Iran "Revolution"

[American Patriot]

New thread...

Reports are hitting the desks this morning about a possible "Iranian Revolution" on-going this moment.

FNC JUST aired some quick cellphone video showing some protesters.

Apparently the "Police" are firing on them (rubber bullets it was PRESUMED).

More to come if I get more information.

[Toad]

Yep, on CNN right now. About a 2 min clip of street protests and "peaceful".

[Toad]

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/...116159324.html


Iranian Police Fire Teargas at Protesters


[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/480*300/AFP_IranProtest_14feb11.jpg[/IMG]
housands of defiant Iranian opposition supporters have staged what they said was a rally supporting Arab revolts as riot police armed with batons moved in to disperse them, February 14, 2011

Iranian security forces have fired teargas on Monday to disperse thousands of Iranians rallying in support of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Witnesses say riot police, many of them on motorbikes, fanned out across central Tehran, as opposition groups vowed to rally despite the government's rejection of their request for a permit.

Security forces have deployed on the streets of Tehran and blocked off the home of an opposition leader.

Reformist leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi said they called the gathering to show solidarity with uprisings that ousted authoritarian leaders in Egypt and Tunisia. Iranian authorities warned the reformists against proceeding with the rally, calling it a ploy to mobilize an anti-government protest and revive their Green movement.

Mousavi's website, Kaleme, says Iranian police stationed several cars outside his Tehran home Monday to prevent him and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, from taking part in the planned gathering. It says authorities also cut telephone lines at Mousavi's house and severed his mobile phone connection.

Karroubi also has been placed under house arrest in Tehran in recent days. Kaleme called the Iranian government's moves a sign of "weakness and fear."

Mousavi and Karroubi led Iran's last major anti-government protests in 2009, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to protest the disputed re-election of conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that June.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, on a visit to Tehran, called on Middle Eastern governments to listen to the demands of their people, although he did not mention Iran directly.

The two reformists ran against Mr. Ahmadinejad and accused him of rigging the vote, a charge the government denies.

The 2009 protests ended in a violent crackdown by Iranian militiamen loyal to the clerical establishment. Scores of people were killed and wounded during the demonstrations, which lasted several months.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised this year's revolts in Egypt and Tunisia as an Islamic awakening, akin to the 1979 revolution that ousted Iran's U.S.-backed shah. But, Iranian reformists see the Arab protest movements as more similar to their struggle against Iran's authoritarian clerical rulers.

On Saturday, U.S. National Security advisor Tom Donilon urged Tehran to give the Iranian people the same rights to peacefully assemble, demonstrate and communicate that Egyptian protesters were granted in Cairo.

Edit - Sorry, picture not coming through for some reason

[American Patriot]

Edit - Sorry, picture not coming through for some reason

CNN been blocking them. I've had issues with that the past week or so. Haven't investigated.

Guys I'm going to be out of pocket for a few hours. I'm in the middle of upgrades to the system.

You all can handle this without me!

[Malsua]

Gotta love Iranians with signs in English.

[Toad]

If you're looking to get your protest on a world stage, English is the bridge language.

[Toad]

I'm thinking this is going to go less well for the Iranians.

[Malsua]

I'm thinking this is going to go less well for the Iranians.

There will be blood.

[RememberCuba94]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12460170

[RememberCuba94]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...ter15_ST_N.htm

[American Patriot]

I heard Hillary went public and said "we support the Iranian people"....

Didn't we support them the last time? /sarcasm

[vector7]

More moderate marxist window dressing to hide the fact this administration has abandoned its allies and supports Americas sworn enemies.

[vector7]

Russian FM: Don't stir up protests in Middle East

By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press David Stringer, Associated Press – 41 mins ago



LONDON – Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday the U.S. and Western allies should not stir up pro-democracy protests in the Middle East following the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

After meeting with members of Britain's government, Sergey Lavrov warned against any attempts by other nations to fuel public dissent.

In recent days Iran's opposition has taken to the streets of central Tehran, while demonstrators have held protests in Bahrain and Yemen.

"We are convinced that calls for revolutions are counterproductive. We have had more than one revolution in Russia, and we believe that we don't need to impose revolutions on others," Lavrov told reporters. "We don't think that we need to tighten the screw, or take sides."

