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I'm optomistic that this will go well, and Khomeni will get deposed. Iran ain't Egypt, though. The military is firmly on the side of the Ayatollah, and if the Kuds Force gets involved, it could be bad news for the people doing the organizing. They don't fuck around.
Two people have been killed in clashes between protesters and police in Iran, a senior lawmaker says.
Originally posted by Fox News
Iran Says 1 Killed, Dozens Injured in Protests
Published February 15, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Iranian police have confirmed that one person was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters.
The official IRNA news agency on Tuesday quotes acting police commander Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan as saying dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, also were wounded in Monday's protests. Radan says one of the injured is in critical condition.
He also said several people were arrested, but did not say how many.
Radan blamed the violence on the Iraq-based Iranian opposition group, MEK. He provided no proof to back up his claim.
On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters clashed with police in Tehran during an opposition rally in support of the Egyptian uprising.
It was the opposition's first major show of strength in more than a year.
Published February 15, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Iranian police have confirmed that one person was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters.
The official IRNA news agency on Tuesday quotes acting police commander Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan as saying dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, also were wounded in Monday's protests. Radan says one of the injured is in critical condition.
He also said several people were arrested, but did not say how many.
Radan blamed the violence on the Iraq-based Iranian opposition group, MEK. He provided no proof to back up his claim.
On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters clashed with police in Tehran during an opposition rally in support of the Egyptian uprising.
It was the opposition's first major show of strength in more than a year.
Originally posted by MSNBC
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 56 minutes ago
TEHRAN— Iranian lawmakers urged the
judiciary on Tuesday to hand out death
penalties to opposition leaders for fomenting
unrest in the Islamic state after a rally in which
one person was killed and dozens were
wounded, state media said.
Clashes broke out between security forces
and protesters when thousands of opposition
supporters rallied in sympathy for popular
uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday,
reviving mass protests that shook Iran after a
presidential vote in 2009.
"(Opposition leaders) Mahdi Karroubi and Mir
Hossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried,"
the official IRNA news agency quoted
lawmakers as saying in a statement.
The loose term "corrupt on earth" — a charge
which has been leveled at political dissidents
in the past — carries the death penalty in the
country.
"Those who created public disorder on
Monday will be confronted firmly and
immediately," judiciary spokesman
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said.
The BBC reported that about 50 conservative
lawmakers also marched through the
parliament's main hall Tuesday, chanting
"Death to Mousavi, death to Karroubi."
Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused
opposition leaders of being part of a Western
plot to overthrow the Islamic system.
The claim has been denied by Mousavi, a
former Iranian premier, and Karroubi, a
former Iranian parliament speaker and leader
of the National Confidence reformist party.
Parliament speaker Ali Larijani also accused
the United States and its allies of providing
advertisement AFP - Getty Images file Mahdi Karroubi, left, and Mir Hossein Mousavi have repeatedly been accused of being part of a Western plot to overthrow the Islamic system. Iran lawmakers call for execution of opposition leaders 'Those who created public disorder ... will be confronted firmly and immediately,' judiciary official says
support to the opposition.
"The main aim of Americans was to simulate
the recent events in the Middle East in Iran to
divert attentions from those countries,"
Larijani said, state radio reported.
Protests against Iran's clerical establishment
appeared to have ended and life was back to
normal in Tehran streets and other cities on
Tuesday.
Wary of a repeat of the protests in 2009,
which saw the biggest unrest since Iran's
1979 Islamic revolution , hardline rulers are expected to step up
pressure on the opposition to prevent a new
flare-up.
The last anti-government protest in Iran was
in December 2009 when eight people were
killed.
At least 20 pro-reform activists were arrested
before the protests, opposition websites
reported.
State television described protesters as
"hypocrites, monarchists, thugs and
seditionists."
A senior police official said dozens of
protesters had been arrested and at least nine
policemen were wounded by "hypocrites."
"We have information...that America, Britain
and Israel guided the opposition leaders who
called for the rally," said deputy police chief
Ahmadreza Radan, the semi-official Fars news
agency reported.
Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei has called the uprisings in Egypt
and Tunisia against secular, Western-allied
rulers an "Islamic awakening," akin to the
1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-
backed shah in Iran.
But the opposition say events in Tunisia and
Egypt mirror their own protests after the June
2009 vote which they say was rigged to secure
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-
election. Authorities deny this.
The opposition leaders, who called the
protest, were prevented by security forces
from participating the rally, Mousavi's website
Kaleme reported.
Amnesty International, Britain and the United
States condemned the authorities' reaction to
the protests.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was due to
reference Iran in a speech on Internet freedom
later Tuesday.
In excerpts released by the State Department,
she said there was a debate "about whether
the Internet is a force for liberation or
repression."
"But as the events in Iran, Egypt and
elsewhere have shown, that debate is largely
beside the point," the U.S. secretary of state
said. "The Internet isn't good or bad. It is both.
It is neither. What matters is what people who
go online do there, and what principles should
guide us as we come together in cyberspace.
"Together, the freedoms of expression,
assembly, and association online comprise
what I have called the freedom to connect. The
United States supports this freedom for
people everywhere, and we have called on
other nations to do the same."
