Israel Readies to Rescue Ahmadinejahd

You would think that the leaders of 'The West' would be doing their best to rein in crazy talk coming out of Israel about it's preparedness to attack Iran.

Such a move would simply hand a perfect justification to the regime to sideline opposition protests by issuing a rallying call for national unity against a foreign enemy. Exactly the line it is using in propaganda already. But with the smoking ruins of it's nuclear program as justification, it could even declare a state of war.

Curiously, such Israeli action has already been given the cover it needs: through supposedly loose talk about Israel's right to pursue it's national interest by U.S Vice President Joe Biden; and by both Obama and Hillary Clinton deadlining negotiations with Iran at September.

It's all the more puzzling considering that even talk of such intemperate actions works against the chances of Mousavi --who has already indicated a willingness to negotiate on ensuring Iran's nuclear program remains solely for civilian use.

Not much of this makes sense if you are working on the assumption that the leaders of "The West" are keen to see the emergence of democracy in Iran.

They're not.

It makes a lot more sense if you realize the value of the dancing sock-puppet Ahmadinejhad as a propaganda justification for the neo-colonial adventures of the Anglo-American-Israeli power axis against "crazy Muslims".

When you factor in that alliance's long-term, strategic relationship with Iran's regional rival: Saudi Arabia, then the combined value of the sanctions and the pathetic government of Iran in slowing Iran's economic and political advancement also makes a lot of sense.

Doubtless we can rely on the Israeli end of the alliance to launch a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, if the regime can't suppress the uprising by September.

As one astute tweet on Twitter put it:

G8/Obama to Iran: You have until September to destroy the protests. Don't screw up.

Iran issues have in recent weeks become clouded with a dense fog of disinformation. The most pernicious of all, is the disinfo that the West loves freedom and wants the people of Iran to have a share.

Wikileaks Touts Iran Nuclear Accident Scare

Wikileaks.org today reports that the website has been blocked by Iran.

Today also, Wikileaks says that two weeks ago it got a tipoff about a nuclear accident of some sort in Iran, in advance of yesterday's news that the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, had resigned.

The Wikileaks report omits to mention that Aghazadeh is a close ally of Mousavi -which might more readily explain his departure.

Serious nuclear accident may lay behind Iranian nuke chief's mystery resignation

July 16, 2009, wikileaks.org

Two weeks ago, a source associated with Iran's nuclear program confidentially told WikiLeaks of a serious, recent, nuclear accident at Natanz. Natanz is the primary location of Iran's nuclear enrichment program.

WikiLeaks had reason to believe the source was credible however contact with this source was lost. WikiLeaks would not normally mention such an incident without additional confirmation, however according to Iranian media and the BBC, today the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, has resigned under mysterious circumstances. According to these reports, the resignation was tendered around 20 days ago.

(Julian Assange, WikiLeaks)

Taraneh: Iranian 'Rape Victim' Reported Dead

The story of 'Taraneh' first emerged on a couple of farsi blogs.

Then it was picked up by the Huffington Post, which admitted that the story lacked verification.

According to the Post's account, Taraheh M. (Mousavi) , a 28-year-old Iranian woman was detained on Friday June 19 (incorrect -it was June 28) at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran. Taraneh, whose first name is Persian for "song," was reportedly moved around Iran's detention system and her family could not locate her.

Fast-forward to recent days, when her family reportedly got an anonymous phone call tipping them off that Taraneh had been admitted to hospital. The caller gave details of injuries to Taraneh consistent with rape. When the family went to the hospital they found that Taraneh was only briefly there, unconscious all the while.

Yesterday, the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran called for her release. Today one of the blogs originally covering the story reported that the family were informed yesterday that a burned corpse matching Taraneh’s description had been found in the desert between Karaj and Qazvin. They were threatened to keep quiet about the affair.

According to the blog report, the family went to Ghazvin and recovered her body, but are close-mouthed about funeral arrangements.

Taraneh has already been celebrated online as a victim of brutal gang rape by sub-human Basiji security forces. However, that outrage is based solely on some Twittered blog reports. No professional journalist has reported on this from immediate sources. Even the claim of rape comes only via an alleged anonymous call.

