"Its clearly obvious this is the work of the CIA. I took a class on it, I know the CIA's fingerprints."

6/24/2009 7:25:12 AM

UK and Iran expel eachother's diplomats

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/24/2607563.htm

Quote :

"Both Iran's Supreme Leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have accused Britain of fomenting the public unrest. Last Friday the Ayatollah ratcheted up the rhetoric, labelling the UK as evil and accusing Britain of using the presidential election to destabilise the Islamic Republic. Then on Sunday the regime expelled the BBC's Iran correspondent and claimed that agents of the British secret services had been infiltrating Iran in droves. Now it has emerged that a day later two British diplomats were expelled for engaging in what Tehran describes as activities incompatible with their status - that is code for spying. In London, Britain called in Iran's ambassador and Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced tit-for-tat expulsions. "It is therefore with regret that I should inform the house that Iran yesterday took the unjustified step of expelling two British diplomats over allegations which are absolutely without foundation. In response to that action we informed the Iranian ambassador earlier today that we would expel two Iranian diplomats from their embassy in London. I'm disappointed that Iran has placed us in this position," Mr Brown said. "

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 11:48 AM. Reason : oops]

6/24/2009 11:47:52 AM

The Jews, Americans, and the Brits aren't cutting it anymore? They should probably just go ahead rally their people behind the threat of invading, telepathic squid monsters.

6/24/2009 12:56:01 PM

Theres no real concrete evidence the election was rigged and all other candidates have since came out and conceded defeat. Census data lags and new voters that weren't accounted for in voter numbers caused turnout to seem too high. Mousavi lost in his home province...so what? 3 million people.

5000 protesters in the streets of tehran and cnn spins it as "the battle for iran". The opposition to the government is mad about losing the election but they've made it clear that they don't want outsiders meddling in this affair. The funniest thing is that Mousavi was one of the main guys pushing for a nuclear armed Iran. The only goal is destabilization regardless of who you are empowering, which fits the CIA. Laugh all you want but I'm not the first to make the claim. Also, what better stage to learn about the CIA and political situations than academia? (unless of course you're in the CIA or state dept which none of you are) Google and it doesn't matter if people know the CIA did it because people know what they want to believe and if somebody allows them to believe what they want to believe then they will ignore everything else. Especially when the media machine promotes it. Its happened countless times in history. Talk of sanctions to somehow "defend the people of IRan" is crazytalk because sanctions make quality of life go down.

6/24/2009 2:50:58 PM

5000. ok

6/24/2009 2:55:25 PM

Quote :

" "she" has been trolling SB. Look at her post history and read some of "her" other gems. "

haha, i believe you now.

6/24/2009 3:07:14 PM

Quote :

"Iran says Neda's death may be tied to 'terrorist' group TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran said the gunman who killed Neda Agha-Soltan may have mistaken her for the sister of an Iranian "terrorist," the Islamic Republic News Agency reported Wednesday. Iran blamed the death of the woman known to the world simply as Neda squarely on "those groups who want to create division in the nation," saying they planned the woman's killing "to accuse the Islamic republic of ruthlessly dealing with the opposition," according to IRNA, Iran's state-run news agency. The report said the investigation into her death is ongoing, "but according to the evidence so far, it could be said that she was killed by mistake. The marksmen had mistaken her for the sister of one of the Monafeghin who had been executed in the province of Mazandaran some time ago." Monafeghin refers to the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, or PMOI, which promotes a secular, Marxist government for Iran, and has waged a violent campaign against the fundamentalist Islamic regime, including bombings that killed politicians, judges and Cabinet members. Also known as Mujahedin-e-Khalq, the group initially was formed to oppose the Shah of Iran but fell out of favor with the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after 1979. Neda, 26, rose to prominence within hours after a crudely shot video documenting her final moments was uploaded to the Web. Shortly after she died Saturday from a single gunshot wound to the chest, she emerged as a powerful symbol of opposition to the Iranian government. "It's heartbreaking," President Obama said Tuesday, referring to the video of Neda, which means "divine calling" in Farsi. "And I think anyone who sees it knows there's something fundamentally unjust about it." The Iranian government has sought to minimize the impact of her death. IRNA reported Wednesday that the killer, or killers, may have "thought that they were targeting one of the government opposition people and that is why they immediately distributed the video of the aftermath of the killing through the official and unofficial media in order to reach their murderous objectives against the Iranian government and revolution." "

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/24/iran.neda.death/index.html

These claims are so stupid i'm speechless.

