Group items tagged

Access to Facebook is back in Iran after being blocked late last week. Facebook was cut off Saturday, leading to accusations that authorities were trying to muzzle one of the main campaign tools of reformists opposing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 12 elections. The main pro-reform candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is seeking a strong turnout from young voters and has used Facebook to try to mobilize support.

The Iranian government has blocked access to the social networking site Facebook amid political jockeying for the June 12 presidential elections, according to the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency.

Reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi -- a former prime minister considered a threat to current hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- created a Facebook page for his campaign that has more than 5,000 supporters on the site. Those attempting to visit Facebook received a message in Farsi saying, "Access to this site is not possible," according to CNN personnel in Tehran.

Iran's population -- estimated at more than 66 million by July 2009, according to the CIA World Factbook -- has a median age of 27. The Financial Times, which put the country's population at 70 million, said 47 million Iranians have cell phones and 21 million have Internet access.

Up to 100 members of Iranian reformist groups have been arrested, accused of orchestrating violence after the disputed presidential election result.

Backers of defeated reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi were rounded up overnight, reports said, including the brother of ex-President Khatami.

Mr Mousavi's whereabouts are unknown but he is thought to remain free.

The office of the president is generally seen as more powerful today than when it was established three decades ago. In the early years of the Islamic Republic, presidential powers were limited, with the regime's constitutional framers taking care not to give the office excessive strength for fear of a possible coup.

In an interview with CFR.org, Milani said Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was an effective president due to his personal relationships and political charisma, a dynamic that was lost in 1997 with the election of Mohammad Khatami. "Khatami didn't have that kind of relationship with the Supreme Leader" that Rafsanjani did

After the elimination of the post of prime minister in 1989, executive duties were consolidated in the office of the presidency.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate, had called for a fresh election and he was reported to be reluctant to go along with a recount conducted by the guardian council, a deeply conservative group of Islamic jurists.The council referred to the results declared by Khamenei as ­"provisional", an important symbolic concession. "It is possible that there may be some changes in the tally after the recount," said a spokesman, Abbasali Kadkhodai.

"Based on the law, the demand of those candidates for the cancellation of the vote – this cannot be considered," he told state television.

observers said it was unlikely an establishment body such as the guardian council would rigorously assess how the election was conducted. Half the council is appointed by Khamenei and its ­chairman, Ahmad Jannati, is a hardliner and Khamenei ally. Another council spokesman said the vote had "the least amount of violations reported" of any Iranian election.

Ahmadinejad still has strong support of the religious establishment and many of the poor, both inside and outside of the capital. "Our supporters are many and we don't have to gather in the streets like this," Hossein Ghorbani, a taxi driver in Tehran, said.

"I support Ahmadinejad because he is not stealing and is with the people. He cares about us."

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president and a powerful figure in Iran's clerical leadership, on Tuesday urged the country's supreme leader to take action against Ahmadinejad over his remarks about the reformists. He wrote to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that millions of Iranians had witnessed "mis-statements and fabrications" in a televised election debate last week, when Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani of corruption. "I am expecting you to resolve this position in order to extinguish the fire, whose smoke can be seen in the atmosphere, and to foil dangerous plots," he said in the letter published by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Fourteen high-ranking clerics from the city of Qom, the supreme leader's base, echoed Rafsanjani's remarks, expressing "deep concern andregret" that Iran's image had been harmed in the debate. "Accusing those who were not present at that debate and could not defend themselves is against our religion," they said in a statement.

A hard-line politician and former head of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezai, announced Wednesday that he would enter the presidential race, indicating additional splintering among the country’s conservatives.

Mr. Rezai, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guards from 1981 to 1997, had been seeking to unite conservative politicians behind another candidate to compete against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But he decided instead to become a candidate himself in the presidential election, to be held June 12, Iranian news media reported.

Mr. Rezai, who has accused Mr. Ahmadinejad of mismanaging the economy, will run as an independent candidate, the ISNA news agency reported.

"We told the International Atomic Energy Agency, 'Remove those seals or we will do it and mail them to you,' " he said, as the crowd exploded into shouts of "Vote Ahmadinejad!"

Ahmadinejad has appealed to the country's downtrodden, particularly the rural poor, promising to raise their salaries and pensions. He has even handed out potatoes.

Ahmadinejad's opponents contend that his populist efforts to redistribute wealth among Iran's 67 million people have caused high inflation, slower economic growth and a steep rise in unemployment.

Iran's Guardian Council, the country's highest legislative body, has admitted some irregularities occurred in the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, a spokesman for the council, told state-funded broadcaster IRIB on Monday that up to three million votes were under scrutiny, after it was found that the number of votes exceeded the number of eligible voters in 50 cities.  However, he said it was a normal discrepancy because people are allowed to travel to other areas to vote, and that it was "yet to be determined whether the amount is decisive in the election results".

The government is blaming the crisis on what it calls "terrorists" influenced by the West, and has said it will clamp down on any violent action. "The first issue is security - no country will deal with other issues and then talk about security,"  Hassan Ghashghavi, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday. "First, security must be there, and then you can talk about elections, freedom, human rights and democracy."

"Since of the beginning of the Islamic revolution, thirty years ago ... various incidents [occurred], some of which could have toppled the establishment, which could have brought turmoil to the nation, as you have seen in other nations. "But in this nation which is moving firmly ... this ship did not find any agitation in stormy sea.

