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Iran on the Brink
Shocking updates from Iran: The Iranian military is charging a "bullet fee" to the families of slain protesters who want to collect bodies for burial, according to the Wall Street Journal. There are rumors of a general strike Tuesday, and Iran's government is setting up a special court to try protesters arrested in violent post-election demonstrations, an official announced on state TV. Meanwhile, protesters attempted to gather in Tehran to mourn the death of Neda, the young woman whose violent death has become a rallying cry for the revolution. The mourners were met with a violent crackdown by police attacking with tear gas and firing shots in the air. The Daily Beast provides interviews, photos, and reporting from the streets of Tehran.
AP Photo
The Crisis in Iran Is Just Beginning
by Gary Sick
Gary Sick, the key White House official during the 1979 hostage crisis, says this revolution may be more of a marathon than a sprint, with no clear winner or loser. The watchword for Obama: Do no harm.
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How Neda Divided My Family
by Telmah Parsa
Not everyone believes the shocking video of a woman shot in Tehran. Telmah Parsa writes from Iran on why many Iranians—including his mother—refuse to accept the horrific video tells the whole truth.
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Click Below for Photos of the Deadly Protests
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Hadi Tabrizi / Getty Images
Iran's Supreme Revolutionary
by Reza Aslan
By inexplicably inserting himself into the election controversy, Ayatollah Khamenei is destroying his reputation and tainting himself with an aura of corruption, Reza Aslan writes. Worse, he’s unwittingly turning a protest into a revolution.
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Explosive Protest and Police Brutality Videos from Iran
by The Daily Beast Video
The Iranian government may have banned foreign journalists from covering protests, but that hasn’t stopped a flood of user-generated videos—many quite disturbing—from hitting the Internet.
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Alfred, Sipa / AP Photo
Mousavi's New Revolutionary Manifesto
by Gary Sick
The Iranian protest movement reached a tipping point today, writes Gary Sick, the key White House offical during the 1979 hostage crisis, and what has emerged is nothing short of a platform for a true Islamic democracy.
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AP Photo
Exclusive Tehran Account: Rejoicing Rafsanjani's Daughter's Release
by Parvez Sharma
In his second online chat with Tehran photojournalist NS, Parvez Sharma witnesses Iran media breaking news on the release of former Iran President Rafsanjani’s daughter. NS details another brutal attack on a loved one during a protest—a male photographer attacked with large Ghameh knife, a weapon traditionally used during the Shia mourning ritual of Muharram. NS also finds a video with the title “Basiji beats 7 year old boy Tehran Iran” but can’t watch it—her access to YouTube is blocked.
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Saul Loeb / Getty Images
Leave Iran to the Iranians
by Leslie Gelb
As experts clash on how to deal with Iran’s turmoil, Leslie H. Gelb says Obama is right to keep his distance—this is what Iranians want, and they have smart, sophisticated reasons for it.
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Farhad Rajabali / Reuters
Memo from the Streets of Tehran, Part III
by Parvez Sharma
Arash Aryan has not been silent or quiet. He has been on the streets and with a power and poignancy that is now becoming familiar. Parvez Sharma presents his latest report from Tehran, today on the day everything might have changed.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Stay Out Of It, Obama
by Benjamin Sarlin & Roja Heydarpour
Critics have urged Obama to "go green," to side with Iranian protestors more vocally. But in an exclusive interview, one of Iran's most high-profile opposition clerics, Mohsen Kadivar, tells The Daily Beast that the reformers don't want any help. He also says the protests are about the presidential election, not about overthrowing the Ayatollah.
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AP Photo
Marked for Death by Twitter
by Eric Pape
Social-networking sites are being celebrated as conduits for information out of Iran. But with the supreme leader vowing to punish dissidents, these digital footprints could prove deadly.
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AP Photo
Exclusive Eyewitness Account: "My Brother Was Beaten"
by Parvez Sharma
As violence flares in Tehran, The Daily Beast's Parvez Sharma spoke over Yahoo! Chat with a young Iranian journalist and Mousavi supporter who says she was arrested at the protests today and released. She describes the fresh violence--including a family member who was beaten, and shares extremely graphic video of a young women who was shot.
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Demotix Images / Reuters
Memo From the Streets of Tehran, Part II
by Parvez Sharma
As demonstrations challenge Iranian authority, Parvez Sharma sends a new on-the-ground dispatch via a friend enmeshed in the Tehran protests: Some are fearful, but there’s a sense in the crowd that victory is within reach.
