You say you want a REVOLUTION

[Red Sun]

<snip of The Stranger being awesome>

Angalin: Khomeini instituted his system based in no small part on the role he played as a teacher in Qom during the 60s, before he was expelled by the Shah. He was, in fact, the instructor charged with teaching the most sophisticated courses on mysticism and greek occult philosophy. That's right, Khomeini was basically Yoda. Apparently he never had a single student who could keep up with his intellect, and was considered a strange, brilliant mystic. Fast forward to the mid 70s, when he's been made a revolutionary by default because the Shah and Saddam Hussein have both gunned for him at some point or another. So at this point he was trying to find a way to institute a just Islamic govt on earth. the answer came to him, not from Islam, but from Plato: a just government needed a philosopher-king. so from here he raised the cry for the notion of a Supreme Jurist to run a country, published a manifesto, and all of it became credible worldwide once he succeeds.

What you wrote in your last post is really interesting, especially the different facets of Khomeini. Independently of what I personally think of him, it is very fascinating to learn about his biography. He seems really a very complex person. Could you recommend some more reading material on him and on the history of Shi'a?

[LCOTNW]

Could you recommend some more reading material on him and on the history of Shi'a?

seconded!

[The Stranger]

Warring Souls is a fascinating look at Khomeini as war-leader, arguing that he was in fact able to galvanize the Iranian war effort against Iraq by transforming the structure of the Iranian military into a Sufi hierarchy promising the transcendence of martyrdom, with himself as the ultimate guide to enlightenment and paradise.

The Mantle of the Prophet is the godfather and grand champion of all books written on Islamic Iran. It provides unparalleled insight into the structure of Qom, Khomeini's role in the clerical world, and the overall nature of the Shia power structure. It is longish and a bit dense, but damn worth it.

The Shia Revival is an easy book, and a bit wonkish, but it is written by a very credible author who does a good job of explaining to a layman how the system of relations between Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan contributes to a greater Shia world, and how this world was changed by the overthrow of S.H.

[Angalin]

Stranger, thanks for the background and the book list. :) Did Khomeini never stop to ask himself who would take over as philosopher-king after his death?

[Altherion]

Thanks, Stranger.

Angalin, it sounds like Montazeri was the presumed heir until fairly late in the game.

[Red Sun]

Thanks, The Stranger. The recommendations are highly appreciated.

[Benjen Stark]

Here is an article that attempts to deduce how Khamenei looks at his world.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0623/p06s02-wome.html

Key note:

Scholars say that Khamenei's political activism under the shah, as well as his experience of being tortured by the shah's secret police, helped cement his view that the United States and Britain see Islam and Iran as implacable foes, with both countries supporting the shah and providing training and resources to his apparatus of repression.

"Clearly, he views the world as aligned against Iran, he talks about the Iran-Iraq war as a war of the world against Iran, not a war of two states," says Maloney. "He talks about Ahmedinejad's term in office in very glowing terminology, as someone who brought the revolution back to its roots and returned Iran from the brink of vulnerability."

Basically, he is afraid of the enemies of 30+ years ago gaining any fingerhold in his nation.

And a bit of red meat for this crowd:

"I've always thought of him as the Dick Cheney of Iran," she says. "You wouldn't have expected, based on his personality, that he'd amass this kind of power."

[Sad King Billy]

A new strategy

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has made the following call for mass action tomorrow, Wednesday, morning throughout the cities and towns of Iran.

Leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, has just posted Khatami's call to his Facebook page:

...

From this Tuesday, at 9 every morning we will all go to the bazaar in our towns all over the country. If they prevent us, the bazaar will close. If they do not, there will be such congestion that the business will get interrupted and the bazaar will close. If they disconnect the telephone lines, again all activities will get interrupted and the bazaar will close. As much as possible, we will shut down the whole town and go to the bazaar to shut it down.

Take everyone with you. Bring the children, too �"without any slogans-without green signs-without sit-ins; pretending to go shopping but not buying anything. We will only think of shutting down the bazaar, but do not leave any traces, not even a victory sign by our hands. NOT AT ALL.

...

Dear Mr. Mousavi: We do not need your martyrdom and self-sacrifice; we need your leadership until we reach our goals. Until 9am Tuesday, the 3rd day of the martyrdom of June 20th martyrs, we will have enough time to inform everyone.

Inform friends by any means: through websites, foreign media…. From Tuesday towards bazaar.

This is quite brilliant on a tactical level. It is a method of contributing to a General Strike without calling it one. It gives the bazaari shopkeepers a pretext to shut down the bazaars - the backbone of Iranian commerce - without risking losing their market posts (as the State has threatened). It allows demonstrators a large degree of stealth heading to and from the "demonstration" without placards or wearing green or anything else to call attention to them as individuals. It focuses the struggle in a highly public place - one that exists in every city and town - where if the State chooses violent repression it will provoke even more opposition from previously unmobilized forces.

[LCOTNW]

CNN story about mullahs seen marching with protestors. Don't know if it means anything yet.

There is some other chatter about the Guardian Council saying the election won't be nullified, but then Khamenei allowing the complaint deadline to be extended.

Sounds like there is still a lack of coordination among the power players.

ETA: spelling

[Angalin]

Angalin, it sounds like Montazeri was the presumed heir until fairly late in the game.

Yes, I got this Daily Beast link from an Iranian guy. Montazeri didn't like Khomeini's setup, it seems, which is why Khamenei got the job. It's a good piece by Reza Aslan.

[edited to correct link]

[IheartTesla]

The Daily Show clip I just saw with Jason Jones in Iran was hilarious. It was basically Jay-walking, except in Iran and New York.

