Iranian Blogger Dies in Custody

Iranian blogger and Facebook activist Sattar Beheshti is reported dead in custody. Beheshti, 35, was taken into custody accused of opposition activism on Facebook. His family said today that they have received phone calls from the prison authorities asking them to collect Beheshti's dead body from the notorious Kahrizak detention center. They fear he has died under torture.

Iran’s popular news site Tabak said Beheshti was arrested by Fata (cyber police) and has died while being interrogated.

Sahamnews, a website close to the opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi, also said Beheshti had died "under torture" during an interrogation session with security officials.

Before his arrest, Beheshti wrote in his blog: “They threatened me yesterday that my mother would wear black because I don't shut my mouth.”

Latest Earthquake Casualty Figures: 300 Killed, 2,600 Injured

Iran halted efforts to rescue survivors as the focus shifted to treat scores of injured in the region’s overcrowded hospitals. The number of people killed in the earthquakes rose to 300, with 2,600 injured.

Local officials report that some twenty villages in the area have been completely leveled. Lack of adequate hospital beds, tents, food and other supplies were hampering the emergency work.

Meanwhile, ISNA quoted a spokesman for the Iranian Red Crescent as saying that there is no need for foreign aid. Many countries and international organizations, including Japan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF, have offered their help.

Iran Earthquake- Casualties Rising

Two powerful earthquakes killed at least 250 people, and injuring more than 2,000. Casualty figures are expected to rise, Iranian officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 km (6.2 miles). A second quake measuring 6.3 struck 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz 11 minutes later at a similar depth.

Photo Credit: Hamed Nazari/Mehr news Agency

Three Iranian Hostages Killed During Air Raid on Detention Place

The Free Army of Syria, the main opposition group, said three Iranian hostages were killed on Monday during what they said to be an air attack by government forces on a house they were being kept. The rebels threatened to kill the remaining Iranians in their custody unless the army stopped its attack.

"They were killed when the aircraft attacked. One of the houses they were in collapsed over their heads," FAS spokesman Moutassam al-Ahmad said. "We will kill the rest if the army does not stop its assault.” (Reuters)

Ahmad said that a number of rebels were also killed in the attack. "Our losses are bigger than theirs."

Fighters from the al-Baraa brigade of the rebel Free Army of Syria kidnapped 48 Iranians on Saturday on suspicion of being military personnel, but Iran says they are pilgrims.

Large Protest in Bahrain During Funeral of a Young Boy Killed by Police

Thousands marched in Sitra, near the Bahraini capital of Manama, during the funeral of a 14-year old boy killed by the police on Wednesday. The killing of the young boy, Ali Jawad Ahmad, has outraged many people throughout Bahrain. He was killed after being struck in the head by a police tear gas canister fired directly at a crowd of anti-government protesters.

In the capital late Wednesday and early today, angry protesters clashed with security forces as they tried to retake a central square that had been the center of protests in the spring.

Amnesty International condemned the killing and the excessive use of force by the police.

“This tragic death occurred during a peaceful protest where police appear to have used excessive force against people demonstrating against the government,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. 
“The police have a duty to uphold the law, but it is completely unacceptable to throw heavy gas canisters at children.”

Amnesty International Urges UN to Take Urgent Action on Syrian Bloodshed

1500 Dead Since March

Following the deadliest assault to date on Syrian protesters Sunday and more casualties reported Monday in the shelling of the city of Hama, Amnesty International repeated its demand that the UN Security Council urgently respond to the bloodshed.

“It is long past time for the UN Security Council to take concrete steps to end the bloody crackdown in Syria that continues to claim countless lives amid peaceful protests,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Since the start of the Arab Spring, many people have lost their lives in their quest for dignity and freedom in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya. But the scale of bloodshed in Syria is unprecedented, with more than 1500 people dead in the past five months. The Syrian leaders are indeed committing crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice.

Iraqi Security Forces Attack MKO Camp, Killing and Injuring Hundreds - UPDATE

UPDATE: Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi today praised the brutal attack by Iraq’s security forces on Camp Ashraf. The raid “needs to be praised,” he said.

“Under the Iraqi constitution, no terrorist group can use the Iraqi soil as a base to operate against neighboring countries," Salehi added [AP, 9 April].