Lavrov was holding talks with Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague, and seeking to bolster ties badly damaged by the 2006 poisoning death in London of dissident ex-Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko. On his deathbed, Litvinenko blamed then-Russian President Vladimir Putin for authorizing his poisoning.

At a news conference with Hague, Lavrov insisted the international community should restrict itself to urging regimes in the Middle East and northern Africa to hold talks aimed at meeting the demands of protesters.

"Only in this way we can ensure the stable evolution into the direction that will be in the interests of each country," Lavrov said.

In response to a question about remarks made by President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lavrov said Russia believed it was wrong for nations to encourage others to "impose democracy, or some specific pattern, and we hear such encouragement."

Lavrov also criticized Europe, the U.S. and others for imposing additional sanctions against Iran, which go beyond measures agreed by the U.N.

Security Council. He said Russia would be unlikely to support any new U.N. sanctions that were not tightly targeted at specific individuals or companies.

"It undermines our joint work," Lavrov said, referring to additional sanctions imposed by the EU and U.S. "If we agree to stick to a collective agreed position, we should not deviate from that."

Though Hague has raised the prospect of additional U.N. sanctions against Iran following failed talks on its disputed nuclear weapons program, Lavrov said Russia could not support them because of their impact on ordinary Iranians.

"Further sanctions would mean the creation of social problems for the population. We would not be able to support them," he said.

However, the ministers signed a treaty agreeing to upgrade a secure communications link between London's Downing Street and the Kremlin, Hague said. He confirmed plans for greater collaboration on thwarting organized crime and projects aimed at tackling the radicalization of young Muslims.

Hague and Lavrov later sealed their meeting with a whisky tasting at exclusive wine merchant Berry Bros. and Rudd. They confirmed Cameron will visit Moscow later this year on the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"Our countries continue to see a steady, patient improvement in relations. It will take time, there will be no giant leaps," Hague said. He acknowledged the two countries still have major disagreements on some issues.

Hague's ministry confirmed there would be no change on Britain's policy of not cooperating with Russia's Federal Security Service, the main successor to the feared Soviet KGB, and known by its Russian language acronym, the FSB.

The U.K. broke off ties between its intelligence agencies and the FSB following Litvinenko's death.

Russia has repeatedly refused to grant British requests for the extradition of the chief suspect in the case, ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi. In turn, Moscow accuses Britain of refusing to turn over dozens of alleged criminals to Russia.

[Malsua]

It's very easy to tell how this will all end up.

If the move is to replace a secular dictator with a theocratic one, the theocrats will win.

If the move is to replace a theocratic dictator with a secular one, the secularists will lose.

Islamists need a daddy figure in their lives to tell them exactly how to live, how to beat their women and who to hate. Since our president is sympathetic to this world view, he will not support a secular revolution in Iran.

[RememberCuba94]

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/...116235004.html

Obama Urges Peaceful Response to Protests in Mideast

VOA News February 15, 2011
President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference on the White House complex in Washington, February 15, 2011

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• Russia Warns West Against Encouraging Middle East Protests
• Western Powers Urge Iran to Allow Peaceful Protests
• Iranian Lawmakers Demand Death Penalty for Opposition Leaders
• Iranian Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters, Arrest Dozens
• Iran Cracks Down on Spiraling Protests
• Clinton Accuses Iran of Hypocrisy Over Egypt Protests

U.S. President Barack Obama has criticized Iran for attacking anti-government demonstrators, and urged governments throughout the Middle East to avoid violence against protesters.

President Obama told reporters at a news conference Tuesday at the White House that he finds it "ironic" that the Iranian regime has pretended to celebrate Egypt's uprising. He said Iranian authorities have acted in direct contrast in their own country by shooting and beating those trying to express themselves peacefully.

President Obama said the Iranian people should be able to express their opinions and grievances and seek a more responsive government.

He noted that throughout the Middle East, there is what he described as a "young, vibrant generation" looking for greater opportunity, and said leaders in those countries need to get out ahead of change. He said the more steps governments take to provide avenues for mobility and opportunity, the more stable the countries are.

In Egypt, he said what has happened so far is positive, but a lot of work remains. He said Egypt is going to need help building democratic institutions and strengthening its economy.