Taraneh's story is tragic. If true.

The latter is the question.

Source reports: 1 2 3 4

Anonymous Issues Fatwa to Iranian Regime

'Anonymous,' the group behind the highly successful free speech campaign against Scientology is taking an increasing part in the resistance to the Iranian government. The group has issed a free speech 'fatwa' against the Iranian regime.

That development was echoed in a move by another group related to Anonymous. Two weeks ago a message appeared on Anonymous Iran on behalf of a group called: Task Force /i/ran.

The short identification code '/i/' is likely the signature of an offshoot of the 4.chan.org website. 4Chan is the origin of 'Anonymous.'

The posted message indicated a cyberwar campaign was imminent against Iranian government websites, especially those publishing photos of protesters in an attempt to identify. The group stated it's intentions thus:

"/i/nvade. Destroy. Kill. Win. That's our fucking plan." -- Anonymous.

The most recent move is the start of a 'Sea of Green' interent radio channel to broadcast the contents of the 'Green Brief' daily briefings on Iran developments by Josh Shahryar -currently available in text form at the Anonymous Iran forum.

Clearly, 'Anonymous' are on board with the Iranian resistance.

Expect them.

Hello, leaders of Iran. We are Anonymous.

As the eyes of the entire world hold you under close scrutiny, the eyes of the internet have taken a similar notice of your recent actions. While the governments of the world condemn you for your suppression of human rights, Anonymous has taken a particular interest in your recent attempts to censor the internet, not only for your own people, but for the citizens of the entire world.

Such suppression of dissent cannot go unpunished. By cutting off communication of the Iranian citizens to the rest of the world, you have made it clear to us that the most revered of human rights - the right to free speech - is no longer important to you. By seeking to silence the voice of the people in an election and subsequently seeking to silence criticism of such a gross cover-up, you have perpetuated the anger and rage of your people. Anonymous has therefore made it our mission to see to it that the voice of the Iranian people can be heard around the world.

Just like another authoritarian religious extremist group, Anonymous will tear down the walls of silence using only the truth - the truth that you are trying so hard to suppress by use of violence, intimidation, and fascist laws.

As your people continue to riot and to speak out against you; as you continue to beat and shoot your own citizens in the street; as you continue to lie to the face of the entire world; know that the internet is watching - and we do not like what we see.

Knowledge is free.

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

People And Power: Inside the Iranian Protests

A new documentary by Manon Loizeau on AlJazeera, filmed secretly inside Iran in the aftermath of the election, confirms the details of the crackdown which Iranian activists have been blogging about. It's unmissable watching.

Iranian Opposition Under Cyberattack on Twitter

See Latest Updates Below Article

Persons unknown disrupted the #iranelection tag used by Iranian opposition activists on Twitter for almost all of Saturday 11th July. Legitimate messages coordinating political opposition to the Iranian government were drowned out by massive volume of tweet spam for a product called Turbo Cash Generator, and also for www.tonig.ht -a free domain registration service.

Twitter did not seem to respond to requests block the spam content -which is rendered the #iranelection tag unusable, especially to less experienced users. That looks like an abrogation of their corporate responsibility to protect an online system vital for free speech and political organization.

The sheer volume of tweet spam (up to 70% of tweets -see image) was counterproductive from an e-marketing point of view, so it's possible that Turbo Cash Generator was not the actual entity behind this cyberattack. Another entity may have used their product as cover for the attack.

A new anonymity software program created by Austin Heap, called Haystack is just set to launch. But that product will be undermined if the most popular Iranian opposition tag on Twitter is destroyed by cyberattack.

A Twitter account at: http://twitter.com/iranelectnospam has been set up to help educate users on how to filter out the spam. An online activist response is being coordinated in a topic thread at the Anonymous Iran forum.

UPDATE: 12:00pm EST Sunday

After an overnight lull, the "Killer Software" spam is back Sunday. But the Twitter short links it is using, are no longer valid on bit.ly's link translation system. So there is no benefit in traffic to the originator. Just disruption of the #iranelection tag on Twitter.

The originator of the spam is still unidentified.

