Month: July 2009

by Chris Bodenner

Reuters:

"We are all members of a family. I hope with this sermon we can pass through this period of hardships that can be called a crisis," [Rafsanjani] said in a sermon broadcast on state radio. […] "In the current situation it is not necessary for us to have a number of people in prisons … we should allow them to return to their families," he said.

Outside the university grounds, police fired tear gas at Mousavi supporters chanting slogans demanding the release of detainees. It was the biggest anti-government protest since those that erupted in the week after the contested election. At least 15 people were arrested, the witness said.

Just uploaded:

People have started protesting in nearby streets but the forces are trying to disperse them.

The sermon is over & people are chanting "our blood belongs to Khameni" OR "Hashemi, may god keep you safe"

He asked for releasing the detainees. AND his voice is shaking!!

Hashemi: We should not keep people detained in this situation. They should be reunited with their families.

Hashemi's solutions: Freedom in IRIB, discussion of conflicts, freedom of detainees, sympathy with those suffering

(3) We should create an env that ppl can talk and discuss.

(2) everyone has to act according to the law.

His suggestions: (1) we should return ppl's trust.

He said we should try to gain the trust of those who are mourning. Although difficult

Rafsanjani said he "consulted" some members of the Assembly of Experts. May be an indirect warning to Khamenei

I think he said the Guardian council's capabilities were not used correctly, & I won't say whose fault it was!

He blamed the guardian council. #iranelection ppl (not clear which side) chanting!

He called this 'problem' a 'crisis'.

Basij chanting in support of Khamenei, yet Raf keeps thanking them as though they r chanting 4 him

He's basically asking state TV to let Mousavi's side defend themselves

We need an environment where all sides can express themselves, this is the duty of TV & media

Raf: neither side wanted this to happen, we all lost

Unfortunately #iranelection was a big loss for everyone. We need unity.

Rafsanjani talking about "doubt" among ppl regarding the results of the #iranelection.

Raf emphasizes "Islamic" = "people choose", basij are not liking…

According 2 #iran constitution everything is done with ppl's vote. Even supreme leader.

Raf says Khomeini always said the people should have the main role in Islamic republic

Saying I was there in every moment of the revolution. I know what Imam wanted.

Now talking about #iranelection

Rafsanjani asked ppl not 2 chant B/C of the "speical" circumstances & what's going on the nearby streets!?

I think for the first time ever in Iran, ppl are chanting "death to china"

Rafsanjani is citicising China (poke to Khamenei who didn't) but says I'm saying this as a brother to China

I am alive.the hit ppl with batons and pipes in 12 farvardin and daneshjoo avenue!

I think Rafsanjani is trying 2 remind Basij that Mohammad is a much higher authority in Islam than Khamenei

And YES. his voice was shaking when talking about prophet's death.

Now talking about how prophet was worried about differences&discord happened among his ppl b4 his death.

Ok he's back to normal. I thought he came close to tears when he was talking about the humility of the prophet

Rafsanjani seems to be on the verge of crying! Am I hearing right?!

Rafsajani is telling the history of early days of Islam and Mohammad.

Rafsanjani: I will propose a solution for today's situation. Although it's my opinion…

Raf emphasizes that these are HIS views and hopes others will think about them

Rafsanjani has started his speech. People yelling speakers! because many can't hear him

It seems TV is not going to show Friday prayers (greens were doing to participate). If true, they are REALLY afraid of

Shadi Sadr has been viciously arrested on her way to Friday prayer

A few hours before the prayer Tabnak reported unprecedented presence of people at the prayer http://bit.ly/quh3k

Massive crowds marching toward Tehran University as I type this, I'm hoping for a historic day, hope is all we have now

4k-5k basijis in prayer area & slept there.most of crowd is stuck outside but chanting is louder than speakers inside

by Chris Bodenner

Nico and his readers are live-blogging Rafsanjani with incredible detail. Just a taste:

— Rafsanjani: 'Which ever of those elements of our governance (Islamic or Republic) is not respected, then we have failed our revolution. Towards the end of the election campaign, some people were abusing the system, using the national television and radio… [speech in interrupted by jeers]… The majority of the people are suspicious of the election. Today is a bitter day. It is a bitter time. Everyone is losing. We need unity. We need unity more than ever today, given the numerous threats facing our nation.'

From another reader: 'Unfortunately the opportunity given by the Supreme Leader (5 extra days to submit election fraud evidence) wasn't used properly, but that's over now. People shouldn't be in prison. Let them get back to their families. Our enemies are laughing at us (b/c we have put our people in prison). Don't limit the media if they operate within the law.'

'You all know me, i do not and never do take sides. But my opinion is that we must find a path of unity. My solution: the assembly of experts has been consulted and we conclude that the trust of the people must be restored. This must be our priority. Everyone is within the framework of the law. We must proceed within the framework of the law. We should follow the legal paths. Restoring the peoples trust will not happen over night. Everyone should be able to say their words. IRIB and radio should give everyone a chance.'

