Iran: Mixed Messages About Media
October 18th, 2010 by Anna
Reuters quoted Iran’s senior Culture Ministry official Ehsan Ghazizadeh yesterday as threatening that print media outlets will be closed if they publish information about opposition movements. Ghazizadeh, who has oversight over domestic media, reportedly said: “Those publications that publish statements and pictures of the sedition (opposition) leaders will be warned and then closed down if they continue to do so,” adding that financial support may be denied to outlets that “do not cover news related to pro-government events.”
Today, however, Radio Free Europe reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has encouraged citizens to document his upcoming trip to Qom through videos, photo, and audio recordings. His office says that it will post reports on his website. The message is in apparent contrast with previous comments by Khamenei – last October, for example, he said (Farsi) that “the media…is the most powerful weapon and it is even worse and more dangerous than the atomic bomb.”
Posted in Iran, Journalism, Technology | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: “The Ayatollahs’ Democracy: An Iranian Challenge”
October 14th, 2010 by Jason
The New America Foundation (NAF) held an event today marking the release of Hooman Majd’s new book, “The Ayatollahs’ Democracy: An Iranian Challenge.” Majd was introduced by Steve Clemons, Senior Fellow and Director of the American Strategy Program at NAF.
(To read full notes, continue below the fold or go here for pdf)
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Posted in Elections, Freedom, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Political Islam, Protests, Public Opinion, Reform, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »
Iran: More Opposition Arrests, Tensions With Clerics
October 14th, 2010 by Jason
Muhammad Sahimi writes at the Tehran Bureau that a letter critical of Supreme Leader Khamenei’s handling of political prisoners, supposedly written by Sadegh Larijani, chief of Iran’s judiciary, has been published on an opposition website. Sahimi questions the authenticity of the letter, but does not rule out the possibility that it is genuine, noting that “if a letter with the above content has actually been sent to the Supreme Leader, it would represent a historic document.” The letter contains many accusations that the Supreme Leader and regime loyalists interfered with the judiciary both before and after the elections in 2009. Sahimi highlights one accusation in particular. ” [The letter] states, Khamenei revoked the power of the judiciary the day before the election and transferred it to the SNSC (Supreme National Security Council), which is packed with his cronies. What was he anticipating that he could not trust the judiciary and had to order a transfer of power?”
In other news, Radio Free Europe reports that an Iranian blogger critical of the regime, Mehdi Khazali, has been arrested. The article notes that the arrest is particularly interesting because Khazali’s father is Ayatollah Abolghassem Khazali, a conservative cleric and supporter of the government. Radio Free Europe also reports that Ali Shakurirad, a leader of the banned Islamic Iran Participation Front, was “summoned for questioning and detained”, most likely in response to an article he wrote about Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the chief prosecuter of Iran.
Posted in Civil Society, Elections, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Judiciary, Political Parties | Comment »
Iran: Khameini Pressures the Ayatollahs
October 13th, 2010 by Jason
Writing at Tehran Bureau, Mea Cyrus reports that the Supreme Leader of Iran is making his first trip to the holy city of Qom since the controversial re-election of President Ahmadinejad. Cyrus says that the trip is notable due to the participation of some clerics in the Green Movement, including Mehdi Karroubi, and the recent steps taken by the regime to silence criticism from clerical quarters. “Khamenei is going to Qom for several important reasons, among them to show his authority and intimidate those clerics, both grand and junior, who dare to oppose him and his puppet president publicly or privately.” Cyrus points to the recent shut down of senior cleric’s websites and the centralization of control of religious endowments as areas where Khamenei is applying pressure. Cyrus also mentions the recent news that Azad University is being taken over by the government concluding, “[m]aking this announcement right before his trip to Qom is a calculated step, a warning to other clerics and a move to isolate Rafsanjani and his followers, clerical and nonclerical alike.”
