IranWatch: June 23
For highlights of previous coverage, see IranWatch: June 22 | June 21 | June 20 | June 19 | June 18 | June 17
Updated 9:03 p.m. Eastern: Palmer On Reporting From Iran
CBS News anchor Katie Couric speaks with CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, who was one of the last U.S. network journalists to leave Iran during coverage of the presidential election and subsequent protests. Click below to watch.
Updated 8:10 p.m. Eastern: Mousavi Web site off line
It's unclear whether this is a temporary glitch or a sign that the authorities have intervened but the Mousavi Web site has gone dark.
Updated 7:20 p.m. Eastern: Clerics Photographed Marching With Demonstrators
The Web site Gooyah.com has published photos showing Iranian clerics marching in pro-Mousavi protests. The photos were later carried by CNN, offering the world the rare site of mullahs openly disagreeing with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Updated 6:39 p.m. Eastern: Hashemi Reported To Meet Senior Qom Clerics
Rooyeh's reporter says the meeting included a representative of Iraqi Ayatollah Ali al Sistani. One source quoted in the report suggested that the meetings focused on how to break the political logjam that has pitched the nation into crisis.
Updated 6:09 p.m. Eastern: Mousavi Twitter Feed Calls For Wednesday Tehran Gathering
A Twitter feed said to be associated with Mir Hossein Mousavi has issued the following statement:
"Please come to Baharestan Sq. in Tehran tomorrow at 4pm #IranElection"
That location is near Iran's Majlis.
Updated 5:59 p.m. Eastern: Tehran Jange
If there are any Farsi speakers out there, drop a note with a quick translation. I have no idea what the singers are chanting in the background but no matter. It still makes for a powerful video.
Updated 5:10p.m. Eastern: Is Western Media In The Tank For Mousavi?
So much for even-handed media treatment, according to Egyptian journalist Sara Khorshid, who asks why the coverage of Iran in the West has been slanted in favor of one side. "Although news feeds about the current situation in Iran abound, the image depicted by Western media is generally subjective, siding with the Iranian opposition in what is shown as a good-versus-evil drama."
Updated 5:00p.m. Eastern: An Arab Perspective On Events In Iran
Writing in Lebanon's Daily Star, veteran Arab affairs writer Rami Khouri on how the rest of the Mideast is interpreting the unfolding events in Iran:
"Most Arabs do not want to live in an Iranian-style political system that blends theocracy with autocracy; but many were pleased to see the pro-American shah overthrown by Koran-carrying demonstrators. They would also be unhappy to see the Iranian regime overthrown because they enjoy its defiance of the US, Israel and the UN in particular, along with its development of a nuclear capability."
"At the same time, ordinary Arabs would feel jealous were the demonstrators in Iran able to topple their regime for the second time in 30 years; this would highlight the chronic passivity and powerlessness of Arab citizens who must suffer permanent subjugation in their own long-running autocratic systems without being able to do anything about it. Whether Iranian street demonstrations challenged the shah or the Islamists who toppled him, Arabs watch all this on television with a forlorn envy."
Updated 4:29 p.m. Eastern: Mousavi Said To Be Under 24-Hour Guard
The authorities reportedly have placed Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi under 24-hour guard, according to Britain's Independent. The newspaper cites film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. He said that while Mousavi was not under arrest "he has security agents, secret police with him all the time. He has to be careful what he says."
Updated 4:06 p.m. Eastern: Iran Expert's Advice To U.S. Do No Harm
Gary Sick, an Iran expert who served as a White House Mideast policy advisor counsels caution as the Obama administration tries to find the right voice in treating the Iran crisis:
"For the United States, the watchwords should be: Do no harm. The situation in Iran is being exploited for short-term domestic political purposes by those who have been looking for an opening to attack the Obama administration. Wouldn't it feel good to give full-throated expression to American opposition to the existing power structure in Iran? Perhaps so—but it could also be a fatal blow to the demonstrators risking their lives on the streets of Tehran and it could scotch any chance of eventual negotiations with whatever government emerges from this trial by fire."
Updated 3:55 p.m. Eastern: Deep Dive: Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Updated 3:45 p.m. Eastern: What's A Day In The Life Like In Tehran?
(This dispatch comes from an Iranian source inside Tehran. We are withholding the author's identity.)
"Nowadays in Tehran, life has two different cycles. From the morning until noon or 1 o clock - that's when everyone goes to work and does their usual stuff. You don't see one Basij on the street and people can conduct a normal life. But after 4 PM, it changes completely. Then the streets are full of Basijis and police. In the main streets and squares of Tehran, you see the fights going on. In the pictures, you see people starting fires. That's a way to burn the tear smoke and gas that the police uses to harm the demonstrators.
