Monday, August 3, 2009

Iranian Revolution (Day Fifty-Two)

Update (8/4/2009):Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Fifty-Three). End of Update:

The identity of the three Americans being held after crossing the boarder in Iran have been released; "Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer were captured near the Iranian border of northern Iraq. Reportedly, the three left the Nirwan Hotel in the city of Sulaimaniya, Iraq to hike in nearby mountains. One companion of the three, Shon Meckfessel, felt ill and stayed behind.

Ms. Shourd is a writer and a contributor to New America Media, and Matador Pulse. According to NWCN.com, is said to be from "the Bay area." There is a Facebook profile for a Sarah Shroud from California who is a "teacher/writer at Iraqi Students Project Connections." The profile also says Ms. Shourd is "currently based in the Middle East."

Joshua Fattal is a resident of Eugene, Oregon. He is a contributor for The Jewish Week. Read more about Mr. Fattal here.

Shane Bauer is "from the Bay area," and is also a contributor to New American Media.

Shon Meckfessel is a resident of Seattle and a PhD student at the University of Washington. Shon Meckfessel's Facebook profile is here showing Sarah Shourd and Shane Michael Bauer as "friends."
" (http://maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/08/sarah-shourd-is-american-held-in-iran.html)

As they have been doing for roughly four decades (since we cut off diplomatic relations over the 1979 Hostage Crisis), the Swiss are pursuing the matter for us (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124924088065299669.html)

Shapour Kazemi (Zahra Rahnavard’s brother) is being accused of participating in the 'riots' (http://niacblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/new-accusations-against-zahra-rahnavard’s-brother).

The Guardian on the Khamenei's endorsement of Ahmadinejad ceremony; "The supreme leader's endorsement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his second term as president yesterday was a diffident affair. The ceremony was not broadcast live on state television, and Iran's Arabic channel showed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holding out an arm to keep the man he was endorsing at a distance. Instead of being allowed to kiss the hand of the man he had recently likened to his father, Mr Ahmadinejad had to be content with the supreme leader's shoulder.

The no-shows were more significant. This was the first time the ceremony was boycotted by previous presidents, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. The opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karoubi and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, also stayed away. Iran's state-run Press TV said that the leader of the three branches of government – the chiefs of parliament, the judiciary and the guardian council – all attended the ceremony, but the tree itself showed signs of wilting. Within hours there were fresh demonstrations at the two squares of Vali-e-Asr and Vanak in Tehran.
" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/04/iran-ahmadinejad-khamenei-obama).

Video of the 'non-kiss' event.



Video of the demonstrations (http://enduringamerica.com/2009/08/03/latest-iran-video-the-khamenei-ahmadinejad-non-kiss-3-august)





Another aviation accident in Iran (http://niacblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/three-weeks-three-accidents-for-irans-aviation-industry). This one had no fatalities unlike the previous ones. I have heard some suggest that these are actually fake or set up as a way to dispose of some of the protesters. That seems unlikely as the regime in Iran seems more likely to just make people disappear, and the problems are not a recent phenomenon.

Venezuelan dissenters of their government's crackdown on free speech are taking a page from the Iranian protester's play book and turning to Twitter to get the message out (http://mashable.com/2009/08/02/freemediave and http://www.breakingtweets.com/2009/08/02/venezuelans-turn-to-twitter-to-have-voices-heard). They are using the #FreemediaVe tag (equivalent of the #iranelection and #GR88 tags for the Iranian revolution) if you want to follow them.

Ridiculous political piece of the day; "Is Sarah Palin America's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The two differ in many key respects, of course, but it is remarkable how similar they are. There are uncanny parallels in their biographies, their domestic politics and the way they present themselves -- even in their rocky relationships with party elders." (http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/03/palin_ahmadinejad). Nice rebuttal, as if that is necessary, at http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2009/08/03/not-like-ahmadinejad.

Past related posts: (Label - Iranian Revolution (GR88))
Berman Post: Iranian Election Viewed as Rigged
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Protest (NYC)
Berman Post: Iranian Riots Continue
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Riots (Day Three)
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Riots (Day Four)
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Protest at Union Square (NYC)
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Riots (Day Five)
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Riots (Day Six)
Berman Post: Prayer Vigil For The Fallen Iranian Protesters (NYC)
Berman Post: Iranian Election Fraud Riots (Day Seven)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Eight)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Nine)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Ten)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Eleven)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twelve)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirteen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Fourteen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Fifteen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Sixteen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Seventeen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Eighteen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Nineteen)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-One)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Two)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Three)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Four)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Five)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Six)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Seven)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Eight)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Twenty-Nine)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-One)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Two)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Three)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Four)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Five)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Six)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Seven)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Eight)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Thirty-Nine)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-One)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Two)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Three)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Four)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Five)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Six)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Seven)
Berman Post: How Obama Should Have Handled The Iranian Protests
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Eight)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Forty-Nine)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Fifty)
Berman Post: Iranian Revolution (Day Fifty-One)

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