Quote :

"Protesters 'in new Iran clashes' Government calls for the protests to stop have gone unheeded Iranian riot police are reported to have clashed with demonstrators defying government decrees to stop street protests over disputed elections. Eyewitness reports say there have been clashes near the parliament building in the capital Tehran, in the streets around Baharestan Square. Reporting restrictions in Iran mean the BBC cannot verify the reports. The new protests came hours after Iran's supreme leader said he would "not yield" over the election result. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei again said the result would stand, despite days of protests in which at least 17 people are reported to have died. The ayatollah has repeatedly demanded that the protests stop, but his calls have gone largely unheeded. Witnesses told the Associated Press that police beat protesters with batons, fired tear gas and shot into the air to disperse the crowd on Wednesday. Although some demonstrators fought police, others fled to another square about 2km (1.2 miles) to the north, the witnesses said. IRAN UNREST 12 June Presidential election saw incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected with 63% of vote Main challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi called for result to be annulled on grounds of electoral fraud Street protests saw at least 17 people killed and foreign media restricted The main protest leader, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, has not been seen in public for days, but his website quoted his wife as saying the protests would continue. Zahra Rahnavard was also quoted as demanding the release of people detained since the election. They include 25 employees of her husband's newspaper. "It is my duty to continue legal protests to preserve Iranian rights," she was quoted as saying on the website. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the 12 June poll. Mr Mousavi alleges the election was rigged and is demanding a re-run. The ayatollah had earlier agreed to extend by five days the amount of time allowed to examine complaints of electoral fraud. But Iran's state-run Press TV channel said on Wednesday that a partial recount of the vote had verified the result, although it did not give details. In other developments, another defeated candidate, the moderate Mehdi Karoubi, reportedly denounced the new government as "illegitimate", Reuters reported on Wednesday. "I do not accept the result and therefore consider as illegitimate the new government. Because of the irregularities, the vote should be annulled," he is quoted as saying on his website. Iran has placed severe reporting restrictions on the BBC and other foreign media which mean many reports from the country cannot be verified. "

Saying that was a big step, it will surely help push the "revolution" to the next level.

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM. Reason : ]

6/24/2009 3:24:37 PM

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/06/list/

list of missing people

6/24/2009 8:14:57 PM

the footballers who wore the green wristbands have been 'retired' from the national team and told they will never represent the country ever. and their passports have been taken away.

if nothing else pointed to the illegitimacy, injustice, violence, and defensiveness of the regime, this surely does.

wearing green wristbands is not against the law, nor does it have any uniform standard meaning.

this regime is murderous and unjust. and it should be removed from power. they maintain power using fear and manipulation, and are extremely paranoid.

i hope they die off... along with the regimes of a few several other countries, such as NK, Israel, Africa, China, Russia, Arabia, etc.

6/24/2009 8:54:32 PM

all of africa. really?

6/24/2009 9:01:11 PM

pretty much, yeah. 90%? 80%?

6/24/2009 9:12:56 PM

o damn they went and messed with futebol... i give their government until World Cup 2010 AT MOST.

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 9:19 PM. Reason : pretty sure in Brazil all the high ups would be executed by now for that.]

6/24/2009 9:18:18 PM

Quote :

" wearing green wristbands is not against the law, nor does it have any uniform standard meaning."

Isn't green the "color of Islam" anyway?

6/24/2009 9:22:25 PM

Quote :

"o damn they went and messed with futebol"

hahaha yea inorite. If FIFA had a military force we'd be seeing them take the reigns on this whole situation and leading the US as well as the rest of the allied front to topple this regime.

Quote :

"wearing green wristbands is not against the law, nor does it have any uniform standard meaning."

while everything you say here is true, it was a pretty clear indicator of what their intentions were when they wore the green bands. I fully agree with you, but in perspective, I see the logic behind Ahmadinejad's decision (it's pretty much in line with that of a 4 year olds)

6/24/2009 9:27:55 PM

Quote :

"Talk of sanctions to somehow "defend the people of IRan" is crazytalk because sanctions make quality of life go down. "

no you thinking thats what the sanctions are for is crazytalk.