US and Iranian TV networks are still not airing the speech, so blogs like Nico's (and Twitter) seem to be the only way to find out what Rafsanjani is saying right now.

by Chris Bodenner

While Mousavi and Khatami are expected to be at Rafsanjani's address, Ahmadinejad is AWOL. But he had some choice words for his "enemies" yesterday:

"[T]his nation … will strike you in the face so hard you will lose your way home," he said in comments translated by English-language Press TV.

Meanwhile, the chief editor of conservative newspaper Kayhan had this to say:

"Rafsanjani must avoid supporting the hooligans in his sermon; he must keep in mind that supporting the hooligans is support for the enemy."

Speaking of hooligans, NIAC relays the following:

According to reports received by Mowj Camp, Mansour Arzi and Saeed Hadadian, two Ahmadinejad supporters, are responsible for mobilizing people to participate at the Friday prayer to interrupt Hashemi’s sermon by chanting slogans against him. The first 10 rows have reportedly been designated to these individuals.

by Chris Bodenner

CNN says that Rafsanjani's speech is underway, but not even Iranian TV is airing it. Instead, the regime is broadcasting the following on its five channels:

1) a discussion on havij bastani (an Iranian desert with carrots and ice cream)

2) a 1986 Japanese cartoon

3) an Indian movie

4) an even cheesier Iranian movie

5) a documentary on the Iran-Iraq war

by Chris Bodenner Iran video hunter Chas Danner splices together footage from today's demonstrations into an excellent compilation. (And don't miss his Rooftop Project if you haven't seen it already.)

Update: Chas vents about the proliferation of people re-posting duplicates of new clips:

People I think get a little too amped up “collecting” without context, without foresight, without an overall citizen-journalist sense of trying to present in a cohesive narrative. Cutting down the clutter makes my life and the lives of the other people trying to cover this story a lot easier too.

Now today I put up a compilation of seven videos in which I did not source each one in the description, so I’m a hypocrite – but I do feel like I added something to them by making it easier for one person to see seven videos of the same day and event, instead of weeding through the dozen duplicates of each of those seven videos to try and find out what happened.

by Chris Bodenner

Iranians assemble outside the home of slain 19-year-old demonstrator Sohrab Aarabi:

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

First off, let me say that I was shocked to learn that Ben Domenech is my age (27), and from what little I can tell, he is unmarried with no children. So once again we have a case of an aspiring conservative talking-head playing pot calling the kettle black.

Furthermore, let me state that I live in a major urban area, I am married, and got married when I was 24 (my wife was 27 and not American, so ours is not quite the “average” experience). We do not have children yet, but we want to have them and are preparing our lives for that step. Domenech asks why less Americans are married with kids at my age, and the best he can come up with is that tired old socially conservative canard of uppity women and a pornography-filled society. Does he really want to know why there is a greater delay in marriage and rearing children than there was in 1970? One word: cost.

Take education: The average cost of attending a four year private college has gone from approximately $10,000 a year in 1970 to $30,000 a year today. The need for a graduate or professional degree is more important to one’s career than ever before. Therefore, not only do I still have to pay off my student loans for undergraduate, but I need to plan financially for my future graduate schooling. And this is before I even have to consider the educational costs of my future children!

 

Take housing: The average house price in 1970 was about $26,000, which was the equivalent to one person’s annual salary. In 2008, the average house price was $292,000 (or about six or seven times the average annual salary), and this is even after the dramatic fall associated with the bursting of the housing bubble. So on top of worrying about getting a house in a good neighborhood with good schools, I still need to save a significantly larger portion of my income for a downpayment, with an exponentially larger mortgage than my parents needed some 40 years ago. Of course, I could have just paid a smaller downpayment a couple years ago and wound up with with an underwater sub-prime mortgage, but by now lending has been tightened. And excuse me for trying to be fiscally responsible.

 

Take healthcare: My wife and I have personally lucked out and have good coverage, but I think you and plenty of your other readers know about healthcare inflation ad nauseam.

 

In order to be fiscally responsible and afford these things that will allow us to provide the best things for our future family, we need to be frugal, ever more so since my wife was laid off a few months ago. This means no car, limited vacations and eating out, watching our money. We have been able to live a relatively comfortable, if simple life, and I don’t mean this whole email as a complaint. I’m merely saying that Domenech obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he says that young adults are delaying marriage and children. He obviously has never seen the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt flash before his eyes. And all these future costs need to be balanced against our immediate economic needs and the needs of my and my wife’s careers.

I am disgusted that such a self-styled “conservative” can so blithely write that young Americans today should be more like the heroes of yore by throwing off a corrupt modern society, and ignore personal cost and sacrifice in order to raise as many young as they can. I thought that the world had enough of that kind of family planning propaganda in the 1930’s.

A U.S. Marine from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. looks on after conducting a sweep of a house on July 4, 2009 in Mian Poshteh, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of Operation Khanjari which was launched to take areas in the Southern Helmand Province that Taliban fighters are using as a resupply route and to help the local Afghan population prepare for the upcoming presidential elections. By Joe Raedle/Getty.