It's all done around 10 at night, and then you can hear people shouting, "Death to dictator" and "God is Great" on their roof tops. That lasts until about 11 PM and then we return to our normal lives. It's an interesting cycle.
As you may know from the news, people are still fighting in the streets against Basiji and the Sepah (Sepáh e Pásdárán, or Army of Guardians.) After Khamenei's speech on Friday, he mentioned that if people continue to demonstrate, they will be faced with these two military groups. Since Saturday, they have killed many, many people.
They use bullets that explode after entering the victim's body and they only shoot to the chest, heart or the head. We think that they use plastic bullets, which, when shot, divide into many small pieces. Each piece, when it comes into contact with human skin, is absorbed by the skin.
Khamenei is going to give another speech on Friday, but until then, nothing is clear. He gave a green light to thje Basij, who have been using young boys-some of whom are as young as 16 years old. I did not get a chance to take a picture yet, but I will. Also, if you look at the pictures being posted, you will see police bikers. In some cases, you will see men who are not wearing police costumes. Those are the Basijis using police equipment. They are using all of the force at their disposal to try and frighten us."
Updated 3:30 p.m. Eastern: Security Forces Checking Tehran Hospital Entrances
Separately, we've confirmed reports on Twitter that militia have surrounded city hospitals and are checking people who need to enter for treatment. They are said to be checking for wounds either from baton or gun injuries to weed out protesters.
"Even if you call an ambulance, the police will come first to check if you are wounded or hurt in street fights," said an Iranian in the city, who spoke with CBS News.com upon condition of remaining unidentified. "My friend's grandfather passed away days ago. When they called an ambulance, the police arrived within three minutes to check the body (for wounds.) After that, it took 25 minutes for the ambulance to come."
Meanwhile, The National Council of Resistance of Iran has published an unconfirmed report of martial law being imposed in Kermanshah:
"People have been officially warned that a gathering of more than three people is banned across town starting at 16:00 local time, threatening any breach from the directive will be dealt with a crushing response. Moreover, the State Security Force and the Basij have brought in their border guards (Iran-Iraq border) specifically to back up their forces stationed around the city and to confront popular protests."
Updated 2:49 p.m. Eastern: Hard-Line Protesters Get Their Turn
State television showed the hard-line student demonstrators burning U.S., British and Israeli flags, hurling tomatoes at the building and chanting "Down with Britain!" And "Down with USA!" according to the Associated Press.
About 100 people participated, according to witnesses.
to listen to CBS News correspondent Vicki Barker's report on the diplomatic upheaval.
Updated 2:17 p.m. Eastern: Iranian Soccer Players "Retired"
The British daily cites a pro-government newspaper as reporting Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, , Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 were permanently "retired" after last Wednesday's match against South Korea.
The opposition movement has adopted green as a symbol and the players' gesture during a widely viewed event was evidently poorly received by Iran's government.
Updated 1:47 p.m. Eastern: Video: Police Kicking In The Doors
This video posted on YouTube reportedly shows Iranian police unsuccessfully trying to kick in the door of a building Tuesday before moving on.
As we've mentioned before, it's impossible to tell when and where these videos were actually filmed.
Updated 1:39 p.m. Eastern: Obama "Appalled And Outraged"
"I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost," Mr. Obama said from the White House briefing room.
Updated 12:28 p.m. Eastern: Latest on CBSNews.com:
The streets of Tehran are quiet as Iran's regime has tightened security, including setting up special courts for arrested demonstrators.
And as details emerge about Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old whose death has become a symbol of the opposition movement, it's important to remember that she was more than an icon.
This latest post on Neda also contains news that the Iranian government is now apparently claiming that rioters were responsible for her death. The government-run Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) reported that a "reliable source" confirmed after examining the bullet and the way Ms. Agha-Soltan was shot that rioters were responsible for her death, and that a number of people had been arrested.
Updated 11:23 a.m. Eastern: "Neda's" Last Moments
Caspian Makan, the fiance of "Neda," the young Iranian woman killed last week who is now a kind of icon for the protest movement , tells Al Jazeera of her last moments.
Updated 11:09 a.m. Eastern: Iran's State TV Says Reports Of Clashes Are Lies
Iran's state-controlled television has accused Al Arabiya of falsely reporting on clashes between protesters and Iranian security over the last few days.
