Global Voices » Fred Petrossian

Iran: Green Movement's Leaders Under House Arrest For 600 Days

Fred Petrossian — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:43:10 +0000

Here is a video film about Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, two Green Movement‘s leaders, who have been under house arrest for 600 days. Several Iranians in this video praise these two leaders’ courage.

Iran: “Offensive” Cartoon of the Prophet Joseph

Fred Petrossian — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 21:14:49 +0000

According to [fa] several bloggers and news sites,Keyhan,a conservative newspaper has published an “offensive” cartoon of the Prophet Joseph.Ardakan says [fa] there are double standards in Iran and it seems conservative Keyhan feels safe contrary to many other newspapers in the same situation.

Iran: New Video Claims Mass Protest

Fred Petrossian — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:49:50 +0000

A new video shared in YouTube claims mass protest on Wednesday,October 3, as Tehran's Bazzar went on strike.

Iran: Call for Online Action to Save A Political Prisoner

Fred Petrossian — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 09:53:24 +0000

Activists call for urgent online action to save Gholamreza Khosravi,a political prisoner,from execution in Iran.

Iran: “Leave Syria Alone, Think About Us”

Fred Petrossian — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:30:12 +0000

Security forces in Tehran on October 3, 2012, Source: Greencity

No shops were open in Tehran's Grand Bazaar on Thursday, October 4, 2012, one day after shopkeepers and merchants went on strike to protest against the free fall of the national currency on Wednesday. Iranian netizens published several videos of Wednesday's protest gatherings, the presence of security forces in the Bazaar areas, and closed shops. Kalmeh, an opposition website reports that several protesters were arrested on Wednesday.

“Leave Syria alone, think about us instead”

People chanted “Leave Syria alone, think about us instead” in Toopkhone Square in Tehran. The Iranian State has declared several times that it supports the Syrian regime, and recent news reports have said Iran transferred $10 billion dollars to Syria. This is provocative news at a time when Iranian citizens are suffering the effects of a deep financial crisis spurred on by international sanctions against Iran.

Security forces in Tehran's Bazaar

“Dollar must go down”

Will Iran's Regime Collapse Along with its Currency?

Fred Petrossian — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:48:56 +0000

The Iranian rial hit a record low on Tuesday October 2, 2012, yet Iranian authorities appear confused and powerless face to this financial tsunami. Sanctions are being blamed for the national currency's drop to 34,500 rials against the United States dollar. Only a few days earlier, on Sunday, it was 29,500 rials to the dollar.

Iranian lawmakers have signed a petition to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to parliament for questioning over the rapid drop in value of the country’s currency.

Meanwhile, the president of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Yahya Al Eshagh, compared financial crisis to a war and said “a missile had hit currency square.” In turn, the Iranian president defended his government's economic policies, claiming the country's enemies were waging “psychological warfare” against Iran.

On Wednesday, October 3, Tehran's Bazaar went on strike as merchants and shopkeepers protested the free fall of the currency.

Ahmadinejad denied the rise of the dollar

Several netizens shared Ahmadineajd's interview from September 2012, calling predications that the dollar would rise to 30,000 rials, just an example of psychological warfare.

Will the regime collapse?

Iranian blogger Azark says [fa]:

The rial continues depreciate in value compared to foreign currencies, hour by hour, an unprecedented crisis… One faction within parliament accuses Ahmadinejad of being involved in this crisis, while the government's officials, without presenting any proof or evidence, accuse a group of mafia in the country to be responsible of the sharp decline of rial. Iran's Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and his office have been silent on this topic. Most analysts consider that sanctions against Iran's nuclear program led to this crisis… in a country where many workers are jobless and several protest just to get their salary paid. Poverty is growing in society, can we anticipate that the rial's downfall can make the Islamic Republic collapse?

Darzarehbin writes [fa] with irony that in 40 years we will have this piece of news: “Iranian central bank invites people to exchange one dollar to 30 billion rials”.

The blogger also writes [fa]:

I hope the currency crisis is solved soon, if this situation persists it can really hurt society… Iranian leaders only pay attention to citizens when there is an election… Iranians are powerless to change their destiny and the opposition is absent. Dark days are ahead of us and everything may collapse. I hope I am wrong.

Greencity writes [fa]:

Iranian people, you are so patient. Know that if this situation happened elsewhere, people would protest and the authorities would resign.

Meanwhole Iranians struggle more and more in their daily life as the rial sinks for sanctions. It seems Iranians have become serial victims of the regime's repression and the sanctions of world powers.

Tehran's Bazaar Goes on Strike as Iran's Currency Collapses

Fred Petrossian — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:30:58 +0000

Strike in Tehran's Bazaar, Source: Green City

Baztab, an Iran-based website, reports that Tehran's Bazaar went on strike on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 as merchants and shopkeepers protest against the free fall of the national currency. The Iranian rial hit an all-time low against the US dollar on Tuesday, as one dollar exchanged to about 34,000 rials. According to Baztab, the Iranian regime tried to counteract the rise of foreign currencies by filtering websites announcing the exchange rates, such as Mazane.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters on October 3, that the slump was the result of the “temporary problem” of the international embargo on importing Iranian oil.