6/24/2009 9:29:33 PM

Economic sanctions are designed to deprive/punish the nation and hopefully put pressure on the government as people blame them for being sanctioned but the part we didn't think through is that there is a much higher likelihod of the people blaming the sanctioning government as opposed to the sanctioned government ala post ww1 Germany (those sanctions worked out well).

I cannot for the life of me understand the way some Americans tick. As an American traveling in Europe, I was often prejudged but pretty much every young person you come across seems logical with the exception of Americans theres a strange sense of intolerance. "If a nation is not ran as ours then it is wrong. Our rights and laws should be required everywhere and we should bomb any government that does elsewhere"

Lastly, people have been shot, killed beaten for breaking petty laws in many nations including the US. In the event of a civil disturbance in the US, governments would issue curfues and maybe a state of martial law. They would make clear that no one is to be on the street (was done in Iran Friday) and violators would be labeled as looters, etc. Not very long ago, we were going through a much more severe situation in the US and people were being killed on the streets quite often. The point is that nations go through phases and grow from them.

6/24/2009 9:57:21 PM

I do not support the embargo on Cuba nor did I approve of our invasion of Iraq or any other military intervention where the US tries to play world police. Unless they are legitimately a threat to our country or attacking one of our significant allies than i'd rather my Tax payer spent on welfare queens and liberal wet dreams.

6/24/2009 10:04:10 PM

^^want to run this by you. this is the us using iran to take light away from how fucked up the 2000 election was here?

6/25/2009 12:18:03 AM

The Iranian Media is now airing continuous broadcasts of interviews done with "protestors" after they've been arrested where they confess to violent behavior and bizarre acts such as a lady carrying hand grenades with her child, hoping to use them against the government.

Also in the boardcasts they repeatedly bring up the "fact" that the protests were masterminded by foreign powers and that Khamenei again stresses the urgency to stop these protests at once.

6/25/2009 7:05:39 AM

mambagrl, there is a significant difference between how social unrest is treated here and how it is being treated in Iran: 'free' press. Government agents in Iran could detain and then execute a hundred people and no one but the executioners would know. Here in America we would know who was arrested, where they were taken, and who is holding them, with reporters demanding to know when they can be interviewed.

It is not government policy that makes us free, if it were I'm sure some politician would change it. It is a cultural norm which causes a police officer to sit up and take notice when someone declares "I'm a reporter and I demand to know!"

6/25/2009 9:50:21 AM

No questions. Where are your papers?

Then you wake up hanging by your ankles from the ceiling. Just another day in Iran!

6/25/2009 9:57:52 AM

My hat protects me from the CIA's mind control beams

6/25/2009 10:01:19 AM

I've been looking through a few blogs and twitter accounts. Also, Mousavi has an active campaign on facebook. It is amazing to see the flood of media presented by the people through these channels, because there is an overwhelming passion and immediacy coming from the people, that isn't usually found with the regular foreign journalism. The regime has no chance to combat all of these media outlets with their own propaganda. The rest of the world is not fooled, but for now it seems the rural and outlying residents of Iran are.

http://shooresh1917.blogspot.com/2009/06/letter-from-tehran-hospital.html

and then you have this gem

Quote :

"The Islamic Republic of Iran does not allow under any circustances any form of mourning ceremony for NEDA AGHA SOLTAN"

Anyone aware of any local activism/gatherings in the triangle? I'm having a hard time just sitting here watching my fellow brothers and sisters being slaughtered...

6/25/2009 1:40:38 PM

Quote :

"Anyone aware of any local activism/gatherings in the triangle? I'm having a hard time just sitting here watching my fellow brothers and sisters being slaughtered... "

that's pretty much all we can do in this country. the best you can do is keep the story alive by passing it along to others.

6/25/2009 1:43:18 PM

in the first days after the election i felt really helpless too.

I figured the least, absolute least i could do was to setup my computer as a proxy so they can continue to post updates/pics/videos online.

i think a search for "setup proxy iran" in google will get you what you're looking for.

6/25/2009 1:45:09 PM

yeah. i suppose that might be an okay outlet. of course, you should only do that if you really know what you're doing. seems like a pretty big security risk if you don't know what you're doing.

6/25/2009 2:25:02 PM

yea i suppose so, but short of flying over to Iran and joining people in the streets, i figured helping them get their information out was the next best thing.

