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POPSMoussavi is no reformer !! A quick glance at his bio would convince anybody of that fact. He is perhaps Ahmadinejad Lite, but not the kind of leader that would take on the Theocratic Establishment to make Iran safe for capitalism. Third, Even if Moussavi was a reformer, he would be Iran's reformer. A president for the Iranians, as it should be and not a stooge of the West. And unfortunately being a local reformer means implementing an agenda that may have local traction but foreign opposition. This may include things that Western countries would object to. i.e: the continuation of the nuclear programme and continuous support for terrorist groups. So next time you see an "Iran Expert" on your favourite Tv channel going on about Iran... do some quick research before accepting the good guys vs. bad guys narrative.
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POPSHard-Line Force Extends Grip Over a Splintered Iran “It is not a theocracy anymore,” said Rasool Nafisi, an expert in Iranian affairs and a co-author of an exhaustive study of the corps for the RAND Corporation. “It is a regular military security government with a facade of a Shiite clerical system.” The corps has become a vast military-based conglomerate, with control of Iran’s missile batteries, oversight of its nuclear program and a multibillion-dollar business empire reaching into nearly every sector of the economy. It runs laser eye-surgery clinics, manufactures cars, builds roads and bridges, develops gas and oil fields and controls black-market smuggling, experts say. Its fortune and its sense of entitlement have reportedly grown under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since 2005, when he took office, companies affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards have been awarded more than 750 government contracts in construction and oil and gas projects, Iranian press reports document.
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POPSMoussavi to Appear in Public in Tehran He has also called on authorities to release hundreds of people detained in the turbulent aftermath of the election, including leading reformists, journalists and rights lawyers. Rafsanjani will lead the prayers after two months of absence. Some of his relatives, including his daughter Faezeh, were arrested briefly for taking part in pro-Mousavi rallies. State media say at least 20 people were killed as protesters clashed with riot police and members of the Basij militia, but some rights activists believe the figure is higher. The authorities and Mousavi blame each other for the bloodshed. Hardliners have called for Mousavi to be put on trial. Iran has accused Britain and the United States, which have criticised a crackdown on opposition protests, of interfering in its internal affairs. London and Washington reject the charge.
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POPSMAJOR MULLAH GROUP CALLS ELECTION ILLEGITIMATE
at Stanford University. “Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.” The announcement came on a day when Mr. Moussavi released documents detailing a campaign of fraud by the current president’s supporters, and as a close associate of the supreme leader called Mr. Moussavi and former President Mohammad Khatami “foreign agents,” saying they should be treated as criminals. The specific charges of fraud included the printing of millions of extra ballots before the vote. Since the election, the bulk of the clerical establishment in the holy city of Qum, an important religious and political center of power, has remained largely silent, leaving many to wonder when, or if, the nation’s most senior religious leaders would jump into the controversy that has posed the most significant challenge to the country’s leadership since the Islamic Revolution. With its statement Saturday, the association of clerics " formed under the leadership of
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POPSLive-Tweeting The Revolution: Week 2 URGENT: Karoubi: I will only announce my representative if an independent team is formed. URGENT: MirHossein Moussavi will NOT have any representatives in GC Speciall committee. A Female Student Who Was Shoted, Named SHALIR 19yrs. Confirmed Dead. Reports: More than 7,000 Protesters Siting on the Street Near Neda Was Shot Dead. Police Sourended Them (not conf.) Tonight, the roar Allah Akbar and all the cities of Tehran was long Allahu Akbars begin. "Intensity hasn't diminished. I hear warning shots, but after the shot they changed to death to dictator" Tonight in memory of martyrs of recent events, people will be holding a candle light vigil on their roof tops. There is no news from Mahsa Amrabadi , journalist and blogger who was arrested last days There is no news from Shiva Nazarahari, activity human rights & blogger who was arrested last days Mohammad Mostafaie arrested. he is lawyer & activity human right in I iran My friend is near IR Emba
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POPSReport: Hospitalized Iranians Seized "The point is, when they are being taken to the hospital they don't actually get there," her friend who accompanied her told CNN last week. "Just like the reporters are being told not to report what they really see. Human Rights Watch, citing interviews with people in Iran, said Friday the Basij is carrying out brutal nighttime raids, destroying property in private homes and beating civilians in an attempt to stop nightly rooftop chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great). The nighttime chanting is emblematic of the protests 30 years ago during the Iranian revolution, which toppled the monarchy of the shah. "While most of the world's attention is focused on the beatings in the streets of Iran during the day, the Basiji are carrying out brutal raids on people's apartments during the night," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch. Residents from northern Tehran neighborhoods told Human Rights Watch that the Basij fired live rounds into the air . . .
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POPSClerics Join Iran's Anti-Government Protests Iranian opposition at the leadership level and in the streets now has new faces, made up of those who had opposing ideologies before the election. One symbol of that has become a nightly tradition in Iran. Secular or religious, Iranians go to their rooftops every night.. and shout out "Allahu Akbar" -- God is great -- and "down with the dictator."
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POPSIranian reformers press on; Moussavi "ready for martyrdom" "I am ready for martyrdom" vows Moussavi. Obama: “Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion. “Martin Luther King once said: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ ” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.” Well said! Direct US involvement would ruin the resistance by branding it American - backed. Obama does well to stand back and let Iranians decide their own fate.
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POPSAhmadinejad or Mousavi? by Daniel Pipes In the words of Abbas Milani, my colleague at the Hoover Institution, "If Ahmadinejad survives, it will be on the back of a Tiananmen-style crackdown. If Mousavi prevails, it will be on a wave of reformist sentiment." While that reformist sentiment may not shake the regime and is unlikely to stop the nuclear weapons program, it does hold out hope for substantial change. Accordingly, I no longer want Ahmadinejad to serve as president for a second term but prefer Mousavi in that position. Better yet, of course, would be for neither of them to hold power but for the entire fetid Islamic Republic of Iran to collapse. While confident that process is underway. I have no idea if it is weeks or decades ahead. Whatever it requires, Mousavi as president hastens the process. (June 20, 2009) Daniel Pipes Blog http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/06/ahmadinejad-or-mousavi.html
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POPSTiananmen Square Again No difference in the outcome...however Iran's ;younger citizens will probably continue to be a thorn in the Supreme Leader's backside.
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POPS The Enigmatic Moussavi Although he is deeply religious, Mr. Moussavi appears to hold relatively liberal social views. His wife is a well-known professor of political science who has campaigned alongside him, often giving speeches and news conferences independently. When they were younger, he was sometimes introduced as “the husband of Zahra Rahnavard.” His wife promised that if he was elected, he would advance women’s rights and appoint “at least two or three women” to the cabinet. His oldest daughter is a nuclear physicist. The youngest prefers not to wear the Islamic chador, and her parents do not mind, the relative said. “There has never been any compulsion in the family,” the relative added. In recent years, Mr. Moussavi was deeply dismayed by the excesses of the morality police and by the government’s decisions to shut down newspapers, his relative said. He decided to run for president earlier this year to save Iran from what he said were Mr. Ahmadinejad’s “destructive” policies.
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POPSIRAN Début d'une guerre civile ou un putsch réussi ?
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