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AP Photo
Ahmadinejad: Nazi or Not?
by The Daily Beast
Stanley Crouch says the Iranian president’s playbook is straight out of Hitler’s, but Nazee Moinian says he’s misunderstood and much more nuanced than the West believes.
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Fars news agency / AP Photo
Iranians to Obama: Hush
by Azadeh Moaveni
Lipstick Jihad author Azadeh Moaveni says protesters in Tehran have a surprising view on Obama's silence: Keep it up.
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Support Twitter to Support Iran
by Ariel Kastner
If the Obama administration is serious about aiding the Iranian opposition, then it should embrace the technology that’s fueling it.
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AP Photo
What Iranians See on TV
by Alex Vatanka
When Iranians turn to state-owned media, they get "reporting" far detached from their own experience. Alex Vatanka, a Middle East expert for Jane's, on the bias and Iranians' alternative options.
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Jewel Samad, AFP / Getty Images; Sipa / AP Photo
Why Obama Won't Talk Tough
by Richard Wolffe
The easiest way to demonize the reformers in Iran, a senior administration official tells The Daily Beast's Richard Wolffe, is for the U.S. to align with them. Inside the Obama's PR strategy.
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Majid / Getty Images
Why Iran's Rulers Fear a Revote
by Douglas Schoen
History and numbers explain the Iranian regime’s fear of a revote, says pollster Douglas Schoen, who has seen three similarly fraudulent elections abroad. Mousavi would crush Ahmadinejad in a rematch.
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Mehr News, AFP / Getty Images
Memo From the Streets of Tehran
by Parvez Sharma
As Iranians dispute the results of Friday's election, Parvez Sharma sends The Daily Beast an on-the-ground dispatch written by a friend enmeshed in the Tehran protests.
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Lipnitzki, Roger Viollet / Getty Images
Iran's Exiled Queen Speaks
by The Daily Beast
As protesters flood Iran’s streets, Farah Pahlavi—the deposed empress—recalls the lessons of the 1979 uprising that led to her husband’s painful exile. A conversation with The Daily Beast.
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Getty Images
Iran's Feminist Revolution
by Dana Goldstein
An underreported part of the Iranian protests is that women are leading the way. Dana Goldstein on why Iran’s feminists decided they’d finally had enough.
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Sipa / AP Photo
How Arab Media Is Covering Iran
by Salameh Nematt
As democratic media back Iran's opposition, it’s a different story in authoritarian regimes. Salameh Nematt reports on journalists remaining in Iran and the overall political news war.
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Burhan Ozbilici / AP Photo
How Iran's Hackers Killed Big Brother
by Douglas Rushkoff
Tehran's streets may be bloody, says Douglas Rushkoff, but the opposition has won the digital war. The battleground: Facebook and Twitter. The weapons: bandwidth and hacking. The prize: the end of totalitarianism.
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Ben Curtis / AP Photo
The Media Can Profit from Twitter's Big Week
by Larry Kramer
The micro-blogging service is leading the Iran election coverage and is even breaking big sports news. But its newfound dominance doesn’t have to be bad news for traditional news organizations, says Larry Kramer.
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Spencer Platt / Getty Images; AP Photo
Whose Side is Obama On?
by Reihan Salam
During the campaign, Obama pledged to meet any world leader "without preconditions." Now that Iran is in turmoil, he needs to go back on his word.
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Hasan Sarbakhshian / AP Photo
Don't Aid Mousavi
by Raymond Tanter
President Obama's no drama Iran mantra won't work, says former Reagan National Security Council member Raymond Tanter. He should skip over Mir Hossein Mousavi and instead back parties that are actually willing to overthrow the supreme leader.
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AP Photo
@Revolution: Taking a Page from Khomeini's Playbook
by Nasser Weddady & Jesse Sage
Thirty years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini mastered the art of nonviolent confrontation to mobilize grassroots support and respond strategically to repression by the Shah's regime. Can today’s opposition learn from his feat?
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Ben Curtis / AP Photo
Is Iran's Regime Cracking?
by Salameh Nematt
Pillars of the Islamic Revolution are turning against the supreme leader and a massive, bloody security crackdown on the thousands of peaceful protesters is looking increasingly likely—leaving Obama with a huge dilemma.