In response to a media enquiry by me, provideing details of the affiliate code being used in the spam, turbocashgenerator.com said it would have the spam stopped, but did not admit if the affiliate code was genuine, or if the company itself was responsible for the spam. Nevertheless the spam continues today.

UPDATE: 2:00am EST Monday

Thanks to help from Tweeters and AnonymousIran members, though spam continues on Twitter, the spam level in the #iranelection tag is now reduced to a trickle. A number of spammers have been contacted directly by #iranelection's AntiSpam team and have backed off. However, they or other spammers may show up again. We will continue an aggressive response to any spamming of #iranelection. Latest here.

Live Coverage: Iran 9th July Protests

Interview Guest:

Professor Scott Lucas

Scott Lucas is Professor of American Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK, and Adjunct Professor of the Institute for North American and European Studies at the University of Tehran; also a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for American Studies and Research at American University Beirut. A specialist in US and British foreign policy, he has published extensively on Middle-East politics -especially on the Suez Crisis. Professor Lucas is a frequent contributor to American, British, and international media. He writes for, and is a founder of, the weblog EnduringAmerica.com --where he currently blogs unmissable news analysis and reporting.

LISTEN: Mp3 Audio

Protester estimate subsequent to the above audio

Based on analysis of considerable video evidence and news/tweet reports. From the reported totals at key locations - add those in these key location marches who did not make it to the center. Also from an analysis of videos depicting scenes at intersections; and reliable reports that the protests were widely scattered down to local level.

Guesstimate Methodology:

Key Locations at peak: 7,000

Surrounding these areas: 5,000

Local intersections also: 10,000 (50 by 200avg per intersection)

Local street gatherings : 3,000 (50 by 60avg per street)

Estimated Total: ~25,000 in Tehran

Image Gallery: Here NYTimes Gallery Here

Latest Confirmed Videos:

Enghelab Ave

Tehran Center

Pre 5pm Tehran - North Karegar before clashes

More Videos: A 31 video set is here.

Latest Media Accounts:

TehranBureau

Nico

Yahoo/AP

MSNBC

ABC

Time

France24 Video

Times, UK

LA Times

BBC

CNN

Guardian UK

Economist

Raw Trusted Source Twitter Feeds

Latest First, up to 5:00pmEST = 9:00pm GMT = 1:30am Tehran

IranRiggedElectFrom Iran: Despite being beaten, general feeling is that we WON today!

omidhabibiniaVideo: Tehran University Dorm 20.30 http://bit.ly/tMQBp

IranRiggedElect: RT: @IranAnon: Do not underestimate the number of protesters today just bcuz they were scattered. They were at every crossing

IranRiggedElect: RT @omidhabibinia: Clashes at Narmak and Tehran Pars, 11PM...

IranRiggedElectFrom Isfahan: FAMILIES participated in the protest, women, seniors, everyone.

lotfanVIDEO: People chanting,Mojtaba (khamanei's son) death to you, you shall never see the supreme leadership

IranRiggedElect: several srcs from #iran report: Guards, plainclothes and police seemed tired and nervous today.

IranRiggedElect: Plainclothes claimed that they are going back to Amirkabir's dorm 2night.

IranRiggedElect: Plainclothes attacked Amirkarbir Univ Dorm: http://bit.ly/eZZ8p

lotfan: RT @IranAnon: July 9th, tonight, in an area where allah o akbars had stopped, fortunately allah o akbars were heard again

IranRiggedElect: RT @.. Hearing VERY powerful shouts of "Allaho Akbar" here in Qeitarieh. I'm gonna go on the roof and join them. B back

MikVerbrugge: analysis:Less chants for Mousavi &against Ahmedinejad,more chants against Khamenei& Mojtaba = Escalation!

IranRiggedElect: RT @MikVerbrugge: Today's reports showed the Basiji stretched thin. Certainly due 2 multiple simultaneous gatherings.

LaraABCNews: Tehrani: police first struck people, then told them to leave. if store owners hadn't come to our rescue I don't know what would've happened

jimsciuttoABC: One eyewitness heard gunshots at Engelab Sq and saw ppl fall. Anyone else hear/see the same?