Clinton said the U.S. was "convinced that an
open Internet fosters long-term peace,
progress and prosperity" but added the
reverse "is also true."
"An Internet that is closed and fractured,
where different governments can block
activity or change the rules on a whim, where
speech is censored or punished, and privacy
does not exist, that is an Internet that can cut
off opportunities for peace and progress and
discourage innovation and entrepreneurship,"
Clinton said.
"There is no silver bullet in the struggle against
Internet repression. There's no 'app' for that.
And accordingly, we are taking a
comprehensive and innovative approach, one
that matches our diplomacy with technology,
secure distribution networks for tools, and
direct support for those on the front lines."
Reuters, NBC News and msnbc.com staff contributed to
this report.
updated 56 minutes ago
TEHRAN— Iranian lawmakers urged the
judiciary on Tuesday to hand out death
penalties to opposition leaders for fomenting
unrest in the Islamic state after a rally in which
one person was killed and dozens were
wounded, state media said.
Clashes broke out between security forces
and protesters when thousands of opposition
supporters rallied in sympathy for popular
uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday,
reviving mass protests that shook Iran after a
presidential vote in 2009.
"(Opposition leaders) Mahdi Karroubi and Mir
Hossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried,"
the official IRNA news agency quoted
lawmakers as saying in a statement.
The loose term "corrupt on earth" — a charge
which has been leveled at political dissidents
in the past — carries the death penalty in the
country.
"Those who created public disorder on
Monday will be confronted firmly and
immediately," judiciary spokesman
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said.
The BBC reported that about 50 conservative
lawmakers also marched through the
parliament's main hall Tuesday, chanting
"Death to Mousavi, death to Karroubi."
Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused
opposition leaders of being part of a Western
plot to overthrow the Islamic system.
The claim has been denied by Mousavi, a
former Iranian premier, and Karroubi, a
former Iranian parliament speaker and leader
of the National Confidence reformist party.
Parliament speaker Ali Larijani also accused
the United States and its allies of providing
advertisement AFP - Getty Images file Mahdi Karroubi, left, and Mir Hossein Mousavi have repeatedly been accused of being part of a Western plot to overthrow the Islamic system. Iran lawmakers call for execution of opposition leaders 'Those who created public disorder ... will be confronted firmly and immediately,' judiciary official says
support to the opposition.
"The main aim of Americans was to simulate
the recent events in the Middle East in Iran to
divert attentions from those countries,"
Larijani said, state radio reported.
Protests against Iran's clerical establishment
appeared to have ended and life was back to
normal in Tehran streets and other cities on
Tuesday.
Wary of a repeat of the protests in 2009,
which saw the biggest unrest since Iran's
1979 Islamic revolution , hardline rulers are expected to step up
pressure on the opposition to prevent a new
flare-up.
The last anti-government protest in Iran was
in December 2009 when eight people were
killed.
At least 20 pro-reform activists were arrested
before the protests, opposition websites
reported.
State television described protesters as
"hypocrites, monarchists, thugs and
seditionists."
A senior police official said dozens of
protesters had been arrested and at least nine
policemen were wounded by "hypocrites."
"We have information...that America, Britain
and Israel guided the opposition leaders who
called for the rally," said deputy police chief
Ahmadreza Radan, the semi-official Fars news
agency reported.
Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei has called the uprisings in Egypt
and Tunisia against secular, Western-allied
rulers an "Islamic awakening," akin to the
1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-
backed shah in Iran.
But the opposition say events in Tunisia and
Egypt mirror their own protests after the June
2009 vote which they say was rigged to secure
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-
election. Authorities deny this.
The opposition leaders, who called the
protest, were prevented by security forces
from participating the rally, Mousavi's website
Kaleme reported.
Amnesty International, Britain and the United
States condemned the authorities' reaction to
the protests.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was due to
reference Iran in a speech on Internet freedom
later Tuesday.
In excerpts released by the State Department,
she said there was a debate "about whether
the Internet is a force for liberation or
repression."
"But as the events in Iran, Egypt and
elsewhere have shown, that debate is largely
beside the point," the U.S. secretary of state
said. "The Internet isn't good or bad. It is both.
It is neither. What matters is what people who
go online do there, and what principles should
guide us as we come together in cyberspace.
"Together, the freedoms of expression,
assembly, and association online comprise
what I have called the freedom to connect. The
United States supports this freedom for
people everywhere, and we have called on
other nations to do the same."
Clinton said the U.S. was "convinced that an
open Internet fosters long-term peace,
progress and prosperity" but added the
reverse "is also true."
"An Internet that is closed and fractured,
where different governments can block
activity or change the rules on a whim, where
speech is censored or punished, and privacy
does not exist, that is an Internet that can cut
off opportunities for peace and progress and
discourage innovation and entrepreneurship,"
Clinton said.
"There is no silver bullet in the struggle against
Internet repression. There's no 'app' for that.
And accordingly, we are taking a
comprehensive and innovative approach, one
that matches our diplomacy with technology,
secure distribution networks for tools, and
direct support for those on the front lines."
Reuters, NBC News and msnbc.com staff contributed to
this report.
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