IRINN, the state TV channel, claims there have been no clashes and said Al Arabiya doctored images of Saturday's protesters.
IRINN said foreign media outlets have also reported the same lies.
Updated 11:01 a.m. Eastern: A Diplomat For A Diplomat
Britain is expelling two Iranian diplomats after Tehran did the same to two U.K. diplomats, according to the Associated Press.
Britain's Foreign Office said that Tehran's decision was baseless and unjustifiable.
Tehran has singled Britain out among European nations for fomenting the current political dissension in Iran.
Updated 10:47 a.m. Eastern: Influential Cleric Calls For Three Days Of National Mourning
CBS News correspondent Vicki Barker , including news that Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a powerful Iranian cleric, is calling for three days of national mourning starting Wednesday in honor of protesters killed.
Tehran Bureau, an independent news site, has a copy of Montazeri's full statement, in which he says violence against those defending their rights is "against the Islamic principle that the nation must decide its own fate and path and, therefore, I declare it to be religiously haraam [the worst sin]."
Updated 10:34 a.m. Eastern: Netanyahu Praises Protesters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iranian protesters deserved the world's praise for "facing bullets in the streets" while also calling Tehran the greatest threat to peace, according to the Associated Press.
Netanyahu spoke from Italy, where he met with Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Updated 10:29 a.m. Eastern: Neda Posters Banned
Neda became an unlikely icon of the opposition movement after her shooting death was captured on a video that spread like wildfire over the Internet. Iran's government wants to prevent her from further becoming a rallying point, the Times reports.
Updated 10:03 a.m. Eastern: Revolution Failing?
As the Guardian's live blog of the Iran conflict points out, there's some question as to whether the revolution is failing, or already has.
That's the view presented by George Friedman of Stratfor, an independent global intelligence consultancy.
Friedman asserts that the movement hasn't spread beyond its initial supporters – Iran's "Twittering class" as he calls them. Instead of drawing people from other classes and regions into it, the opposition has become socially isolated, he says.
The global media, obsessively focused on the initial demonstrators — who were supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's opponents — failed to notice that while large, the demonstrations primarily consisted of the same type of people demonstrating. Amid the breathless reporting on the demonstrations, reporters failed to notice that the uprising was not spreading to other classes and to other areas. In constantly interviewing English-speaking demonstrators, they failed to note just how many of the demonstrators spoke English and had smartphones. The media thus did not recognize these as the signs of a failing revolution.Later, when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke Friday and called out the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, they failed to understand that the troops — definitely not drawn from what we might call the "Twittering classes," would remain loyal to the regime for ideological and social reasons. The troops had about as much sympathy for the demonstrators as a small-town boy from Alabama might have for a Harvard postdoc.
Updated 9:34 a.m. Eastern: Washington Times Reporter Arrested In Tehran
A Washington Times journalist was arrested in Tehran Tuesday, Iran officials confirmed.
The identity of the journalist wasn't released but the Washington Times believes it is Greek-born freelance journalist Iason Athanasiadis. Details of the charges were unclear.
In an interview with the Fars News Agency, Mohsen Moqaddaszadeh, the head of the foreign media of the Ministry of Guidance said: "We want all foreign journalists to work in the framework of law when they travel to Iran for reporting news and expect them to stick to their professional work. If they act against the national security of our country and are involved in espionage work they will be arrested by the intelligence agents and will be handed over to the judiciary officials."
The arrest was first reported by Al Arabiya.
Updated 8:27 a.m. Eastern: White House "Taken" Aback By Iran Violence
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs spoke to Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith this morning about President Obama's concern over recent post-election violence in Iran. Below is a transcript of that portion of the interview:
Harry: Are the protesters in Iran demonstrating in vain?
Gibbs: "Absolutely not, Harry. I think we can hear their voices all the way over here and well beyond. I think the president has been struck by many of the images he's seen, particularly those images of women speaking out for their rights. I think we've all been struck by that, and I think the president has talked about ensuring justice in Iran."
Harry: "Is there anything the United States can do?"
Gibbs: "He made it very clear in our conversation last Friday the whole world's watching."
Harry: "But beyond watching, what can the world actually do?"
Gibbs: "Look, the world can put pressure on the Iranian government to ensure that people who are demonstrating or protesting can do so without fear of harm or violence. We've all been taken aback by violent images that have come out of Iran. I think what the president has also talked about, Harry, is ensuring that what we don't do is become a political football."
Updated 7:58 a.m. Eastern: New Video Shows Protesters Beat Back Regime Forces
One of the latest video clips to appear on YouTube claims to show a large group of Iranian opposition demonstrators forcing Basij milita forces to beat a hasty retreat on June 22, 2009.