MikVerbrugge: Small groups seemed to be armed & used Molotov Cocktails.

iraniscc: friend back says: bassij used a gas that burned our skins its still red and inflamed. Confirmed RT

iraniscc: Snanadaj: ppl gathered too from 1930 oneards in main sq. but full of special forces to attck still there.

MikVerbrugge: according to contact: pockets of violent resistance are forming, dispatch transcripts show many hotspots

MikVerbrugge: thank you RT @Iranianrevolt i have same msg, armed police shooting plainclothes, from ppl claiming they r eyewitness Tehran 9:20pm

iraniscc: Tabriz: ABresan jnct and Univ.sq.hell of lot of gaurds would arrest any one suspicious.

iraniscc: a call from Mashad: ppl in Park jct. up to 7/8000 dispersed and united later

iraniscc: guards tried very much to disperse ppl in Saadat abad bazar in vain

Nico: Shootings reported. "Tweets passing around that there are heavy clashes near Azadi Square.. Word is out that 3 people have been shot by security forces."

MikVerbrugge: The #nir team protecting "friend" personalities are out of harm's way, no casualties

MikVerbrugge: Tehran Basiji reporting heavy casulaties & many units either on the run or retreat. It's like entire Tehran is an urban combat zone. Security Forces uninterrupted requests for backup & distress coming fr all over Tehran. NIR taking out unidentified snipers, trying to keep situation calm until personalities they are protecting are out.

Combined tweets ~8:53pmTehran

MikVerbrugge: From emergency dispatch of Tehran: Fire in Mirdamad getting out of control 8:30pm Tehran

IranRiggedElect: FR Tehran: clashes in Azadi, Enqelab, Vanq, Jomhouri, Valiasr

MikVerbrugg: Basij forces asking for re-enforcement in midtown

MikVerbrugge: Chaos. Distress messages from security forces being shot at requesting airborne support.

MikVerbrugge: Unbelieveable msgs coming in: Uniformed POLICE force shooting at armed Basiji militia Unconfirmed early report 7:45 Tehran

MikVerbrugge: NIR Officers engaged in armed conflicts against Plainclothed.

iranisccRT: @shab77: RT Reports ppl coming out of their homes, standing in their own streets, shouting Allah Akbar&death to dictators.

iranisccRT: @IranTweet: Iranian from Tehran, Call IranTV - situation is so bad, that police are now also attacking each other" Unconfirmed early report

lotfanRT: @BreakingNews: Reuters witness: Iranian police shoot in the air to disperse pro-reform demonstrators in Tehran; several detained.

iraniscc: Sec forces have put cars in midd of ferdowsi bt ppl still force in and chant still to UNI

iraniscc: Ferdowsi ppl take away camera of a bassij filming them.

iraniscc: Uni slogans:"I will kill the one who killed my brother".."down with dictator" SHAH SOLTAN - VELAYAT ur times up

iraniscc: ppl R boo-ing the bassij and sec force as they try to disperse them & shout.. "shah Soltan Velayat ur time is up'

iraniscc: @TehranBureau Sorry but it IS NOT quiet ! ppl are every where. Unless our friends are fooling around with all the screams and slogans !

omidhabibinia: Police Shooting Teargas at Poeple infront of Tehran University.

iraniscc: RT @shab77: RT @omidhabibinia Clashes At Vali Asr Sq. Spreading to all nearby Streets including Vila St...

lotfan: Cell network is shut down around enghelab #iranelection

iraniscc: RT @IranTweet: Accts of 100s to 1000s protesters gathering near Tehran Univ. Basij responding w/ btgs, tear gas, arrests.

jimsciuttoABC: Protesters are getting their #'s up. 100s, possib 1000s gathered at both Tehran Univ and Vali Asr Sq. Demo's growing

lotfan: Clashes At Vali Asr Sq. Spreading to all nearby Streets including Vila St...

omidhabibinia: Clashes At Vali Asr Sq. Spreading to all nearby Streets incl Vila St...

