialists". (in earlier times, I'd probably have referred to them as "crypto-stalinists"). The point they were trying to make was that Mousavi and his principal backer, had FAR from "clean hands" some years back.

Probably, but what we're looking at is a genuine MASS protest movement, quite UNLIKE that obviously contrived CIA-sponsored one in 1953! When it runs its course, it might well go far beyond Mousavi. It might even take down that theocratic structure too!

pnorman

[SkyDaddy7]

17. This is already much much more than the election results.

[pnorman]

18. That's more or less what I was trying to get at.

But I wish I had said it as tersely ax you did. As for any "socialist" here on DU, who might have taken umbrage at my comments: I've regarded myself as a socialist from my early years, but a "libertarian socialist"--- essentially a Chomsky type anarchist. But I'm also a STRONG supporter of Obama! So go figure!

pnorman

[ohio2007]

25. No matter

They will still say the current uprising is a CIA plot that mirrors the accepted election results of 1953.... stealing the presidency away from the voters

:sarcasm:




They are in it for a paycheck;


and to snuff out CIA/zionist collaborators as the "socialist" will proclaim.

[tocqueville]

19. pics from Tehran today

http://tazahorate-ma.blogspot.com/2009/06/teheran-6202009.html

[wordpix]

28. I support you, brave Iranians, for standing up to the repression. Thank you

In the face of not just the Supreme Leader but also BushCo that was longing to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, these young Iranians are showing US they are not the axis of evildoers the BushCo regime made them out to be.

[Qutzupalotl]

71. The comments of solidarity from all over the world

made me :cry:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. today is the make it or break it day.

How the people act, and how the ayatollahs react will set the future of this country.

It feels a little bit like the Baltic States leaving the USSR - happiness, worry about the army cracking down, excitement.

[tomm2thumbs]

22. When a mass of one million people rush at you, I believe those militia will then flee like pigeons

I do believe they have to move quickly and in huge numbers in order to deter their enemy. It would be like a flood of humanity cresting the hill and pouring into a valley. The psychology of the size will intimidate and drown the firepower of these scattered militia. I wish them the best.

[wordpix]

29. I just hope the Leader's army doesn't fire on the protestors

[MADem]

31. Some of what they are up against

http://tazahorate-ma.blogspot.com/2009/06/teheran-6202009.html

[woo me with science]

42. Police outnumber those protesting now.

The courage it must take to be out there now.

[tocqueville]

23. current tweets

ducman900 RT Mousavi marching with 10,000 suppoerters in Teheran #iranelection
less than 10 seconds ago from web

RejectReligion #iranelection GIVE FLOWERS TO THE SOLDIERS THEY ARE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND WILL NOT FIGHT FOREVER. MAKE SURE IT IS ALL ON VIDEO
less than 20 seconds ago from web

kacsaful RT @jimsciuttoABC #iranelection Tweets from inside Iran say rally is on and police clashing with protesters
less than 20 seconds ago from web

jonacon people move in large groups holding hands, increase safety #iranelection
less than 20 seconds ago from web


free4alln RT @EnghelabeAzadi Msg. frm the frontline: THE RALLY S DEFINITELY ON! crowd keeps growing. Getting larger than the last rally! #iranelection
less than 20 seconds ago from web

szaulo RT Iran: I've seen fascism today.Full gear riot police, para-military forces with UZIs,12yr children with battons and sprays. #IranElection
less than 20 seconds ago from TweetD

[tomm2thumbs]

24. When ants unite, they can skin a lion. IRANIAN PROVERB

[ohio2007]

34. I caught that Iranian proverb posted this morning also nt

[tocqueville]

26. clashes reported

8:28 AM ET -- "Clashes." ABC's Jim Sciutto: "Tweets from inside Iran say rally is on and police clashing with protesters."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html

[Aloha Spirit]

30. Here's a live blog

from guardian.uk blog

http://shooresh1917.blogspot.com/2009/06/minute-by-minute-with-revolution.html

[MADem]

32. There are reports of a bomb blast at the Tomb of Imam Khomeini

The question is--did the government set it off to make "the protesters" look bad, or did the protesters do it?

I think the government did it--it's the sort of ham-handed thing they would do, desecrate a tomb to make people think that the entire protest movement is full of thugs.

It's totally stupid since the two candidates who came in first and second, along with Ahmadinejad, who came in THIRD, and the guy who came in fourth, ALL CAME OUT OF THE KHOMEINI REVOLUTION.

I think Kahmeini has no fucking shame.

[wordpix]

33. suicide bomber, one dead, two injured (reports so far from al Jazeera English)

[ohio2007]

36. Anybody else remember the Iranian president bragging about having "10,000" suicide bombers ready to

defend the fatherland from invaders ?

No?

well it was posted here last year on one of those "June invasion" threads I am sure of it.