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AP Photo
Exclusive: Former Iran Hostage: Why the Government Won't Be Overturned
by Benjamin Sarlin
Moorhead Kennedy was taken hostage in Iran in 1979 and watched the government crumble. He tells The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin about why regime change is unlikely this time around. MORE >>
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Ben Curtis / AP Photo
My Tehran Under Siege
by Jason Rezaian
In a dispatch from Tehran, Jason Rezaian describes the police beatings, flaming garbage cans, and rising sense of despair that have turned his quiet neighborhood into a battleground. MORE >>
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Ben Curtis / AP Photo
'I Hope It Was Rigged'
by Telmah Parsa
Writing from Iran, university student Telmah Parsa surveys the post-election mood—from a friend who hopes the vote was rigged (because if it wasn’t, Iran just re-elected Ahmadinejad) to his parents, who say the “irreligious hipsters” out protesting need to face up to their defeat. MORE >>
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Iran's Military Coup
by Reza Aslan
The Iranian election was bald-faced election fraud, writes The Daily Beast’s Reza Aslan, perpetrated by a powerful intelligence unit known as the Pasdaran. MORE >>
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Olivier Laban-Mattei, AFP / Getty
Twitter Breaks Strike News
by The Daily Beast
Protestors in Iran have been using social media to spread the word—and now reports are trickling in that Mousavi is calling for a massive “Green Revolution” strike tomorrow.
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Reuters
Hillary's Tricky Iran Game
by Leslie H. Gelb
As evidence mounts that Ahmadinejad stole Iran's election, Hillary Clinton has notably avoided condemning the results. The Daily Beast's Leslie H. Gelb on the why the Obama administration isn't closing any doors. MORE >>
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Ben Curtis / AP Photo
Harrowing Tweets from Iran
by The Daily Beast
After the election, protesters flocked to Twitter and their immediate coverage of the violence proved embarrassing to CNN, which was slow to catch up to the coverage. MORE >>
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Majid / Getty Images
An Absurd Outcome
by Suzanne Maloney
The main questions left after Ahmadinejad’s surprising win is how much the vote was manipulated—and, asks Suzanne Maloney of the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution, whether Obama can possibly still pursue diplomacy as an option with a fractured Iran. MORE >>
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SIPA / AP Photo
Why Ahmadinejad Just Might Lose
by Telmah Parsa
Iranian university student Telmah Parsa on the divergent groups—Iran’s young hipsters versus their deeply religious parents—that could sway Friday’s presidential election, and why the country’s semi-democratic process is still much richer than the Middle East’s other faux elections. MORE >>
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Hossein Fatemi, UPI Photo / Landov
Iran's Hillary Clinton
by Geraldine Brooks
Once an anti-shah activist in a miniskirt, Zahrah Rahnavard is now a feminist in a chador. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and longtime Mideast correspondent Geraldine Brooks on how Rahnavard could revolutionize the role of first lady if her husband wins the election. MORE >>
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AP Photos
Iran's Riveting Political Drama
by Reza Aslan
No matter who wins, this election season has been unlike any other in Iran, with Twittering political rallies, rancorous televised debates—and a challenger that has Ahmadinejad lifting pages from Obama’s playbook. The Daily Beast hits the streets in Iran to gauge the mood. MORE >>
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Majid / Getty Images
Our Friend Iran
by Leslie H. Gelb
Reformers surged ahead of Friday’s elections, says Leslie H. Gelb, which could put the tumultuous country on a path to becoming America’s most important partner in the region. MORE >>
How Rich People Smoke Pot
Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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Hawnzz
I think anyone but the current President and the ultra conservative would be an improvement.
al-nafs
Don't speak too soon. Lets see who the Iranian people choose. Ayatollah Khomeini may be the Supreme Leader, but he'd be a fool not to listen to the voice of his people. His father came in on the tides of revolution, it cuts both ways.
Narpak
Ali Khamenei is the current Supreme Leader; and he is not the son of Khomeini.
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n--Y--toodogsMadMatt35F
What is interesting is the lack of understanding that Supreme Ayatollah is a Shia religious ranking. Everyone fails to remember that this is a nation run by religious leaders not politically elected ones. The Ayatollah could care less what the people want because he leads every Shia Muslim in the world and can declare a Fatwa that cannot be overturned by anyone.
NYUKULELE
Just think -- if the American people cared as much about the election here in 2000 as they seem to care about Iran's election now, Busch might not have been president.
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piktor
HEY, DAILY BEAST, YOU WROTE "meeting in Qom about a possible overthrow of Ayatollah Khomeini"...
It is K-H-O-M-E-N-e-i !!! (Ayatollah Khomeini has been dead for years)
Ritarita
I have questions.
Why did the clergy panic?
Did they see something larger than
Mousavi being elected?
Did they declare a fraudulent winner
Because they saw the beginnings of a
Wave that might sweep them out of power?