*****

Iran’s opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq Organization (MKO) reported today that 31 of its members were killed, and over 300 injured, during an assault by Iraqi security forces on their camp north of Baghdad. The videos released from the raid are reminiscent of the brutalities of Saddam Hossein’s security forces, showing armed soldiers shooting unarmed Iranians trying to flee from the scene. Iraqi officials, again not unlike the days of Saddam, claim that their forces shot the residents in the camp after they provoked them, a narrative rejected by witnesses telling their stories on YouTube videos.

Camp Ashraf is a sprawling settlement near the Iranian border housing some 3,000 Mujahed militants. The Iranian government has been running a long campaign against the MKO, accusing them of being a pro-US terrorist organization. The MKO is infamous for its support of Saddam during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war.

But the MKO consider itself the leading opposition force against the clerical rule in Iran and accuse the Iranian government of brutality against their members and sympathizers, including the execution of hundreds of their supporters throughout the years.

The Iraqi government of Nouri Al-Makiki now appears to do the work of the Iranian government and is determined to expel the group from Iraq or otherwise annihilate them.

Unrest in Tehran

The opposition has come out for the second time in a week to stage anti-government protests in Tehran and other major cities in Iran. Today's actions were called in memory of two fallen protesters during last week’s demonstrations.

Eyewitnesses from Tehran report that pockets of hundreds of protesters have stages simultaneous demonstrations in Vali Asr Square, Keshavarz Blvd, Amir Abad, Enghelab, Vanak and Haft-e Tir Squares, many chanting “Death to the Dictator.”

There are reports of hundreds of security forces in civilian cloths driving through the streets of Tehran in motorcycles, wielding batons and clubs, and some armed, chasing away and beating the protesters. There are reports of tear gas being used by regular police forces as well, but because of heavy rain in Tehran their effect is minimal. Shotguns have been heard, but there are no confirmed reports of casualties, although some eyewitnesses are reporting that a protester has been killed in Haft-e Tir Square.

Protesters, Government Supporters Clash in Tehran

Clashes between protesters and government supporters continued today in Tehran. The scene today was the funeral ceremony of a person killed during Monday’s protests. The government claims that a member of a rebel group shot him in the head. The opposition contends that security or pro-government forces shot the man, most likely a bystander, as no one among the demonstrators was armed. There are no reports of casualties as of yet in today’s events.

One Killed, Dozens Injured in Tehran Protests - UPDATE

The commander of NAJA, Iran’s national police, has confirmed the reports that a person was killed in Tehran during clashes between security forces and protesters on Monday. NAJA Commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan also said dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, were wounded in Monday's protests. Gen. Radan says one of the injured is in critical condition.

On Monday, thousands of protesters clashed with police in Tehran during an opposition rally in support of the Egyptian uprising. The protests turned against the Iranian government almost from the start.

UPDATE: Iran’s opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK) on Tuesday denied a claim made by Iran’s police chief Gen. Radan that its members fired on an opposition rally in Tehran, calling it a lie. Gen. Radan had said earlier that MEK opened fire at police and protesters, killing one person and injuring dozens.

Basij Force Firing at People on Ashura

Basijis firing their pistols at demonstrators on Ashura

(Click to enlarge)

Tehran. Hafez Bridge. 27 December 2009

INA Photo

Tehran: 4 Killed, 300 Arrested

Iran’s state-owned TV website confirmed that four people have been killed and around 300 people arrested during today’s anti-government demonstrations in Tehran [IRIB, 27 December]. Tehran’s police chief had earlier denied any killings, telling reporters that his officers were not even carrying weapons. Photos taken today on the streets of Tehran told a different story. Among the dead was the nephew of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

UPDATE: IRNA has revised upward the number of people killed today in Tehran to five.

UPDATE: The death toll during the nationwide protests has risen to 10: five in Tehran, four in Tabriz and one in Shiraz, making it one of the bloodiest days since the post-election uprising began in Iran.