iraniscc: Vali asr ppl gathered sec forces attacked violently with everything.. ppl scattered in groups

iraniscc: From Tehran Uni to begining of Enghelab st at least 4000 ppl clapping full Bassij presence some scattred

omidhabibinia: Heavy Clashes at Vali Asr Sq. #iranelection

iraniscc: Tehran most have masks. well prep. & organized ..all clapping in unity

iraniscc: Tehran:Bassij try to prevent ppl from entering enghelab sq

lotfanRT: @omidhabibinia: Reports of Clashes at Dravzeh Shiraz, Isfehan.

lotfanRT: @IranRiggedElect: AFP: Seifzadeh and Dadkhah, HR lawyers and founders of Ebadi's rights group were arrested http://bit.ly/OmIuH

jimsciuttoABC: With # of security forces & govt threats, fear possib at highest level so far. To see protesters defy that is remarkable.

MikVerbrugge: live report: Shots being heard from different parts of Tehran.

MikVerbrugge: live report: Unrest in Shiraz, Sari, Isfahan & many other cities being confirmed.

lotfan: Mashhad is reported to be very quiet

lotfan: People rallying from Imam Hossein suqare towards Enghelab

lotfanProtests in Iran on key reform anniversary http://bit.ly/17yEGM #iranelection

jimsciuttoABC: Accts of 100s to 1000s of protesters gathering near Tehran Univ. Basij responding w/ btgs, tear gas, arrests.

iranisccRT: @shab77: Mashhad: protesters around the shrine. Isfahan:Ppl assembled b/w Si-o-Seh pol&Khajoo bridge.Lots of plain cloths.

iraniscc: RT @shab77: RT @fahimn Heavy Clashes at Karegar Shomali St, (Near Enghlab Sq.) Tear gas, Fire and blockage...

IranRiggedElect: AFP: Seifzadeh and Dadkhah, two HR lawyers and founders of Shirin Ebadi's rights group were arrested http://bit.ly/OmIuH

iranisccRT: @Pray4FreeIran: RT @jimsciuttoABC: One witness: basij throwing protesters from pedestrian bridges in Shiraz UNconfirmed

iraniscc: girl arrested and dragged and beaten while being dragged. her hair&cloths in bad sit. taken away by bassij

omidhabibinia: Hundreds of Protesters chanting against the regime infron of Ploytechnic University, Near Azadi Sq. (not conf)

iraniscc: Enghelab sq packed with people from side streets, Basiji attacking them with batons & tear gas dick clubs

iraniscc: RT @Pray4FreeIran: RT @iran88: Clashes reported in Saatad Abad. Hundreds of protesters sitting on the ground in 12-e-Farvardin.

iranisccRT: @Pray4FreeIran: RT Choppers now in the air from Enghelab Sq thru Laleh Park.

iraniscc: Confirmed: No Mobile Network at Centrlal Tehran

jimsciuttoABC: Another witness: police throwing tear gas into buses, some protesters gathering near Tehran Univ

iraniscc: reg forces withdrawn from Enghelab and guards are put in...GOD plz help us. We have to do it

jimsciuttoABC: One witness: basij throwing protesters from pedestrian bridges in Shiraz

MikVerbrugge: live reports : Seem to be circling Cult. Inst. of Darolzahra,where the prayer service is.

MikVerbrugge: live reports : Basij & plainclothed at & around Dr. Beheshti Sq.

iraniscc: freind says; some bassij have local accent likeAstaara region: regime mobilised from all Iran for 2day

MikVerbrugge: live reports : Guards units being ordered to Dr. Beheshti Street

MikVerbrugge: live reports : Regular Security Forces ordered to leave Enghelab Sq. Guards units taking over

MikVerbrugge: live reports : Riot Guards moving to Enghelab sq - Police force being ordered back to bases.

iraniscc: Cars in Jomhouri junct. form of protest with horns.Bassij seen equipped with ax and pick batons

iraniscc: RT @Pray4FreeIran: URGENT INFO for Teargas : Im a Biochemist. Mix half vol antiacid half H2O for eyes mouth ears nose

iraniscc: @huffingtonpost CONFIRMED PROTESTS IN tehran, shiraz, isfahan, ahwaz, babol, kerman, mashhad, sari

omidhabibinia: Army Unit (IRG) Positioned infront of Interior Ministry. #iranelection

