Iran: Inside - Outside

George Victor wrote:

Did anyone else catch the story (Sept. 29 in the Globe) about Hossein Kerakhshan (online name 'Hoder') , born in Iran but who became a Canadian citizen in early adulthood, and got 20 years in prison for "insulting Islamic thought and religious figures, managing obscene websites and co-operating with 'enemy states' because he visited Israel five years ago."

The poor bastard went back to Iran on the invitation of some in government there, in 2008: "thinking he could go back to Iran and help," said his former wife, Marjan Alemi. in an interview with CBC's The Current. "Upon his arrival, however, another branch of the government arrested him," we read in the Globe.

The Globe reporter, Sonia Verma, quoted Reporters Without Borders: "Never has such a tough sentence been handed to a blogger in Iran. This case, fabricated from start to finish, shows that part of the regime wants to make Hossein Derakhshan into an example."

Amazing, the amount of protest this has (not) created in Canada ...

Also amazing is the amount of discussion this case raises hereabouts where atheism is so tolerant of religious fundamentalism that there cannot even be comment about, say, "why such violence against individuals in the name of Allah will not always hold, but will  gradually give way to a passionate defence of HUMAN rights as capitalism is forced to retreat.." etc. etc.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised what he called the Lebanese resistance against Israel and declared that "Zionists are mortal," in a speech Thursday in a southern Lebanese village near the Israeli border.

"The world should know the Zionists are mortal ... Today the Lebanese nation is alive and is a role model for the regional nations," Ahmadinejad said in the town of Bint Jbeil, four kilometres from the Israeli border.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/10/14/iran-president014.html#ixzz12LnOllOc

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired his foreign minister Monday as he was in the middle of an official visit to Africa and named the nuclear chief to serve as the country's acting top diplomat.

In a brief statement on the president's website, Ahmadinejad thanked Manouchehr Mottaki for his more than five years of service but gave no explanation for the change. He named nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also one of the country's several vice-presidents, to serve as interim foreign minister until a permanent replacement is found.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/12/13/iran-ahmadinejad013.html#ixzz180ol57OO

Iran is apparently moving inside Iraq, and muscling in on the ice cream trade.

In Green Zone, an icy challenge to U.S. power

"Ice Pack, an aggressive new franchise that proclaims its intent to challenge U.S. fast-food hegemony worldwide, will open its Green Zone branch in January, said Ali Hazem Haideri, the shop's Iraqi manager. The building is under construction, but when complete, it will offer customers a choice of 34 ice cream flavors, along with a front-row view of the comings and goings of the heavily armored convoys that whisk U.S. officials through the blast walls protecting the embassy nearby.

Next door is the fast-fading Freedom Restaurant, named in honor of the U.S.-led invasion and aimed at U.S. soldiers and contractors. These days, American customers are rare, and the restaurant mostly caters to Iraqi government workers who come to eat chicken and kebabs on plastic tablecloths under flickering neon lights.

It's a vivid reminder of the shifting balance of power here as the U.S. military winds down its presence and prepares to go home. Even the Green Zone, once an outpost of Americana in a chaotic Iraq, is no longer a U.S. zone of influence. The United States handed over control to Iraqi security forces last June, along with responsibility for issuing the coveted badges that allow access to the walled enclave, relinquishing the ability to control who may come and go."

Yup, the yanqui empire is takin' a lickin'.

NoDifferencePartyPooper wrote:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159047.html

"According to the statement, the crime rate has soared in Canada recently, hence Iranian visitors may fall victim to various felony offenses in that country."

[url=http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php][img]http://www.freesmileys.org/s...

Yeah, what does the Supreme Court know, anyways. It's the public we should consult...on questions of capital punishment and Islamic  law and judicial systems.  Heck, the public are so discerning when Steve tries to pull the wool over their eyes on the crime rate. And they know justice when they see it.  Yes sirree.

A top Iranian lawyer and human right activist was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2011/01/top-iranian-lawyer-unjustly-sente...

Quote:

(9 January 2011) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called the 11-year prison sentence of leading human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh a “gross miscarriage of justice” and said that it should be overturned by an appeals court.

Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in jail, and banned from practicing law and traveling for 20 years. The judge sentenced her to five years in prison on charge of “acting against national security,” another five years for “not wearing hejab (Islamic dress) during a videotaped message,” and one year for “propaganda against the regime.”

Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh’s husband, in an interview with the Campaign described the ruling as “highly strange and unjust.” Sotoueh’s interrogators had repeatedly told her that “they won’t allow the judge to sentence her to less than ten years.”

“This is a transparently political sentence aimed at taking one of Iran’s leading human rights defenders out of practice via a gross miscarriage of justice,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign. “Nasrin Sotoudeh has broken no laws, but is being jailed because she has upheld Iranian and international law in a judicial system bent on violating human rights,” he said.

Sotoudeh has defended many of those who have been arbitrarily arrested and charged for exercising their rights after the tainted June 2009 presidential election; among her clients is Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, who has campaigned strenuously for due process to be observed in her case. Ebadi organized a sit-in at the UN Human Rights Council to raise awareness about the case and to plead for more international support.

Iran hangs two activists held in post-vote demos (Total number of executions: 71 in 2011 so far).

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iran-hangs-two-activists-deta...

Iranian government hanged Dutch-Iranian woman

Zahra Bahrami was originally arrested for participating in demonstrations in December 2009. The Iranian judiciary charged her with membership in an illegal organization, but then changed the charges and claimed she had illegal drugs on her. Her lawyer has also been imprisoned.

http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2011/1/29/iran-breaking-dutch-irania...

A Kurdish activist was executed in northwest Iranian city of Orumiyeh.

http://unpo.org/article/12189

The Islamic Republic lawmakers demand death for opposition leaders:

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/938942--iran-lawmakers-urge-de...

Enduro Man wrote:

The demonstrations in Iran now will be brutally crushed and there will be not one thing the US or Israel can do to help them which only proves how powerless they have really become.  There was a time when the American CIA could flick a switch and a targeted regime would be overthrown.  Not anymore.

The US and Israel love to keep the Iranian regime in power. More funding for Israel, more weapon sale to the Arab regimes, not to mention that the US foreign policy always need an enemy.

But the Iranian people think otherwise. Brutality can only get a regime this far. For the Iranian regime the time is up sooner than later.

Thanks for your news input and informed commentary, sanizadeh.

Opposition leaders Mousavi and Karoubi have been arrested, report says:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110228/wl_nm/us_iran_opposition_arrest_5

Quote:

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran arrested two leading opposition figures on Monday ahead of a planned nationwide anti-government rally, an opposition website said.

"Sources say that they have been arrested and transferred to the Heshmatiyeh jail in Tehran," the website said. ...