Mousavi’s Nephew Killed in Tehran

Ali Habbibi Mousavi shown in a recent photo with Mir Hossein Mousavi

RFE/RL Photo

Parleman News, a news site of Iranian Majlis, and Kalemeh, the site close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, are reporting that Mousavi’s nephew, Ali Habbibi Mousavi Khamene, was killed in Tehran during today’s demonstrations. Reports indicate that Mousavi is now at Ibn-e Sina hospital where the body of Ali Mousavi was taken.

Iran Detainees Were Tortured To Death- Karoubi

Iran's former speaker of parliament and presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi said today in Tehran that some of those arrested during the post-election protests in Iran were actually tortured to death.

"We observe that in an Islamic country some young people are beaten to death just for chanting slogans in protests," Etemad-e Melli website quoted Karrubi as saying.

Karoubi had said on Sunday that some protesters, men and women, had been raped in detention. He repeated the allegation today, calling for the formation of an independent fact-finding committee to review his evidence in "a calm atmosphere where relatives of detainees and freed protesters can talk."

ICHRI on Casualties of Green Uprising

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a Western-based human rights group, said today at least 34 people were killed during election protests in Tehran on 20 June alone, more than three times the number published by the government.

ICHRI has based its estimate on the reports by medical staff at Imam Khomeini Hospital (19 bodies), Rasool Akram Hospital (8 bodies) and Loghman Hospital (7 bodies).

It said there were other hospitals near the demonstrations that could have received dead or injured protesters.

Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has estimated that 100 were killed during the Green uprising.

Mousavi Visits Aarabi Family

Sohrab Aarabi: 1990 - 2009

Mousavi and his wife visiting Arabi family
Tehran. 14 July 2009
Gooya News Photo

news.gooya.com reported that Iran’s opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard tonight visited the family of Sohrab Aarabi, the 19-year old student reportedly killed by Basij Force near Azadi Square in Tehran during post-election protests.

The Mousavis offered their condolences to the family, who had discovered on Saturday that Sohrab died last month of a gunshot wound to the heart. Sohrab has been missing since 15 June, the day he attended a huge opposition rally in Tehran. His body was returned by the government to his family and he was buried on Monday in Tehran.

Neda Soltan

The Iranian government is claiming that the death of Neda Soltan was staged. The new president-not-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also asked the police to find the killer. Since O. J. Simpson offered a bounty for finding his wife’s killer, we have not seen such amateurish misinformation campaign.

7th Day Anniversary

Sunday is the seventh day anniversary of the bloodshed on the streets of Tehran which left Neda Soltan and other protestors dead.

A memorial service for the fallen had been announced via Twitter and other social networks for 6:00 pm on Sunday local time at Tehran’s Qoba Mosque. Observers were concerned of a heavy-handed response by the security forces and another day of bloodshed.

The reports indicate that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ayatollah Karrubi will attend the service.

UPDATE (700 pm Tehran time): the memorial service started at 6:00 pm. Social networks report huge crowds in and outside the mosque. No reports of clashes with security forces.

Neda Soltan

Millions across the world viewed the last moments of Neda Soltan in Amirabad at the age of 26. The killing of Neda and the bloodshed on the streets of Tehran brought anger and disgust at the Iranian government inside Iran and across the world. Neda is becoming a symbol of Iranian nation’s aspirations for freedom and progress.

Police and Basij Savagely Attack Protestors Outside Parliament

The police and Basij has amassed a large force at Baharestan Square outside Iran's Parliament (Majlis) to break a large opposition rally. Eyewitnesses sending out reports via Twitter and a CNN correspondent near the scene report shooting in the square. Basij Force is savagely attacking people in the square and those inside buses trying to get to Baharestan by batons. A number of protestors are critically injured.

Armed uniformed police and Basij rae guarding other main squares in Tehran as well. The city is under an undeclared martial law.

CNN: Security forces firing weapons beat protesters in Tehran; witness on CNN TV says they beat people like "animals." http://bit.ly/aoVi9

Twitter: “They pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us.”

Twitter: “Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere.”

UPDATE: Eyewitness reports describe the scene at Baharestan as “massacre.” Basij is beating people to death.

Physicians Tell the Story

Physicians and nurses at Rasool Akram hospital in Tehran coming out with placards in their hands releasing the number of dead and injured that were taken to their hospital on Saturday 20 June.

In their hospital alone, 10 had died as the result of bullet wounds and 28 were critically wounded