Like all other material which surfaces on social networking sites, it is impossible for CBS News to verify the authenticity of the material. The poster did not say where the video of the demonstration was shot.
Updated 7:52 a.m. Eastern: Obama To Offer "Stern Words"
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tells CBS News President Obama's 12:30 p.m. Eastern news conference will open with some "stern words" about the violence in Iran.
Updated 7:50 a.m. Eastern: New President To Be Sworn In By Aug. 19
The Web site of Iran's state-controlled English language news channel says the country's new president will be sworn in and a new cabinet chosen sometime between July 26 and August 19.
Press TV's site pointed out that the "new" president will be incumbent leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as the Interior Ministry has declared him the official winner of the June 12 elections.
The powerful Guardian Council — the country's top election controller — declared Tuesday that there was "no chance" the election results will be annulled (as requested by opposition candidates) because, they say, there is no sign of fraud on a significant enough scale to affect the results.
Updated 6:49 a.m. Eastern: Iran "Will Teach Them A Lesson"
Despite a vicious crackdown by Iran's authorities, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports that there are more ominous signs Tuesday morning that the unrest is continuing.
Iran's official news agency says those arrested in the demonstrations, which have now gone on for a week and a half, will be "dealt with in a way that will teach them a lesson."
According to Iran's state TV, more than 450 people have been arrested and 10 have died in the post-election violence.
The demonstrations may be getting smaller, but those determined enough to continue to take to the streets are paying the price. New amateur video reaching the West via cell-phone and the Internet shows people who have apparently been shot.
Click here for the story or watch the video below.
Updated 5:55 a.m. Eastern: Opposition Candidate Calling For Rally In Honor Of Dead
Karroubi, who ran as the leader of the National Confidence Party, has allied himself with leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Among the information posted to his Web site Tuesday was an announcement of a rally to he held in honor of the people killed in recent clashes with Iranian security forces. The time and venue of the rally were to be announced later.
The Web site also admonished the country's powerful Guardian Council, the election authority in Iran, not to hold any partial recounts of ballots from the disputed June 12 election. "Instead of wasting time and recounting the votes, cancel the election so the calm and security can be restored and the country can be protected from a great danger."
According to the site, the editor of the Etemad-e Meli reformist newspaper, which is associated with Karroubi, has been arrested.
Karroubi describes himself as a pragmatic reform politician. He has served twice as speaker of the Iranian parliament and also sat on the powerful Expediency Council before resigning to run in the 2005 presidential election.
Updated 5:31 a.m. Eastern: Regime Denies Application For U.K. Embassy Demo
Iran's state-controlled English language television station reports that the government has refused to issue a license for a demonstration outside the British Embassy in Tehran today.
"Amid growing public anger against 'British interference in Iran's internal affairs', the Iranian Interior Ministry has refused to issue a permit for a rally outside the U.K. embassy in Tehran," reported Press TV.
"Iran's Interior Ministry condemns Britain's interference but has granted no permission for the gathering outside the British embassy on Tuesday [23 June]," said the report, citing the Interior Ministry's own Web site.
Britain's Foreign Office announced plans Monday to withdraw the families of embassy staff after members of Iran's parliament called for a review of the country's relations with the United Kingdom and members of four Iranian student unions applied for a permit to hold a protest in front of the building. Iran's Fars news agency said the protest would target the "perverted government of Britain for its intervention in Iran's internal affairs, its role in the unrest in Tehran and its support of the riots."
Updated 4:55 a.m. Eastern: Iran War Crimes Probe Sought
A former U.N. war crimes prosecutor is seeking an investigation by the world body and the International Criminal Court into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the ruling hard-line regime in Iran.
Payam Akhavan, a former prosecutor at The Hague, spoke to Al Jazeera's English language news channel (see video below) from New York. He said there is "serious grounds for concern that there have been large scale human rights abuses already."
He defined such abuses as including murder, torture, and unlawful imprisonment.
"While the extent of the atrocities that have been committed in the past few days is difficult to ascertain because the Iranian hard-liners have basically kicked out all the journalists… we're receiving daily reports that many innocent protesters have been killed in the streets of Tehran and other cities," said Akhavan, who is seeking names to petition the ICC at The Hague and the U.N.
"In certain cases we have evidence that the Basij militias have gone to hospitals where the injured have been taken and forced doctors to sign death certificates for people who are then taken away," Akhavan told the Al Jazeera anchor via telephone.