Posted in Iran, Islam and Democracy, Political Islam | Comment »
Iran: Islamic Azad University Opened to State Takeover
October 12th, 2010 by Anna
Ali Akbar Dareini and Nasser Karimi of the Associated Press report that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has nullified the endowment of Iran’s largest private university, the Islamic Azad University, opening it to a state takeover. Khamenei reportedly said: “The endowment has major legal and jurisprudential problems including the legitimacy of the endowment and the competence of the university’s founders to create it.” The school was a site of opposition protests during the disputed 2009 presidential elections and was founded by ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who used the endowment to keep the institution independent.
Posted in Iran, Protests | Comment »
Workers Demonstrate, Demand Wages in Iran and Egypt
October 11th, 2010 by Anna
In southern Iran, workers went on strike at two plants to demand wages that have gone unpaid for three months. One anonymous employee said: “Our production remains at a normal level, we produce and distribute paper, but we don’t receive our salaries…I don’t know where the money is going.” The strikes occurred at Kaghaz Pars Haftapeh, a paper mill ,and a petrochemical plant in Asaluyeh. Another worker attributed the companies’ failure to pay wages to international sanctions on Iran.
In Egypt, a group of workers, labor activists and lawyers gathered outside the National Council for Human Rights and the National Council for Women yesterday, demanding their jobs back after being facing “arbitrary and punitive lay-offs” from a variety of private and public sector companies. Reporters were not allowed to attend the event. One worker, who was fired from Petrotrade in December 2009, said that he and several others were fired for their “organizational efforts.”
Posted in Egypt, Iran, Protests | Comment »
Continued Challenges to Internet Freedom
October 7th, 2010 by Jason
Repressive regimes in the Middle East continue to find ways to control the flow of information in their countries. Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that the Mutaween, or religious police, in Saudi Arabia are now monitoring “social internet networks like Facebook, Twitter, and chat rooms.” There is even a program at King Abdul Aziz University that teaches the religious police how to use the applications in order to censor them. In Libya, the government has begun removing access to url shortening sites due to the “adult-friendly” nature of one of the services. Meanwhile, the Iranian government has accused Facebook and Twitter of being “hidden enemies” that are “tools used by Western intelligence agencies in order to recruit new members and gather data on individuals.”
Posted in Civil Society, Freedom, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Technology | Comment »
Iran: Battling for Hearts and Minds Through Media
October 5th, 2010 by Jason
In a new article in the Foreign Service Journal, Robert McMahon explores the ongoing efforts of American broadcasters to reach Iranians, even as the regime expands pressure on independent media. Voice of America’s Persian News Network satellite TV station and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Radio Farda–two broadcasters funded by Congress–have been expanding their reach into social media. “The regime denounces these media efforts as a ’soft war’ waged by outside forces and has responded by mounting one of the world’s most intense censorship efforts: jamming broadcasts, blocking Web sites and infiltrating Facebook accounts,” McMahon writes. The on going diplomatic standoff between Iran and the US makes the efforts of these broadcasters even more important according to McMahon.
While the utilization of social media is a key to connecting with the young people in a country where there are “tens of thousands” of active blogs, McMahon adds that new challenges are developing in that area: “Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes in the July edition of the Journal of Democracy of a growing competition worldwide between democrats and autocrats over mastery of what has been called ‘liberation technology.’” The Iranian government has adapted by setting up pro-regime blogs and disrupting websites that they feel challenge their authority, including the websites of two prominent clerics. .
VOA and RFE/RL also face challenges from policy makers in the US who are skeptical about their effectiveness, McMahon adds. The broadcasters, however, are constantly adapting to new technologies to amplify their message to the Iranian people. McMahon ends the article by providing several recommendations: “Keep a close eye on internal developments in Iran and in the region, and vet reports to keep news stories accurate, not inflammatory, […] (s)ustain efforts to overcome jamming of core radio and TV services,” and “(p)ursue a vigorous effort to gather more and better data about how Iranians are accessing information.”