He defended his administration’s response to the crisis, saying it was important that the uprising remain an Egyptian event and that the U.S. did not become the issue. He said U.S. officials sent out a very clear message that they believed in an orderly transition that needed to happen soon.

He also pointed out that the outcome was a peaceful transition, with relatively little violence and relatively little if any anti-American, anti-Western or anti-Israel sentiment.

On domestic matters, the president said the budget he unveiled Monday presses the federal government to live within its means, as American families have been forced to do in their own budgets.

He said the $3.7 trillion budget includes tough choices and significant spending cuts, so by the end of the decade the nation's annual spending will match annual revenues. He said it includes key investments in places like education and science and technology.

He called on Democrats and Republicans to find common ground to work together.

Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have slammed the spending proposal, saying it does not go far enough to reduce the deficit. Mr. Obama's Democrats retain control of the Senate, making for what is expected to be a protracted partisan battle in Congress over federal spending.

[RememberCuba94]

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/...116240014.html
Iran Cracks Down on Spiraling Protests

Selah Hennessy | London February 15, 2011
[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/300*301/VOA_RaviKhanaVideo_Iran_Protests_28Dec091.jpg[/IMG] Woman holding poster of Iran's two reformists and opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi (file)

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• Obama Urges Peaceful Response to Protests in Mideast
• Iranian Lawmakers Demand Death Penalty for Opposition Leaders
• Iranian Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters, Arrest Dozens
• Clinton Accuses Iran of Hypocrisy Over Egypt Protests

Lawmakers in Iran have called for the execution of two opposition leaders who supported Monday's rallies in Tehran.

The conservative lawmakers said Tuesday opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi should be tried for sedition, an offense punishable by death.

State TV showed some 50 conservative MPs marching through parliament's main hall on Tuesday, chanting "Death to Mousavi, death to Karroubi."

The two reformists had called Monday's rallies in Tehran and elsewhere to show solidarity with recent Arab uprisings against authoritarian governments.

Iran has warned foreign powers against getting involved.

"We think that the shared desire of all the nations in the region is for the oppressive countries not to meddle - especially in the face of the violations and encroachment of the Zionist regime - and to cut off dependence from the U.S. and the Zionist regimes and their supporters,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that her country “very clearly and directly” supports the protesters.

The rally in Tehran follows major popular protests in Tunisia and Egypt that forced out both countries’ longtime rulers.

Mass protests last erupted in Iran after the disputed presidential election in 2009. The opposition says more than 80 people were killed in the security crackdown that followed, although this figure is disputed by the government.

Rosemary Hollis, a Middle East expert at London’s City University, says security forces reacted forcefully to Monday’s protest in order to avoid a repeat in Iran of what’s happened elsewhere.

"Essentially what this proves, the rough response of the government, that they deduced from last year and from watching what happened in Egypt and other places that their only option if they are not to be seriously challenged domestically is to clamp down very hard and very fast," Hollis said.

Iranian security forces prevented Mousavi and Karroubi from joining the rallies by surrounding their homes in the capital. The two men also led the 2009 protests after losing to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a vote they said was rigged, a charge the government denies.

Although Iran's establishment supported the Egyptian and Tunisian protests, describing them as an "Islamic awakening" inspired by Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, it said the Iranian opposition rallies were a "political move."

[American Patriot]

Obama... too little, too late, always wrong.

[vector7]

Where's the emboldened Obama that relentlessly called out Mubarak until he fled the country and fell ill? Why Does Obama Support Regime Change in Egypt But Not in Iran?

Iranian lawmakers condemn protests; call for execution of leaders

By the CNN Wire Staff
February 15, 2011 10:07 a.m. EST


Iranian lawmakers condemn protests

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Lawmakers call for the execution of opposition leaders Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi
• A European Union official urged Iran to "fully respect" the rights of its citizens
• Protesters were largely cleared from the streets by Monday night

Are you in Iran? Share your stories and photos with CNN iReport, but please make your safety your first priority.

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian lawmakers denounced Monday's protests in Tehran and called for the execution of two opposition leaders for inciting the demonstrations, Iran's state-run Press TV reported Tuesday.