UPDATES FOLLOW IN THIS POSTING -REFRESH PAGE

The Geek Who Built a Haystack For Iran

You may know of Austin Heap from his fight with Comedy Central, after he established a website to host free-view episodes of South Park. He's fighting a different battle these days: building a software system called Haystack to enable Iranians bypass state censorship of the internet - as TehranBureau.com reports:

In his converted loft apartment in the semi-sketchy-meets-startup SoMa neighborhood, Austin Heap, 25, spends most of his time in front of his computer — a PC tower that he built himself and hacked to run Mac OS X.

Heap didn’t have much knowledge or interest in Iran until very recently. As foreign media began to be kicked out of the country, information coming from online sources became that much more crucial.

“Three weeks ago I was very happy playing Warcraft and I was following the Iran election,” he says. “But it wasn’t until everything escalated there that I got involved.”

On June 15, three days after the election, Heap sprung into action....

Read On at: http://tehranbureau.com/geeks-globe-rally-iranians-online/

See this article also.

The Man As Disabled as Iranian Democracy

When Neda Agha-Soltan was gunned down by an armed motorcyclist in a Tehran street, the world recoiled in horror. The grisly scene was a repeat of a similar incident in 2000, when a prominent reformist journalist and politician, Saeed Hajjarian narrowly escaped assassination - also by a gunman on a motorcycle. Both murder bids are thought to be the work of the 'Lebas Shakhsiha' - plainclothes security agents who operate beyond the reach of the law.

Shot in the face and neck, his injuries in that attack left Hajjarian severely disabled and needing constant medical care. Notwithstanding his severe disablement he was detained by Iranian authorities on June 15th.

After visiting him in prison, Vajiheh Marsousi, the wife of the dissident intellectual said his life is in danger due to his poor health and lack of medical care; and that he was under intense pressure to sign a false confession about an imaginary foreign plot to overthrow the government. He is now thought to be in a coma. Human Rights Watch has called for his release.

Back in 1972, Professor Muhammad Sahimi, of TehranReport.com (whom we interviewed here) was a classmate of Hajjarian's in Tehran University. His profile of the man he describes as "one of the most important intellectuals and political thinkers of Iran over the past few decades," is here.

Cyberwar Still Rages to Halt Protester Identification

SAMPLE PHOTO OF PROTESTERS

We have blurred the image to prevent identification.

A high-stakes, cyberwar is still raging to prevent webpages full of photos from being used to identify, imprison and likely abuse or torture Iranian street protesters. One website, Gerdab.ir has in the last 24 hours posted 70 new photos of the protesters, with identifiable faces ringed by red circles. Currently it is the main target in the cyberwar.

The battle has been ongoing since these photos first appeared on a number of websites, with 'hack-tivists' scoring major successes and bringing down key sites in the last two weeks. But it's an online war which has ebbed and flowed, as defensive measures were deployed by the target websites.

The website sahandnews.com redirected it's domain IP pointers from its servers in Canada to new ones in Germany, and at time of writing its protester ID page is still online. Another site, shahabnews.com has been forced offline. Website bultannews.com removed it's protester identification page to escape the ire of the politically-motivated hackers.

At least one website, khodkar.ir was suspended by its internet domain hosting service. After an approach by an activist, Jottie Tolatzis on behalf of LeaseWeb confirmed that the company would take the website offline.

Some of those participating in the cyberwar range are amateurs who simply repeatedly load the target pages to slow them down on the internet. Others are experienced hackers deploying sophisticated denial-of-service tactics and software to take entire websites offline.

One of the most prominent internet locations where activists coordinate their cyberwar campaign is Anonymous Iran, where a list of the webpages which contain protester photos has been posted. The 'Help Iran Online' section of the site has many discussion threads tracking the progress of attempts to block the target websites.

The outcome of the cyberwar has serious implications for the protesters seen in the photos. If they are identified and incarcerated their fate is dire. Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concern that detainees face torture or other ill-treatment in Iran. Credible accounts say that rape of prisoners is taking place.