Posted in Civil Society, Freedom, Iran, Journalism, Middle Eastern Media, Technology, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »
Iran: A Call for Renewed Creativity as Pressure on Students Grows
October 4th, 2010 by Evan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Persian Service reports that the number of students in prison for activism is the “highest in decades.” Across Iran, over 73 student activists are in prison, many serving long sentences. The increasing severity of the regime’s tactics represents a significant shift in strategy, according to opposition leaders. At The Guardian’s Comment is Free, Saeed Kamali Dehghan highlights the creativity of student activists in Iran and elsewhere depicted in Steve Crawshaw and John Jackson’s new book “Small Acts of Resistance: How a Bit of Courage, Tenacity and Ingenuity Can Change the World.” Dehghan adds that the Green Movement must once again find the creativity and determination that fueled their campaign in 2009: “After a year of losses and injuries, it’s the time for the green movement in Iran to find itself again. For that, its supporters should read Crawshaw and Jackson’s book to learn how people in Poland, Afghanistan, Germany, UK and Burma as well as many others across the world have been able to ‘bring down dictatorships, change unjust laws or simply give individuals a renewed sense of their own humanity against those who deny it.’”
Posted in Civil Society, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran | Comment »
Iran: ICHRI Calls for Suspension of Judge in Derakhshan Case
September 30th, 2010 by Jason
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has called for “the immediate suspension of Judge Abolghassem Salavati…on grounds of deviation from judicial standards and procedures in this and numerous other cases.” The group also called on an appeals court to overturn the case against Hossein Derakhshan because of the use of “academic connections” to help convict him. ICHRI claims that a letter of recommendation from Gary Sick, a faculty member at Columbia University, was used by the Iranian intelligence services as evidence of “problematic connections with a hostile state.”
Derakhshan, known as the “Blogfather,” is a dual citizen of both Canada and Iran. In today’s Montreal Gazette, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon commented: “‘Mr. Derakhshan’s situation is complicated by his dual nationality, which is not recognized by Iranian authorities. Iran must release him and other dual nationals who have been unjustly detained […] We continue to strongly urge Iran to fully respect all of its human rights obligations, including freedom of expression, both in law and in practice.’”
Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Iran | Comment »
Iran: U.S. Sanctions Human Rights Abusers
September 29th, 2010 by Anna
President Obama issued an executive order today imposing financial sanctions and travel restrictions on several Iranian officials that have been accused of grave human rights abuses. Although multiple rounds of sanctions have been levied against Iran over its controversial nuclear program, this is the first time that the Obama administration has announced sanctions against the country for human rights abuses. The individuals named in the order are accused of committing human rights violations – including rape, killing, and torture – against dissidents following last year’s disputed presidential election in Iran. The commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Interior Minister, Intelligence Minister, and other security officials are singled out for sanctions. According to a White House statement, “the list of names is not exhaustive and will continue to grow.”
The sanctions come in the wake of “mounting evidence of repression,” according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Two reformist political parties were banned this week, and two newspapers were shut down. In addition, more human rights activists and authors have been sentenced to prison terms.
Posted in Civil Society, Elections, Human Rights, Iran, Political Parties, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »
Online Social Media Tools Enable a Different Kind of Activism
September 29th, 2010 by Anna
In an article for the upcoming issue of The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell examines the use of online social media tools for social activism, concluding: “[w]here activists were once defined by their causes, they are now defined by their tools.” He writes that “[w]ith Facebook and Twitter and the like, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns.”
He contends, however, that the “outsized enthusiasm for social media” has caused some to forget the true meaning of activism. Using last year’s post-election protests in Iran as an example (in which Twitter was allegedly “the medium of the movement”), Gladwell notes that this new kind of social activism is built on broad, loose ties between people, organized in a network rather than a hierarchy. Although social networks like Facebook and Twitter can increase participation in social movements, they require a lower level of commitment by activists. The network structure may make movements more resilient and adaptable, Gladwell says, but networks may not be the most effective structure for activists to challenge powerful establishments. In general, expression via diffuse social networks has less impact than the more traditional, boots-on-the-ground organizing that dominated the Civil Rights Movement, for example. Gladwell, in effect, asks readers to critically examine the real efficacy of social media tools for producing change, writing: “They are not a natural enemy of the status quo.”