Members of the Iranian parliament issued fiery chants against opposition leaders and former presidential candidates Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Press TV aired video Tuesday of lawmakers chanting "Moussavi, Karrubi ... execute them."

Lawmakers also named former President Mohammad Khatami in some of the death chants.

The calls for the leaders' executions come after a particularly deadly month in Iran. At least 66 people were executed in January, according to Iranian media reports. Most of the executions were reportedly carried out for drug offenses, although at least three involved political prisoners, a U.N. statement said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed alarm earlier this month over the number of executions.

Brutality and hypocrisy in Iran


Could Iran be the next Egypt?

Clinton denounces Iranian 'hypocrisy'

Iranian leaders have praised Egypt's revolution, but Monday when protesters in Iran took to the streets the government cracked down hard.

Last week, the Iranian government rounded up activists after Karrubi and Moussavi called for supporters to gather at Azadi Square -- the site of mass protests by Iran's opposition movement after the disputed 2009 presidential elections.

Despite the security crackdown, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Tehran Monday.

Patrolling security forces battled protesters with batons and tear gas for much of the day.

The massive crowd was largely cleared from the city's streets by nightfall and the main squares near Tehran University remained free of police, security forces or protesters.

Dozens of demonstrators were detained during Monday's protests, while videos posted on the showed others had been chased and beaten.

One person was shot and killed during the protests, according to Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency. Several others were injured and listed in serious condition as a result of the shooting, which the Iranian government blamed on "agitators and seditionists."

The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported that nine security force members were among those injured in the protests, which the country's deputy police chief called "illegal gatherings ... directed from America, England and Israel."

"The hands of sedition leaders are drenched in blood and they should answer for these actions," Ahmad Reza Radan said, according to IRNA.

Video uploaded to YouTube showed throngs of demonstrators marching, burning posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and in one instance beating a man who appeared to try to remove a poster from the hands of protesters.

Other YouTube video showed police in riot gear pursuing dozens of people running away from the baton-wielding officers.

Other videos show similar protests going on in other cities in Iran such as Shiraz and Isfahan.

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the videos and witnesses declined to be named for fear of retribution.

Reporting from Iran proved extremely difficult Monday -- foreign journalists were denied visas, accredited journalists living in the country were restricted from covering the demonstrations and internet speeds slowed to a crawl in an apparent attempt to both limit protest organizing and restrict information from being transmitted out of the country.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, released a statement Tuesday urging Iranian officials to "fully respect and protect the rights of their citizens, including freedom of expression and the right to assemble peacefully."

[RememberCuba94]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/wo...er=rss&emc=rss
Students in Iran Clash at Funeral
Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
New clashes were reported between government opponents and supporters at the funeral, above, of Saane Zhaleh, one of two students reported killed during protests on Monday.