Protests back on the streets

A video on YouTube shows “shopkeepers are on strike at the Bazaar in Tehran”:

Here is a protest gathering in Tehran:

Iranian blogger Sedaiazad writes that according to the news coming from Iran, people gathered in Toopkhoneh Square in Tehran and broke vitrines of several stores.

Protest and strike in Tehran's Bazaar source: Green City

Bayandeandishe writes that protesters clashed with security forces in Istanbul Square in Tehran, and that they moved towards Ferdowsi Square in the center of Tehran. Protesters chanted “Down with Syria!”.

This slogan is most likely inspired by the fact that many Iranians blame the Iranian government for (allegedly) supporting the Syrian regime financially at a moment when their own country is in need of cash. Also, it may be a less direct way of criticizing the Iranian government which does not tolerate dissent.

Xcalibur says family members who work at the Bazaar informed him about the strike and the people chanting slogans. So far security forces did not intervene.

Iran: Gmail Gets Unblocked

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:54:12 +0000

Iran removed online blocks on Gmail on Monday. The secure-protocol HTTPS version of Google search was also made accessible after being blocked at the same time. The unsecure HTTP version of Google search was never blocked.

Iran: Alternatives to Google and Gmail

Fred Petrossian — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 09:41:28 +0000

Deputy Telecommunications Minister, Ali Hakim Javadi said to Mehrnews he hoped to launch the Fakhr search engine and Fajr e-mail as alternatives to Google and Gmail in the near future.

Iran: President Ahmadinejad's Men in Trouble

Fred Petrossian — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:14:49 +0000

Havaar, source:facebook.com/HavaarForJustice

While Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the U.N. General Assembly on September 26, 2012, that he has a vision for a new world order that would be absent of the “hegemony of arrogance”, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, his press adviser was arrested in Iran, and Ramin Mehmanparast, the foreign ministry spokesperson, was attacked in New York.

Ali Akbar Javanfekr Source: Sahamnews

In November 2011, an Iranian court convicted Javanfekr, who headed the governmental IRAN Magazine, of “publishing materials contrary to Islamic norms,” and also banned him from journalism activities for three years.

The charges against him included insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran. Javanfker appealed the case and has been under pressuresince then. His office has also been attacked by security forces. Now he is in prison.

Javanfekr used to blog too, and would comment on the political rivalry in Iran. Last November, he wrote about his problems in his blog, Shahed:

… People ask themselves, how is it that Javanfker who never had any file in the judiciary system [faced no trials in court], has 15 files against him in country's judiciary system, the moment he is appointed as head of the Iran institution?

New York, not safe for Ahmadinejad's men

Meanwhile, a group of protesters confronted Iranian Deputy Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast near the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, September 26. New York policemen escorted him to safety. Protesters punched him and spit on his face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew1voX0wnew

And here:

On Balatarin, a link sharing site, users have linked a photo from The Wall Street Journal, writing “you can see fear in Mehmanpart's eyes”.

Darzarehbin writes that spitting on somebody's face or punching them is dishonorable even if the guy is Mehmanparast.

The blogger Farvartish Rezvanieh writes [fa]:

…the group that attacked Mehmanparast are Mujahedin of People‘s supporters who try to present themselves as “New York based angry Iranians.”

Demonstrations

In recent days, Iranians in New York protested against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and human rights abuses in Iran.

Havaar, an Iranian initiative against war, sanctions and government repression, protested in New York. Havaar used an illuminator to “occupy” walls in Manhattan and displayed political prisoners’ photos (above).

Mean time Mujahedin of People organized several demonstrations in New York.

Iran: Eight Years of Deception

Fred Petrossian — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:46:21 +0000

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has released a short video “demonstrating and highlighting systematic cover-ups accompanying the marked rise in human rights violations over the eight years of his presidency”.

(more…)

Iran Blocks Access to Google and Gmail

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:02:38 +0000

The Iranian regime has been an enemy to freedom of speech for decades but on Sunday, September 23, 2012, they still surprised many by announcing that they would begin filtering Google and Gmail in the next hours.

An Iranian official, Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, said this was due [fa] to a request by the public to oppose an anti-Islam film on YouTube that many see as blasphemous (Google owns YouTube). Khoramabadi is a key member of a “Commission to Determine Instances of Criminal Content”.

Meanwhile some speculate that the true reason for blocking Google has more to do with promoting the so called Iranian “national Internet” which was supposed to become operational on 22 September, but has so far not appeared.