Posted in Civil Society, Elections, Iran, Technology | Comment »
Iran: New Student Protests and Crackdown on Opposition Parties, Newspapers
September 28th, 2010 by Jason
Al-Arabiya reports that a series of clashes between students and Basij militia members have occurred in the northwestern city of Rasht. According to the article, there has been an “unprecedented” level of Basij presence on campuses around Iran, with members of the militia group “… prevent(ing) male students from entering the campus for wearing a short-sleeved shirt as well as female students for not covering their head properly.” This follows reports by Reuters and the BBC that Iran has banned two political parties, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahideen Organization, and closed two newspapers, Bahar Zanjan and Andishe-ye No. Both parties supported Mir Hossein Mousavi in last year’s elections and were “dissolved” by the judiciary, while the newspapers were banned for “insulting political and religious figures.”
Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Journalism, Political Parties | Comment »
Iran: Obama Calls Human Rights and Democracy “Central”
September 24th, 2010 by Anna
In an interview with BBC Persian today, President Obama spoke with Bahman Kalbasi about a range of topics. Kalbasi asked about Obama’s reaction to the Green Movement and the government’s crackdown on activists. He pointed out that many Iranians think that the United States has an “obsession with the nuclear issue as if, if that is resolved, human rights is not the big problem for America in its relations with Iran.” To this, Obama responded: “I think all of America sees human rights, basic freedoms, the freedom to speak…freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom to choose your own government, freedom from fear and abuse from government, as central to who we are, central to our values, central to our foreign policy.”
He reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to “speak our forcefully” when governments around the world oppress their own people, as well as support those who “aspire to have their voices heard” through democratic processes. Addressing the 2009 presidential elections in Iran, specifically, Obama commented that had the process been free and fair, the U.S. would have respected the results. The actual process, however, “violate[d] the norms that need to be upheld all around the world.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Elections, Human Rights, Iran, US foreign policy | Comment »
Iran: Ahmadinejad’s Visit to the US
September 22nd, 2010 by Jason
The UN General Assembly began this week in New York City and the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arrived to a flurry of media coverage. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Ahmadinejad stated that the Green Movement “must respect ‘majority rule.’”Writing in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal, Karim Sadjadpour provides a list of questions he would like to see journalists ask while the Iranian president is in the US. A sample: “One of your closest spiritual advisers, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, recently said that democracy, freedom and human rights have no place in Islamic theology. Do you agree with Mr. Yazdi?”
Update: Mohamad Bazzi has an interesting take on Ahmadinejad’s visit to the UN: “The audience Mr. Ahmadinejad is trying to reach on Thursday will not be sitting in front of him in New York.” Instead, the Iranian leader is seeking to burnish his credentials as a “pan-Islamic populist leader” in an effort to regain legitimacy lost over that last two years and reverse the growing notion that he is “just another despot.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Journalism, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Let the Swords Encircle Me: A Journey Behind the Headlines of Iran”
September 21st, 2010 by Evan
Scott Petersen presented his new book, “Let the Swords Encircle Me: A Journey Behind the Headlines of Iran,” Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program. The Carnegie Endowment’s Karim Sadjadpour gave a brief response and the subsequent question and answer session was moderated by Halah Esfandiari, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program.
(To read the full event summary, continue below. Or, click here to read the
pdf.)
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Posted in Events, Iran | Comment »
Can Islamism Be Democratic?