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and ALAN COWELL

Published: February 16, 2011




Two days after the largest antigovernment protest in Iran in more than a year, supporters and opponents of the authorities fought Wednesday in a battle for the memory of a slain protester, state media and an opposition Web site reported.
The clashes erupted at Tehran University during the funeral of Saane Zhaleh, one of two students reported killed during protests on Monday.
Images on the Web site of the state broadcaster IRIB showed a throng of people surrounding a coffin, wrapped in the green, white and red Iranian flag, as it was carried above the heads of the crowd. But the opposition Kaleme Web site said the university’s arts faculty had been taken over by pro-government forces who beat and arrested anti-government students.
The contest to claim Mr. Zhaleh as a martyr reflected divisions that seemed to have emerged once more into the open following the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
The authorities said Mr. Zhaleh, a Kurdish student, was a Basij, one of the student vigilantes on many campuses, who was shot by a government opponent. Opposition accounts said plainclothes security officers roaming the streets beat him to death and claimed that he had joined the antigovernment protest.
With the fighting on Wednesday both sides seemed to be seeking to claim him as one of their own.
“Students and the people attending the funeral ceremony of the martyred student Saane Zhaleh have clashed with a limited number of people apparently linked to the sedition movement and forced them out by chanting slogans of death to hypocrites,” IRIB’s Web site was quoted as saying.
The protests on Monday in Tehran and other cities were taken by the opposition as a sign that it has resurfaced after the huge crackdown on its followers following Iran’s disputed presidential election in 2009.
But on Tuesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed opposition attempts to revive mass demonstrations as doomed to fail, while members of the Iranian Parliament clamored for the two most prominent leaders of the protest movement to be executed.
Critics have called in the past for the two men, Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, to be prosecuted for alleged crimes that would carry the death penalty. The calls for punishment on Tuesday, however, appeared to be the most strident yet, with members of Parliament shouting in unison, “Moussavi, Karroubi should be hanged!”
But while the government has tried and convicted many opposition members since large street protests in 2009, it has so far shied away from putting the two men on trial, perhaps fearing that would lead to further unrest.
The government tried to squelch reports about the Monday demonstrations, arresting or sequestering critics on Tuesday and revoking the working credentials of about a dozen foreign correspondents who had been ordered not to cover the protests.
Opposition supporters were elated about the demonstrations, saying they felt people’s willingness to come out despite beatings by the police proved that the antigovernment movement born after Mr. Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election was still alive after 20 months of brutal government suppression.
“The friends I talked to in Iran were so happy that people had shown up after months of nothing going on,” said Sadra M. Shahab, who helped spread the word about the demonstrations from overseas.
Mr. Karroubi, who has been under house arrest since the eve of the protests, said Tuesday that “the government should take the cotton out of its ears and hear the voice of the people,” according to a statement posted on Saham News, his Web site.
“Violent and aggressive actions in response to the will of the people can halt continuing protests up to a point,” he said, addressing the government, “but you should learn from the history of the governments that have fled.” He was referring to the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt, who were recently driven out by street protests.
Mr. Karroubi did not mention any future plans, and it is unclear if the opposition has a clear idea of what to do next. Organizers of a special Facebook page dedicated to the protests in Iran said the authorities would never allow Iranian demonstrators to set up the type of permanent encampment that came to represent the tenacity of the Egyptians in Tahrir Square in Cairo as they called for Hosni Mubarak to leave.
There were reports at least two people died in the protests in Iran on Monday. Few reporters were able to cover the demonstrations, but witness accounts and some news reports suggested that perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 people took to the streets in several cities, including Tehran.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, in a live interview on state television, pursued the government line that such demonstrations were foreign attempts to undermine a great nation, according to reports by the official news agency, IRNA.

Page 1

[RememberCuba94]

Students in Iran Clash at Funeral
Published: February 16, 2011





(Page 2 of 2)

“The Iranian nation is like the sun in that it is so brilliant. And of course this brilliance has enemies and they make true efforts,” he said. “but ultimately their efforts are like throwing dirt at the sun. It falls right back on them.”
By chanting against the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday, protesters were demanding that the entire government system should go, rather than simply attacking Mr. Ahmadinejad. In doing so, they forged rare unity between him and Parliament, which have been at odds over domestic policy.
Of the 290 Parliament members, 222 signed a statement on Tuesday demanding that the government prosecute Mr. Moussavi and Mr. Karroubi, according to IRNA. It was at least the third time that the two men have been threatened publicly with prosecution.
“They would like to provide an atmosphere for the government to take harder action against the opposition leaders,” said Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, an exiled former member of Parliament now at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. “But I do not think they could do anything like execute the leaders — even if they arrested them, it would motivate a new round of the uprising.”
On Tuesday, pro-government demonstrators staged a sit-in at Mr. Karroubi’s house, according to opposition Web sites.
President Obama, speaking Tuesday at a Washington news conference, expressed support for the courage of the Iranian demonstrators and criticized the Tehran government’s response.
“I find it ironic that you’ve got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt,” he said, “when in fact they have acted in direct contrast to what happened in Egypt by gunning down and beating people who were trying to express themselves peacefully in Iran.”
The leadership of the Islamic republic has been hailing the demonstrations in the Arab world, saying they show the triumph of popular support for Islam, even though Islamists had a low profile in both the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also denounced Iran in a speech on Internet freedom, criticizing its government for using the Web to hunt down critics.
Reports of the number of people arrested over the latest protests in Iran varied, with the official number put at 150 and the opposition’s estimate at 1,500.
The protesters who died Monday were identified as Mr. Zhaleh and Mohammad Mokhtari, 22, a student at Islamic Azad University in Shahrood.