Khamenei said that the "great accomplishment" of the 85 per cent turnout at the presidential poll on June 12 conveyed the legitimacy of the country's leadership and "people's solidarity with their establishment."

"If people do not feel free they will not attend the voting stations, trusting the Islamic establishment was evident in this vote."

The political chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard has warned reformists in the country against seeking what he called a "velvet revolution", vowing that it would be "nipped in the bud".

In a statement on its website, Javani drew parallels between Mousavi's campaign and the "velvet revolution'' that led to the 1989 overthrow of the communist government in then Czechoslovakia.

"There are many indications that some extremist [reformist] groups, have designed a colourful revolution ... using a specific colour for the first time in an election," the statement said.

Shots have been fired at a rally in Iran where hundreds of thousands of people were demonstrating against last week's presidential election results.

Unconfirmed reports said one protester was killed and several more were hurt when security forces opened fire.

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, says Monday's rally was the biggest demonstration in the Islamic republic's 30-year history and described it as a "political earthquake".

Ahmadinejad told local reporters in Tehran he would answer criticisms of his four years as president during the televised debates. He suggested criticism of him was a breach of "election law", according to the Islamic Republic News Agency ."Under the election law, nobody has the right to do candidates any harm. Distortion of one's image is an offence. As for the second mistake, it should be said that those people will fail to prove many of the allegations they raise against [my] government."

With just over 46 million Iranians eligible to vote, who wins is likely to come down to voter turnout after less than three weeks of official campaigning. If less than 27 million votes are cast, analysts believe, it would favour Ahmadinejad, who can count on 13 million votes from those who favour hardliners. A bigger turnout - in excess of 30 million - would move the polls towards the reformists Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

His campaign manager, Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi, said a high turnout can definitely unseat Ahmadinejad. "If more than 32 million votes are cast, the possibility that Ahmadinejad will not win is over 65%," he said. "But if 27 million people or less vote, the likelihood of a change is less than 35%."

Reversing a decision made five weeks ago, Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s reformist former president, has decided to withdraw from the June presidential race to support a political ally, the country’s semiofficial news agency reported Tuesday.

The Fars news agency on Tuesday quoted a statement from Mr. Khatami that said, “I announce my withdrawal from candidacy.”

“He does not want to compete with Mir-Hussein Moussavi,” said Mr. Leylaz, referring to a former prime minister who announced last week that he would run in the presidential election on June 12. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to seek re-election.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has officially announced his withdrawal from the country's presidential election in June.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has officially announced his withdrawal from the country's presidential election in June. In a statement, he said he would pull out in order not to split the reformist vote.

It was not immediately clear if Mr Khatami meant to endorse one of the other candidates. Early reports that he was quitting the race suggested he would back former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Many of Mousavi's and Karroubi's allies were important figures in the Islamic revolution that swept Iran in 1979 but have been sidelined under Ahmadinejad.

In Semnan, as Ahmadinejad handed out gold coins to the families of soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq war, his supporters said cheating would be unnecessary.

Five out of nine local staff from the UK embassy detained in Tehran have been released, Iranian officials say.Iran's media earlier said local employees at the UK mission were held over their role in protests against June's disputed presidential election.

Separately, Iran's top legislative body began a partial recount of the poll - a move rejected by defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

ran's Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hoseyn Mohseni-Ezhei on Sunday said "the British embassy played a crucial role in the recent unrest both through its local staff and via media", Iran's Irna news agency reported. "We have photos and videos of certain local employees of the British embassy, who collected news about the protests. "The embassy sent staff among the rioters to direct them in order to escalate the riots so that the rioters could file fabricated reports about the [rallies] to the world from various locations," the Iranian minister added.

The Iranian reformist camp is looking to limit Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power amid the continued violence in the country over the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian sources told the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.

In the report, published Thursday, one of the sources was quoted as saying that the "reformist alliance," including defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, as well as a number of religious leaders from the city of Qom, were leading a move aimed at "limiting the absolute power of the Supreme Leader."

According to the source, Rafsanjani, who currently heads the Assembly of Experts, returned to Tehran on Wednesday after consulting with religious leaders in the holy city of Qom on the possibility of limiting Khamenei's power by having him answer to the Assembly.

Analysts suggested that the unyielding response showed that Iran’s leaders, backed by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had lost patience and that Iran was now, more than ever, a state guided not by clerics of the revolution but by a powerful military and security apparatus.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has maintained a low profile, but evidence suggests that he has filled security agencies with crucial allies.

“What has been going on since 2005 is the shift of the center of power from the clergy to the Pasdaran,” or the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said a political analyst with years of experience in Iran who feared retribution if identified. “In a way one could say that Iran is no longer a theocracy, but a government headed by military chiefs.”

Supporters and opponents of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed in a Tehran square on Saturday evening and some cars were set on fire, a witness said, in a sign of rising tension ahead of the June 12 election.

Ahmadinejad hit back at critics accusing him of stoking inflation with profligate spending of petrodollars since he came to office in 2005, saying the rate was declining and would soon fall below 10 percent, compared with 18 percent in March.   The rate, which peaked at nearly 30 percent in October, was about 11 percent when Ahmadinejad came to power four years ago pledging to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly and reviving the values of its 1979 Islamic revolution.