6/25/2009 4:00:43 PM

^x6 Yeah, Shaggy, this is fun!



This is not a hat brim--it's an awning.

6/25/2009 5:12:38 PM

i wonder if this has something to do with some of the patently absurd claims coming out of the gov't

Quote :

"In times of existential threat, Shiite Islam expressly permits "taqiyya," a doctrine which allows deception or lying for the greater good of the community. This is a concept, reinterpreted for contemporary purposes, from the early days of Islam, when the Shia minority was forced to resort to any means possible to survive against an aggressive Sunni majority. Which raises the question: Is Mesbah Yazdi the father of creative vote counting? "

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/06/23/iran_israel

6/25/2009 6:08:41 PM

two more actual Iranians who agree the US needs to stay the fuck out of the middle of this mess

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=231561&title=reza-aslan


http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/25/hooman_majd/print.html

Quote :

"Q: If violence continues, if more protesters are killed, is there ever a scenario in which a more activist or interventionist policy from the U.S. or Western nations would be helpful or necessary? A: Absolutely not. I don't know what the U.S. could even do, short of invading the country, which would be a disaster because you turn everybody against the United States and for the government. Other than to say it's unacceptable for a government to kill its own people who are peacefully protesting, and to make that point strongly, I don't know what else the U.S. should do. Let's think about U.S. interests. Obama is there to protect the U.S. national interests. We don't have a dog in this fight. We don't have a preference. We should have a preference for the rule of law and for people's rights being respected. If Ahmadinejad is president, the United States is going to have to deal with him whether or not his election was the will of the people. Clearly it's not the will of the people for Hosni Mubarak to be president of Egypt. It was the will of the people to have Hamas represent the Palestinian territory and we decided not to deal with the will of the people there. I think we have to be careful. If we come out on the side of the reformers and say we can't accept Ahmadinejad, it would be the equivalent of Iran saying we can't accept that Bush is president because we don't agree with the Supreme Court ruling. Q: Would you say that the neoconservatives' extremely vocal calls to intervene on behalf of Mousavi are playing into the hands of the most conservative forces in Iran? A: The neocons know nothing about Iran, nothing about the culture of Iran. They have no interest in understanding Iran, in speaking to any Iranian other than Iranian exiles who support the idea of invasions -- I'll call them Iranian Chalabis. It's offensive, even to an Iranian American like me. These are people who would have actually preferred to have Ahmadinejad as president so they could continue to demonize him and were worried, as some wrote in Op-Eds, that Mousavi would be a distraction and would make it easier for Iranians to build a nuclear weapon and now all of a sudden they want to be on his side? Go away. I'm not saying Obama is the most knowledgeable person on Iran, but he's obviously getting good advice right now. He understands way more about the culture of the Middle East than any of the neocons. For them to be lecturing President Obama is a joke. I have criticized Obama; for instance, I criticized him for having a patronizing tone in his Persian New Year message. But right now I think he's doing a good job. The John McCains of the world, they're Ahmadinejad's useful idiots. They're doing a great job for him."

6/25/2009 10:25:04 PM

Well, it's depressing, but everything seems to have come to a stand still. I'm not sure what the next course of action is, for either side. I wonder what sorts of events will turn when Ahmadinejad is confirmed president, will that cause people to take to the streets again? I hope it coerces other nations to step up and take the appropriate steps in doing business with Iran.

6/26/2009 9:31:20 AM

Quote :

" Would you say that the neoconservatives' extremely vocal calls to intervene on behalf of Mousavi are playing into the hands of the most conservative forces in Iran?"

Man, I must be out of the loop because I haven't heard anyone advocating military intervention in Iran. (other than blowing up potential nuclear sites, but that is old news). Nice strawman, Salon.

6/26/2009 12:20:20 PM

intervene does not necessarily equal military intervention

6/26/2009 1:13:57 PM

^^ I'm not sure that's what salon was suggesting.....
of course, the critics like McCain and Graham aren't saying that either, but they're not exactly saying what they would prefer. All they're doing is opposing or nay-saying whatever Obama is doing, without saying what they would prefer instead

so, who's using a straw-man now?

[Edited on June 26, 2009 at 1:16 PM. Reason : . ]

6/26/2009 1:15:27 PM

I've got a strawman

remembert this song?