[L’Age d’or]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/20090622...an-protests.htm

Revolutionary Guards commander defies Khamenei's orders to use force on protestors

A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been arrested for refusing to obey Iran's Supreme Leader, according to reports from the Balatarin website.

General Ali Fazli, who was recently appointed as a commander of the Revolutionary Guards in the province of Tehran, is reported to have been arrested after he refused to carry out orders from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to use force on people protesting the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

For full coverage of the Iranian election protests click here

Fazli, a veteran of the devastating Iran-Iraq war is also believed to have been sacked and taken to an unknown location.

The Revolutionary Guards is a separate body to the mainstream armed forces in Iran and is seen as one of the main and most powerful bodies responsible for protecting the Islamic theocratic regime.

Earlier today the Revolutionary Guards issued a warning on its website threatening to come down hard on Iranians who continue protesting against what many in the country see as rigged elections.

[L’Age d’or]

Video: Protestors in Kerman offer flowers to the police and they accept.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-272472

People are chanting at the Riot police " Support us, Support us"

Its a good strategy which was used during the 1979 revolution to bring the police and army to people's side.

[The Space Pope]

Upon learning of his son's death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a "bullet fee"—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.

Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn't amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour's body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124571865270639351.html

[The Space Pope]

According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul.

They were among six players who took to the field wearing wristbands in the colour of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, which has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the 12 June election was stolen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/2...all-protest-ban

[The Space Pope]

Reuters reports that Iranian state television has suggested that Neda Agha-Soltan’s killing was staged:

Iranian TV, quoting unnamed source, said Neda was not shot by a bullet used by Iranian security forces. It said filming of the scene, and its swift broadcast to foreign media, suggested the incident was planned.

On Monday night we noted that an Iranian student writing for The Daily Beast said that his parents, who watch only state-controlled television, refused to believe that this young woman could have been killed by the Iranian government.

Reuters adds:

Iranian state television, in a broadcasts clearly intended to discredit opponents defying a ban on protests, paraded people it said had been arrested during weekend violence. “I think we were provoked by networks like the BBC and the VOA (Voice of America) to take such immoral actions,†one young man said. His face was shown but his name not given.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle6561253.ece

The Iranian authorities have ordered the family of a student shot dead in Tehran to take down mourning posters as they struggle to stop her becoming the rallying point for protests against the presidential election.

Neda Salehi Agha Soltan, 26, was killed as she watched a pro-democracy protest, and mobile phone footage of her last moments have become a worldwide symbol of Iran's turmoil.

The authorities had already banned a public funeral or wake and have prevented gatherings in her name while the state-controlled media has not mentioned Miss Soltan's death.

Today it was reported that they had also told her family to take down the black mourning banners outside their home in the Tehran suburbs to prevent it becoming a place of pilgrimage. They were also told they could not hold a memorial service at a mosque.

My colleague Nazila Fathi reports from Tehran that witnesses who attended today’s rally outside Iran’s Parliament building, say the security forces did open fire:

Hundreds of protesters clashed with waves of riot police and paramilitary militia in Tehran on Wednesday, witnesses said, as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted the authorities would not yield to pressure from opponents demanding a new election following allegations of electoral fraud.

It was impossible to confirm first-hand the extent of the new violence in the capital because of draconian new press restrictions on coverage of the post-election mayhem. But the witnesses reached by telephone said the confrontation, outside the national Parliament building, was bloody, with police using live ammunition.

Defying government warnings, the witnesses said that hundreds, if not thousands of protesters, had attempted to gather in front of the parliament on Baharestan Square. They were met with riot police and paramilitary militia, who struck at them with truncheons, tear gas, and guns. One witness said he saw a 19-year-old woman shot in the neck.

Also, reports are now coming in that violence on Saturday was worse then originally thought. Death Tolls from that day are now coming in OVER 150. It's hard to keep track though, as the government forces are still stealing bodies.

[Benjen Stark]

Today's blog lowlights:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jun/24/iran-crisis

Newspaper Roozonline has an interview (in Persian) with one of the young plainclothes militiamen who have been beating protesters.

UPDATE: Robert says the man is paid 2m rial per day, which would be about £1220 for ten days of work. A hefty fee, even by UK standards. A reader writes: "You can imagine what that kind of money means to a villager from Khorasan".

The Guardian's Robert Tait sends this synopsis:

Many reports have noted that a large percentage of the plainclothes "officers" don't speak Tehran's dialect of Farsi.

CNN just interviewed someone who was at Baharestan Square. She tells of a massacre and a massive assault by policemen. The witness was hysterical and speaking very fast.

[Benjen Stark]

More on Neda's family:

A correspondent in Tehran, whom we will not identify out of fear for his safety, visited Neda Agha-Soltan's family home last night and learned her family has been forced out of the house.

The correspondent writes:

Neighbours said that her family no longer lives in the four-floor apartment building on Meshkini Street, in eastern Tehran, having been forced to move since she was killed. The police did not hand the body back to her family, her funeral was cancelled, she was buried without letting her family know and the government banned mourning ceremonies at mosques, the neighbours said.

Read the full story here.

Another fun story is that a Pro-Ahmadinijad newspaper is claiming that Jon Leyne (BBC reporter forced out of Iran) hired thugs to kill her so he could make a documentary about the abuses of Iran.

[awesome possum]

Just a week ago this seemed like such a story of hope amid crappy circumstances. Now it's just depressing.

[EHK for Darwin]

Even if only half those stories are true, I am now beyond disgusted. I want this regime to die a vicious and painful death with its highest figures tortured for weeks before succumbing live on television. I'm pissed to all hell at the CIA, the British, and the Eisenhower administration for laying the ground work for this regime to come into power and for shredding our moral authority to condemn those worthless, cocksucking shitheels like we rightfully should. Fucking disgusting, worthless, piece of shit fucks.