Daughter of Rafsanjani Arrested;
Death Toll for Saturday at Least 10;
Khatami calls for Impartial Panel
The death toll caused by the state's crackdown on the demonstrations in Iran on Saturday has risen to 10-13, with 100 injured.
The regime has arrested Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, daughter of the former president, who spoke at a pro-Mousavi rally, along with 4 other members of that family. This step is typical of an old Iranian ruling technique, of keeping provincial tribal chieftains in check by keeping some of their children hostage at the royal court. It is widely suspected that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a multi-billionaire who is well connected politically, is funding and aiding the reform movement's protests.
Former president Mohammad Khatami has criticized Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for banning even peaceful large demonstrations. Khatami said, according to Lebanon Now:
' “Prohibiting people from expressing their demands in a civilized manner will have dire consequences. . .”
“Linking the healthy movements of the people with foreign interference is a flawed political practice, which leads to alienating the people from the government . . .”
Khatami maintained that the big turnout in the election, nearly 40 million voters, demonstrated that the voters were the owners of the state and the revolution. He praised the silent protests and the polite behavior of the demonstrators. (The regime is now calling them "terrorists.")
The former president said that crisis could still be resolved peacefully, but not by putting its resolution “in the hands of a referee who is also under suspicion and complaint.” (This is a reference to Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardianship Council, who is a strong partisan of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). He called for an impartial commission to look into the charges of ballot fraud.
Khatami remarked, “This is the only solution to safely overcome the current phase and a positive step on the path to reinforce the Iranian system and to settle the crisis in the best interests of the Iranian people and the principles of the revolution. . .”
Grand Ayatollah Husayn Montazeri called for 3 days of mourning for the victims.
Aljazeera English reports on the violence on Saturday:
End/ (Not Continued)
posted by Juan Cole @ 6/21/2009 12:39:00 PM
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5 Comments:
iran has military conflicts on three of its borders
america and israel have been threatening it for several years and has encouraged domestic terroristic activity
the country has been under sanctions for over a decade
and the instability of the oil price affects its economy
with all those issues what is it the opposition and mousavi want?
how will mousavi improve the economy under the above named conditions?
does propose a total capitulation to its enemies demands
While the protesters continue to rage in tehran, the much more fanscinating story is unfolding in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom.
Al Arabiya is reporting the bombshell that Ayatullah Sistani's top representative is involved in talks between all the politically important Marjas about 2 major world-changing developments: (1) the replacement of the Rahbar, (currently Khamenei) with a committee of some sort, and (2) calling for the resignation of Pres Ahmedinejad and presumably a new vote.
In this scenario, Iran's top clerics could perhaps re-adopt the pre-Khomeini shi'ite "quietist" tradition that is dominant next door in Najaf, Iraq. True executive authority in Tehran and control of the levers of power might shift to the elected president, a backdoor revolution cooked up by Sistani and the other top Marja brass.
That Sistani, the de-facto "pope" for much of the world's twelver shia population, is inserting himself into the situation so brazenly shows just how weak Khamenei's standing has become among the clerics. His clear involvement in massve electoral fraud discredits his already flimsy case for being considered a true marja by his peers. His lust of power was his own undoing, thus proving Sistani, and Kheoi before him, that the Najaf school's quietest approach is most appropriate.
Sistani is the key. From Najaf he won't be subject to house arrest and with a fatwa he can give religious credibility to Rafsanjani, Khatami, and Mousavi. Remember, Sistani stood up to Bush, Cheney, and Wolfowitz and won. Khamenei is finished.
Assembly of Experts, which is chaired by Rafsanjani, backs the elections. Rafsanajani's deputy apparrently signed it for him, though.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=197201
Re-adopt? Many, if not most, of Iran's senior 'ulama never "lost" their belief that the 'ulama and seminaries should be separate from the government, as historically been the case.
Strange... wasn't it Rafsanjani who helped Khamenei to acquire his position?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq2-_eGlshI
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