BOMB BOMB BOMB

BOMB BOMB IRAN

6/26/2009 1:29:56 PM

Quote :

"Well, it's depressing, but everything seems to have come to a stand still. I'm not sure what the next course of action is, for either side. I wonder what sorts of events will turn when Ahmadinejad is confirmed president, will that cause people to take to the streets again? I hope it coerces other nations to step up and take the appropriate steps in doing business with Iran."

the supreme leader has lost legitimacy with a large swath of the population of iran. just remember, the '79 revolution took a year. also, the gov't has made it harder for information to get in and out of iran. but i don't think they can keep the whole country under wraps for too long without unrest from people who had supported the status quo. iran is a very internet savvy population.

just wait for neda death + 40 days. there will be a big demo.

6/26/2009 5:15:22 PM

^ yep, if i recall the 3/7/40 day mourning periods gave momentum to the '79 revolution too, and of course neda is predicted to have a similar impact.

I have read on some blogs that Rafsanjani is attempting to gain support from the assembly of experts to dismiss Khamenei. That would seem to be a huge move if its true.

6/27/2009 10:57:19 AM

Hey - what if the United States clandestinely supported the resistance movement in Iran? We don't have to invade - we just need to arm the revolutionaries! Then we'd have a legitimate, stable, pro-US government in Iran and no American casualties. How could it go wrong?

6/28/2009 8:56:01 AM

^ lol

sounds like a perfect plan to me

6/28/2009 10:10:19 AM

Quote :

"Iran says Neda's death may be tied to 'terrorist' group"

Wait, I thought she wasn't really dead and that it was just staged?

6/28/2009 9:56:21 PM

I fear the fate of a world that suddenly believes everything it sees on twitter, youtube and facebook. When credible sources are siting botfeste social networking sites as their source for news, Help us.

6/28/2009 11:01:40 PM

I guess we should take the word of that fantastic Iranian press, then, right? The that said there were only 5000 protestors. The one that said Neda wasn't really dead, and then said she was killed by terrorists? riiight

peace out, troll

6/28/2009 11:07:23 PM

aw come on guys oppressive regimes can't be all false reports especially when compared to the propaganda of twitter.

6/28/2009 11:12:56 PM

Quote :

"Wait, I thought she wasn't really dead and that it was just staged?"

I saw another article that had the far-reaching headline "CIA behind Neda shooting?" or something like that. The issue here is that the gubmint didn't get their story straight about the shooting before going and lying to the press about how it happened.

They really need to tighten up their propaganda machine. This is sloppy pisspoor work on their part.

6/28/2009 11:18:00 PM

Gen Ray Odierno: Iran Still Supporting Iraq Militants

Quote :

"6/30/2009 2:42 PM ET (RTTNews) - Top U.S. military commander in Iraq General Ray Odierno, Tuesday accused Iran of continuing to support militants in Iraq by training and supplying them with arms and ammunition. 'Iran is still supporting, funding and training surrogates who operate inside of Iraq. They have not stopped and I don't think they will stop,' Odierno told reporters. 'I think many of the attacks in Baghdad are from individuals that have been in fact funded or trained by the Iranians.'"

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=993378

Iran's Nuclear Threat [06/30/2009; video length: 58 minutes}

http://tinyurl.com/n3eyfm

[Edited on June 30, 2009 at 4:34 PM. Reason : .]

6/30/2009 4:26:52 PM

Yeah, let's believe the guy.

'Many' of the attacks are funded by Iran? Almost all attacks are by Sunnis. So now Iran is making Sunnis blow themselves up?

Oh, and: "I think". Well, I think you should go fuck yourself, good General. If you have proof, cough it up, otherwise, STFU.

6/30/2009 5:55:16 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html?_r=2&ref=world

Quote :

"An important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment."

7/5/2009 4:23:26 PM

so there hasn't been much word of anything lately. will it pick up again for the Neda 40 day mourning?

7/5/2009 4:29:13 PM

Anyone that goes against the Supreme Leader is an agent of the US. Period.

7/5/2009 4:29:54 PM

There will be calm and then spurts of demonstrations. At least thats what happened last time.

The problem is that the current government knows exactly what was done during the first revolution and probably knows the best way to stop it.

7/5/2009 6:06:13 PM