Is there enough pent up anger in young Iran
To fuel a complete wipe-out of the regime?
Is the resistance strong enough
To fuel a Civil War?
Please jump in.
Josh-Narins
Why _exactly_ do you think Mousavi really won?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061401757.html
If I had to guess, it was because Mousavi's people
have taken lessons from someone
who took lessons from someone
who worked for the Tammany Hall
machine.
veryneatmonster
Even if Mousavi lost, this election has been a sham. None of the other candidates won their own districts. NONE. In our last election, would you accept Obama not winning Illinois or Mccain not winning Arizona? Ahmadinejad would have gotten away with it had it been fixed to look like a close call, but a landslide? C'mon now, these are the acts of a vainglorious dictator and you now it.
garryboyle
The article you reference has been rebutted convincingly, to me, by Nate Silver.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/did-polling-predict-ahmadinejad-v ictory.html
In the Ballen/Doherty poll Ahmedinejad had 33%, Mousavi had 13%, but 42% refused to give an answer.
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n--Y--toodogsspinozareader
Rita
Here's my take. I suspect that, though there was an initial strong run from the gate in favor of Mousavi--after the poorer, outlying provinces votes were counted the race may have been either closer to a dead heat, or maybe even slightly in Ahmadinejad's favor. Who among us here will ever really know (short of allowing a Jimmy Carter-like outsider's monitoring of the voting)?
Since Mousavi's supporters include people who appear to be more aligned with advocating things like modernity and democracy and freedom of thought and expression, I think it would've been politically expedient for the clerics to side with the less-educated and fundamentalist voters who supported Ahmadinejad.
piktor
Ritarita -- This is no longer about "who won". The Supreme Council will play this to their advantage. The negotiations now are with Mousavi and friends.
If the Supreme Council decides to boot Ahmadinejad -or not- will depend on what makes the Council look better inside Iran and what makes the Council look strong to the outside world.
If my theory is correct, the result is a no brainer, from the outside looking in. I have no idea what the situation is on the ground inside Iran.
This is a play by the Supreme Council now.
drmarkklein
It's Humpty Dumpty time for the Iranian Revolution. All the ayatollahs' horses and all the ayatollahs' men can't put Humpty back together again. The same coalition of merchants, intellectuals, students and moderate clerics which brought down the Shah will bring down the current regime sooner rather than later.
Josh-Narins
Please show me one poll that indicates the Ahmadinejad supporters aren't in the majority.
Thanks in advance.
drmarkklein
The answer to your point is a complete ballot count under foreign observer supervision. The regime lost all credibility when two hours after the polls closed, it announced a winner.
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n--Y--toodogsRitarita
Josh-
If the Ahmadinejad supporters
Are clearly in the majority-
Why did the Mullahs have to
Engineer such a clumsy and transparent
'Win' of such unbelievable margins
Merely hours after the polls closed?
Everyone knew the ballots
Had to be hand counted.
If Ahmadinejad could have won
Without a sham result-
Why would they manufacture one?
spinozareader
Josh
Precisely. We have NO way of getting a handle on the real vote count. And we can't march into Iran to obtain one; nor can we demand a re-vote--unless we're willing to open up another front of war (and if we do, we'd better keep our finger's crossed that North Korea doesn't give us the nuclear raspberry 'cause we'll be clean outta available troops).
Josh-Narins
RitaRita,
the Iranian Mullah's first choice
last time around
came in third place
and when it came to the second round (Ahmad vs Rafsanjani)
they came in second place again.
The first thing you should understand
is not to talk about fight club,
I mean,
they have no history of rigging elections.
The second thing to understand
is that polling suggests
that the victory
was exactly in line with the polls.
Dr. Mark Klein, there is no way in Ache Ee Doubly Hockey Sticks you would suffer to have America's ballot count supervised by foreigners. The only polling I've read is right in line with the actual result, and (see what I wrote to RitaRita above) the Iranian's don't have a history of rigging elections.
Nor, honestly, do I think it is line with loony Ahmadinejad's character.
Ritarita
Josh-
Thanks for the reply-
Although the missing puzzle piece
For me is-
Why the polling should be trusted
When the election results clearly are not.
PS.I hope your rhythm is better
When dancing.
Ritarita
Oh and Josh-
I was just teasing.
Josh-Narins
I don't
know why
you think the polling results
clearly "are not."