Internet Freedom Project on Facebook" src="http://globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/google1.jpg" alt="Cartoon by Mana Neyestani. Source: Internet Freedom Project on Facebook" width="282" height="282" />

Cartoon by Mana Neyestani. Source: Internet Freedom Project on Facebook

Global Voices contacted several Iranians in different cities including Tehran, Shiraz and Qom. Almost all say they have no access to Gmail. A number of them are also unable to access Google search.

Arash Abadpour, a Canada-based Iranian blogger and computer scientist explained the situation to Global Voices as following:

Cutting off access to Google Search essentially pushes a significantly larger population towards looking for ways to be able to get around the filtering regime. A result of this process is not necessarily a “better” or “more free” Internet, but, nevertheless, the current course of action is not going to help the Iranian establishment either. They are pushing people towards a more vigilant approach to the Internet. They are telling people “go learn how to use a VPN”, and I foresee that being exactly what is going to happen.

A Facebook campaign has launched to call for Internet freedom and the right to access Google. Mana Neyestani's cartoon (right) on Google being filtered is eye-catching on this Facebook page.

Several Iranian netizens also tweeted about the filtering with irony. Behran Tajdin tweeted [fa]:

@Behrang: This “public” who requested Google filtering, did they not have gmail accounts? If they had, what do they use them for?

Saye Roshan tweeted [fa]:

@sayeeeeh: We blocked Gmail and Google, we brought up the rate for the dollar, I doubt we can make life harder for the USA with these actions.

In reality the primary victim in this decision is not Google, but the freedom of Iranians. It seems even virtual freedoms are too much for the Islamic regime.

Iran: New Wave of Repression Against Bloggers

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:29:27 +0000

Iranian bloggers are facing a new wave of repression as more of them are being jailed, and in one case a blogger's wife was beaten by security forces. It seems the regime is raising its own standards for brutality.

A life in danger

Several news sites reported [fa] that jailed blogger, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki's life is in danger. His health condition has deteriorated, and he has been moved to an isolation cell. His kidney is hemorrhaging and security forces have prevented appropriate medical care for him.

Hossein was arrested along with several others in the East Azarbaijan province where they were volunteering to help earthquake victims in August 2012. He had been released on US$ 500,000 bail in July 2012.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, Blogger

Blogger's wife beaten by police

Mohmmad Esmailzadeh, blogger and political activist. Source: Botimar blog

News sites reported [fa] in early September 2012 that Katayoun Bahrami, the wife of blogger and political activist Mohammad Esmailzadeh, had been beaten by the head of police in the northern city, Babol when she complained about the behavior of security forces.

Esmailzadeh used to write a blog about culture, Botimar, and was a reformist. He was arrested after the controversial presidential election in 2009 and jailed for about 90 days. Security forces still appear to search his house from time to time, and have also confiscated personal items. Katayoun's tooth was broken and she spent several days in hospital.

No regrets

Shiva Nazar Ahari, a blogger and human rights activist was sent to prison to serve a four year sentence in September 2012. She had been charged with “attempts to deface the Islamic government”, “assembly with intention of conspiring against the Islamic government”, and “disrupting the public order” in September 2010.

The irony of Nazar Ahari's story is that she can feel lucky to serve “only” four years prison sentence after being acquitted of the charge of “Waging War Against God” a crime that can carry the death penalty.

Shiva has been jailed several times but has said she never regretted her actions. In this short film she is shown after her release from prison, saying that she is determined to stay in Iran at all costs. She says she feels it is where her activity can have the most impact.

Rumor or reality?

One piece of news from last year, about the safety a blogger, caught the attention of several bloggers. Iran-based Mashreg News reported about one year ago that a blogger named “Shayegan Esfandyari” (probably a pen name) was arrested in the southern city Bandar Abbas.

He had been accused of insulting Islam and the Iranian authorities, and for being in contact with foreign media. This news has not yet been confirmed by Iranian authorities or human rights organizations.

Shayegan used to write in the blog Gameron where the tagline description says that most of the posts are satirical and nothing is too sacred to be criticized.

On the Iranian link-sharing site, Balatarin, several bloggers wrote that at the moment the blogger is not writing but it could also be for technical or personal reasons… A comment was recently published on his Facebook profile that sounds very uncharacteristic for the blogger's opinions. Concerns are that he was arrested one year ago and may have had his personal accounts compromised by security forces.

Iran: Google and Gmail Will Be Filtered

Fred Petrossian — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:21:09 +0000

Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, an Iranian official declared [fa] on Sunday 23rd September, Google and Gmail are going to be filtered in the next few hours.He says people asked us to take a stand against the sites insulting Islam's Prophet. Khoramabadi is one of key members of a “Commission to Determine Instances of Criminal Content”.

Environment: World Rhino Day

Fred Petrossian — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:14:39 +0000

22 September 2012 is World Rhino Day. Currently there are an estimated 4,800 black rhinos and 22,000 white rhinos in Africa.Current poaching levels could see both species extinct in the wild by as early as 2025! Here is an animated clip about the rhino horn trade.