[ohio2007]

38. August 2006 article

Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’
IRAN has formed battalions of suicide bombers to strike at British and American targets if the nation’s nuclear sites are attacked. According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers are ready for action.


snip
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article706132.ece


40,000 trained suicide bombers .....

I'm sure it was all hype anyway

[MADem]

40. That Birds of a Feather pic is right on the money. nt

[MADem]

39. Wonder what terminal disease he had, and how many family he needed cared for? NT

[Aloha Spirit]

35. Agreed, remember govt reported earlier in the week they foiled bomb plots from

election day.

[ohio2007]

37. Resorting to ISI tactics to discredit the protesters imo. nt

[WestSeattle2]

44. Boy you hit the nail on the head....

Governments, ours included, are not above inciting violence to remain in power. Manipulating perception is the name of the game.

[MADem]

43. If you have a facebook, this video is DISTURBING

Vote fixing at work: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=93446532231&ref=nf

[Kajsa]

45. Did I understand this correctly?

I'm still waking up here.
Bear with me, please.

Did he cast 20+ ballots-one person?

[MADem]

46. Yes. You understood correctly.

I wonder how many people will still say "Oh, Ahmadi won."

He couldn't even win with all this cheating.

[Kajsa]

66. That is very disturbing!

Little wonder the election was thrown to Ahmadi.

:(

[MADem]

78. When you get 140 % of the vote in some areas, how can you lose? nt

[TomClash]

47. The protest had 3,000 people

I'm not sure that bodes well for the opposition. It seems the people are allergic to being killed.

[Bucky]

48. Iranian protests 'will go ahead': Protests agst Iran's disputed presidential elections will go on

Source: BBC

A key rally against Iran's presidential elections will go ahead - in defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - opposition sources say.

The wife of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and an aide to another rival candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, said the rally would go ahead.

Mr Mousavi later announced he would be making a statement imminently.

Police warned they would arrest the leaders of any protest rallies, which they said would be illegal.

The warning follows a demand from Ayatollah Khamenei on Friday that street protests should cease.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8110582.stm

---

Dig in, folks. And good luck to Iran's people

[Bucky]

49. Sky News: 'State TV: "Iran Opposition Demo Called Off" '

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Elections-State-TV-Claims-Moderate-Clerics-Call-Off-Protest-Against-Presidents-Re-Election/Article/200906315312956?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15312956_Iran_Elections%3A_State_TV_Claims_Moderate_Clerics_Call_Off_Protest_Against_Presidents_Re-Election

Iranian state TV has claimed moderate clerics have called off a planned demonstration against the re-election of the country's president

The announcement follows a demand by Iran's supreme leader to end to such protests.

And the head of the police warned the defeated pro-reform candidate Mirhossein Mousavi of "firm action" against any "illegal" demonstration.

State television said the group which planned the rally, the Combatant Clerics Assembly, will not protest as it did not have the required permission.

But an aide to Mr Mousavi said this afternoon's demo in Tehran had not been cancelled and "it must be held".

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a strong warning on Friday to the leaders of the street protests that they would be responsible for any bloodshed.

[tekisui]

52. State tv reports what it wants people to think.

Mousavi called of his rally, but the other candidates did not. We will know shortly if the people show up.

[SkyDaddy7]

50. Good Luck to the Very Brave People of Iran!!

[SkyDaddy7]

51. It is 4pm in Tehran...

I hope the SEA of GREEN is flooding the streets of Iran!!!

[ohio2007]

53. RT Aljazeera English confirms that Cell-phone service is disconnected around Enghelab Square

just one comment cherry picked from twitter

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23iranelection#search?q=%23iranelection

[tekisui]

54. Twitter saying crowds are gathering and growing.

Reportedly Mousavi(on facebook) said rally is on.

[tekisui]

55. Twitter: Tear gas and shootings. Mousavi says he is prepared to die.

Damn, twitter is addictive.

[ohio2007]

56. LOL. Thats what I said

When the MSM "Breaking News" is so last minute,
turn to crack news

lol

twitter is addictive but the videos on scene need to be released.

[tekisui]

59. Most recently, Al=Jazeera reporting smoke over the city.

And, the crowds are chanting 'Death to Khameni'.

[ohio2007]

60. bytes of live blogging (a somewhat filtered twitter info blog )

Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising
digg Huffpost - Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising stumble reddit del.ico.us ShareThis


9:01 AM ET -- "Rocks and fire." Another reliable Iranian has sent 3 messages in the last 7 minutes:

-- "HARD conflict between the people and the Special Guard. people: down with khamenee"

-- "Heavy clashes on azadi street, chants of death to khameni! The street is full of rocks and fire."

-- "Voice of shooting in Azadi street in Tehran"

For Persian speakers: a live stream of BBC Persia is here. If you see any notable coverage, please email me.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html


and if anybody stumbles on a bit of Persian/Farsi language in their travels, copy and past the text here;

http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=es#


It might be interesting to read

[tekisui]

61. Khomeini shrine has been hit with bomb, many ppl injured.

Twitter report.