You mentioned
how fast
they counted
the ballots,
when they count them
just
as fast
in Canada (similiar populations, much larger geography)
Saphes
Josh-Narins...sadly enough , you will never see such a thing as the true polls in this situation...these people fear for thier lives. They will be punished beyond belief for voting against Ahmadinejad, not openly as you would think, but when no one sees them fall in death to the ground from a passer by, they will know who ordered this thing. Do not be fooled by the term freedom in this situation...these people have none. that is what they are willing to die for.
Johnnyappleseed
40 plus years since the shah departed, seems like a long time, but you are right it's time to move on and let those people who have been laboring in the trenches so to speak to form a new government.
What it will morph into is anybodys guess, hopefully for the better.
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n--Y--toodogsottodaorange
There were good reasons that our founding fathers chose separation of church and state!
ottodaorange
Democracy was never intended to be a gift. It is something you must fight for or lose.
den123
Agreed. This is no longer just about an election or any one person. Humans have this desire called FREEDOM and it will be realized at any cost. The Mullahs of Iran have to know this.
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n--Y--toodogsdrmarkklein
The previous presidential election was relatively clean because the opposition which turned out this time stayed home four years ago.
magicman
It would be a very good idea for the U.S. Press to make a complete catalogue of the martyrs currently giving their lives in Iran. The greatest support that we can give Iran, right now, is acknowledgement of their sacrifice as martyrs for Freedom. This single impetus will be enough. We must remain quiet and pay reverence for their Dead. A deeply somber and sober tone from us will be all the encouragement the People of Iran will need. Paying tribute to their martyrs is the Olive Branch of Peace that we offer to them as fellow human beings who have suffered and died in our own cause for Freedom here in the States.
Josh-Narins
Is supporting Mousavi supporting "freedom."
I have no earthly idea how you come to that conclusion.
Saphes
It's not that they are all in support of Mousavi, but desperately need to move away from the narrow-minded-controling-by-fear Ahmadinejad. This man seeks to be the secon Husane (sp). and will align himself with anyone to further this cause...consider his personal relationship with Castro, and others who are openly dictators from South America, and the old Communist Party of Russia.
Redhead5050
The people protesting in Iran remind me of the 60's protests in the US...where great change followed.
PARRYISLE2
These protests do not compare to the ones perpetrated by the CIA to overthrow the legally elected government which had the temerity to natioinalize their oil industry thus depriving British Petroleum of its lucrative five decade monopoly. Or the later one which brought the Mullahs to power under Ayatollah Khoumeni. Perhaps we could see a real democracy emerge if Washington and Tel Aviv would cease threatening them with nukes.
leomarka
excellent point.....command economies/dictatorship flourish when the nation is surrounded by hostility. Same phenomenon kept Russia under the heel for generations.
muddog
Just like here in the US, the younger generation is finding it's mojo, here we elected a young, bright, African American, in Iran ( where the consequences are higher ) they are looking to the US as an example, to get out the old crusty conservatives and in with the new ideas.
Some are comparing this to the overthrow of the Shaw, not sure it's the same as then as it was a wholesale ( I.E. the entire country ) was behind the "Revolution", today it is the younger generation and the intellectuals.
I hope they pull it off..... Ahmadinejad is not going quietly, this will make Obama's reaching out approach much tougher.....
Some are comparing this to the overthow of the shaw, noit usre it's the same as then it was a wholesale ( I.E. the entire country ) was behind it, today it is the younger generation and the intelectuals.
Ritarita
I think there IS an
Obama factor
In their coming out
To vote
And not staying home
Like they did last time.
magoo363
It is bad over there and I hope they get it worked out but looking at the pics it reminded me of the Lakers' "victory" celebration, only toned down.
donatello
Beware the fanatical religious right that wants to dictate their beliefs to the people. This is the type of government one gets.
ObamaLover227
Let the Daily Best change their colors to green until this is over! I hope the young people of Iran are successful and just pray there is not huge bloodshed.
Uberjeff
Here here, replace the red with green in support!
Saphes
I second the motion, and call for a vote to the floor.
whispar
Iran - the whole world is watching and we will not forget all that we have seen and heard. We have seen courageous people - stand up against the sham democracy that is being stage managed by the Mullahs and Ahmadinejad. No matter the window dressing - we now know the truth!
Ritarita
Where does this leave
Ahmadinejad's standing even
If he wins?
hashemrouhani
I hope this is the beginning for a better life for all Iranians. These acts of defiance have been long overdue. I've been writing and posting videos on my site, to show my support and spread the message by sharing information.
http://www.examiner.com/x-7528-SF-Top-News-Examiner~y2009m6d17-Irans-opp osition-leader-calls-for-more-protests
Thank you.
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