September 15th, 2010 by Jason
In an Atlantic article titled “When Islamism is Liberal-Democratic”, Max Fisher notes that the recent passing of a constitutional referendum in Turkey is being described in some quarters as a turn away from the country’s secular past. He asserts that it is actually a move towards liberal democracy: “Islamic rule and liberal democracy, far from mutually exclusive in the Middle East, can go hand-in-hand.” He goes on to describe Middle Eastern Islamic movements as essentially “populist” and not all that different from populist movements in the U.S. or elsewhere. As Fisher points out, Islamic governments are often more representative of the populace than secular dictatorships, promoting cooperation and trust between the government and the people. The dictatorships, which have often been supported by the U.S. in the past, often cause “…more harm than good.” He concludes by saying,” We might prefer that all governments be secular liberal democracies like our own. But if we must choose between an Islamic democracy or a secular autocracy, regional history suggests we should prefer the former every time.”
Posted in Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Freedom, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Public Opinion, Secularism, Turkey | Comment »
Iran: Clinton Says U.S. is Supporting Indigenous Democratic Forces
September 8th, 2010 by Anna
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations today that the U.S. seeks to support Iran’s indigenous “democratic forces.” She expressed the hope that the Iranian people will work to expand democratic expression in a country that Clinton said is “morphing into a military dictatorship with a … sort of religious-ideological veneer.” In response to the regime’s growing authoritarianism, she stated, “there is a great deal of ferment and activities inside that we do try to support…Democracy needs defending. The struggle to make human rights a human reality needs champions.” She seemed careful to make clear that the U.S. role in Iran is merely supportive, presumably in order to avoid the appearance that the U.S. is meddling in domestic Iranian affairs. She added: “We want to be helpful but we don’t want to get in the way of it so that’s the balance that we try to strike.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Iran, US foreign policy | Comment »
Iran: A Call to Focus on Human Rights
September 7th, 2010 by Jason
Writing at Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel, Dokhi Fassihian calls on President Obama to lead the international community in focusing attention on human rights violations in Iran: “…since the Green uprising started last summer, not a single resolution has been presented (in the U.N. Human Rights Council) by the United States or European states on the brutal repression taking place in Iran.” He goes on to explain that the U.S. ignored Iran’s human rights record because it wanted to engage the regime on nuclear issues: ”The idea of including human rights as an additional issue on the P5+1 agenda was…rejected for fear of compromising the negotiations. The lack of a strong international response served as a green light to Iran’s leaders that there would be no serious consequences for more brutality against its population.”
Evidence of ongoing Iranian human rights abuses has been prevalent of late. Lawyer and women’s rights activist Nasrine Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4th. Her husband says, “I do not know what the accusations are. But last week when the security men came to seize the hard drives of the computers the search warrant read, ‘Nasrin Sotoudeh, accused of acting against national security and collusion.’ But the search warrant did not clarify collusion with whom or which country.” Persian2English passes on a report that a young Kurdish man was beaten to death after being arrested for possession of alcohol and Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery, reportedly received 99 lashes for having her picture taken without her hair covered.
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Iran: Spotlight on Human Rights
September 2nd, 2010 by Jason
Today at the Huffington Post, Ben Cohen spotlights jailed journalist and activist Shiva Nazar Ahari who is facing the death penalty for “anti-regime propaganda”, “acts contrary to national security”, and “…mohareb ‘rebellion against God.’” Ahari has been jailed frequently since her first arrest for attending a vigil for the victims of 9/11. The charge of mohareb in the current case stems from the accusation that Ahari is a member of the MEK or Mojahedin-e-Khalq, an organization that, “…is widely loathed in Iran because of its fealty to the late, unlamented Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, during the 1980-88 Gulf war.” Ahari’s case has even attracted the notice of American politicians, including Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), who is calling for Secretary of State Clinton to publicly denounce the upcoming trial. Secretary Clinton has previously called for the release of Ashari and other jailed Iranian activists.
Update: Freedom House has released a statement demanding the release of Ahari. “The International Solidarity Committee demands that the Iranian government release Nazar Ahari immediately and drop all charges against her.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran | Comment »