[myrna minx]

57. K&R n/t

[Life Long Dem]

58. Knowing they will be arrested they are still out there.

The protesters are telling others to remove the simms from any cell phones because they'll track them.

[tekisui]

62. Photo from Tehran, about an hour ago:

http://aminmovahedipress.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post_2233.html?zx=763d57b66ea94b54

[tomm2thumbs]

63. as other noted, reading that Mousavi is giving a speech starting 'we all return to God'

from a DC based Iranian-American lawyer via HuffPo - and that European embassies are open for injured

As any news isn't 100 percent confirmed, note that - but appear to be of interest. I believe Mousavi means he has bathed ritually for martyrdom when he states he is ready to die as others have mentioned.

Also, some news translated through the new google farsi translator

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fa&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiofarda.com%2Fcontent%2FF7_Protest_continuing_Tehran%2F1758704.html

[Aloha Spirit]

65. Wow.... I was just wondering about that.Embassies pretty close and subways shut down.

[chatnoir]

74. Canadian Embassy was reportedly rejecting injured protesters

While AU was accepting, per Twitter.

[alfredo]

64. Good twitter

http://twitter.com/IranRiggedElect

[Kajsa]

68. Thanks for the link.

It's very good.

[alfredo]

82. Scary too. Andrew Sullivan's site , The Daily Dish is on the case and

doing a bang up job.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

[rhett o rick]

67. What are the Neocons saying about the situation? Cheney and Kristol? whose side they on? nm

[wordpix]

70. "bomb the evildoo-ers" no doubt. Assclowns would be sending US troops if still in charge

[rhett o rick]

72. yes but which do they see as evil doers? nm

[AntiFascist]

76. My concern also...

anyone who watched "Charlie Wilson's War" (which is about CIA Operation Cyclone) would know that the Christian Right has sided with right-wing Muslim religious extremists in the past, to the point of raising $1 billion for the likes of Osama bin Ladin in order to fight the "godless Communists".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_wilsons_war

[janx]

69. Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW3HVHGvgkE

[chatnoir]

73. Video of the girl who was shot today by Basij

Dying on camera. Graphic and horrible. :cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbdEf0QRsLM

Edit for typo

[create.peace]

80. i don't find your crying smiley at all appropriate.....

there is a shortened video of this which conveys the horror just as well as the actual death on camera.

[chatnoir]

81. Excuse me??

And what would you find "appropriate"?

Ignoring what was done?

Tell the posters at this link with similar posts that they were being 'inappropriate' according to you:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x327090

If you did not care to view the full reality of what happened you did not have to click on the link.

[Baclava]

75. It's a bloodbath

Don't open if you don't want to view extreme violence and death!


Live blogging from Tehran.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/

[chatnoir]

77. THANK YOU for that link

The world needs to see what is being done.

[Douglas Carpenter]

83. my wild guess as an admittedly amateur observer of the Middle East as to how this will play out

Certainly my opinion is nothing special. I do live and have spent several years in the Middle East, but not Iran. And I must admit Iran is certainly not my specialty.

But it seems to me that neither side are strong enough or has the political will to carry this current dispute through to a full conclusion, since that would most probably require a very painful, bloody, long and protracted civil war. Besides, the cost of pursuing an agenda of regime change would would simply be greater than what most would be willing to bare at least at this time.

The hardliners, even if they may be in the minority now, still do have millions of supporters who are convinced to a moral certainty that they are right and are prepared to fight ruthlessly to protect the regime and the hardline agenda. The forces of reform are now ignited have a purpose and a direction and also of millions of supporters who appear prepared to fight and fight hard.

It is important to remember that currently this is not a movement for regime change, but for regime reform. Even if there are a very large number of people who would like to see an end to the rule of the Mullahs, they are unlikely to pursue that agenda given that to comprise a majority they must unite with reformers who still want to maintain the Islamic Republic. One of the factors that currently empowers the movement is the support they are receiving, both directly and indirectly, from a significant number of disgruntled Mullahs. Their reasons for dissatisfaction are wide and varied. Some of their reasons are essentially personal and involve power struggles between various factions. Other reasons are about the direction they believe that Iran should be moving.

My guess is that the religious leaders in the Shiite holy city of Qom lead by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and still very influential figure who is known to be at odds with the Supreme Leaders, these religious leaders will end up essentially brokering some sort of compromise that will likely mean replacing the Supreme Leader or greatly reducing his authority. Ahmedijad will likely remain as president for the time being, but politically weakened and with reduced influence and authority. Some sort of compromise will be reached to allow both sides to back off. The opposition will probably succeed in bringing about some very significant reforms, but the system will remain firmly in place for the foreseeable future.

Then again, this is just at best a semi-educated guess.