UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 27, 2010

Security forces shoot and kill two border tradesmen, injure two others
Nov. 24, 2010
On the night of November 22, security forces in the Kileh Shin border region opened fire on a group of border tradesmen killing two tradesmen and injuring two others.    
Loqman Tehpour, 20, from the Sofian Village in Ashnavieh and Nader Shahbazi from Miraveh Village in Ashnavieh were killed while Mosa Tehpour, 25, Loqman Tehpour’s brother was severely wounded.
According to this report, the identity of the fourth victim has still not been identified. It is notable that Mosa Tehpour has been injured in both legs and the bodies of the slain tradesmen have still not been handed to their families for burial. (Kurdistan Media) 

Iran bans Kurdish language in Saqez schools
Nov. 25, 2010
Mozafar Rostami, the head of the Saqez Education Department, announced in a circular which was sent to all schools in this town that talking in Kurdish is forbidden in all Saqez schools and students and teachers are not allowed to talk in this tongue.


Another student activist expelled from university
Nov. 24, 2010
Siamak Amin, who is a member of the Students for Freedom and Equality and is an economics major at the Orumieh University, was expelled from this university after being summoned to the Disciplinary Committee. The Special Issues Commission expelled him from university.
This student activist was summoned to the Disciplinary Committee on October 27 and was charged with ‘distributing the statements of the Students for Freedom and Equality, publishing university news in his website the Freedom and Equality Newsletter and causing sedition on Student’s Day 2008” and he was asked to work on his defense. On November 15, his university expulsion sentence was issued without any other explanations.

Political activist sentenced to 18 months of prison
Nov. 25, 2010
Mehdi Yar Mohammadi, a Moussavi activist in the town of Mahalat, was sentenced to one year and six months of prison by the court of review. Yar Mohammadi was charged with ‘acting against national security by propagating against the government, graffiti writing, and sending SMS’.
His first political case against him was opened in December 2009 when he was arrested in December 31. In his court session, the judge told him that in his opinion he did not even deserve to be prison for one hour and that his sentence was given to him on the request of others. This judge sentenced him to one year and six months of prison on March 6, 2010. After he appealed the sentence, while he was in the custody of the Intelligence Agency and was under interrogation, the court of review in the province of Markazi sentenced him to one year of prison on charges of spreading propaganda against the government and insulting the leader. This sentence was also announced to his family.
When news of his sentence was published in websites and foreign media, another case was opened for this political activist in April and Mehdi Yar Mohammadi was persecuted once again which led to his arrest along with his wife on April 9 in the city of Von in Turkey by unidentified security forces. He was brought back to Iran without the knowledge of Turkish police while being threatened at gun point and was transferred to the Intelligence Agency in Orumieh and then to Arak. His case was referred to the Tehran Court in July and he was transferred to cellblock 209 in Evin Prison.
His father was in a very bad mental condition when his son was detained and persecuted and the Mahalat Intelligence Agency had accused him of making money illegitimately for his children. He eventually suffered a brain stroke and passed away (because of the pressure).
This political activist is currently awaiting his sentence for his second case in which he was charged with cooperating with foreign media, propagating against the government and cooperating with foreign groups.

Iran arrests families of Ashraf residents on charges of having relatives in Ashraf
Nov. 25, 2010
On Monday, November 15, at about 11 am, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence raided the store of Hamid Miboudi, 37, and arrested him in his store. These security forces introduced themselves tax department agents and told the crowds that had gathered on the scene that Miboudi was being arrested because he had not paid his taxes. These agents then took Miboudi to his home to conduct a search. They searched his home so violently that his 3 year old child developed a stutter from shock. His wife, who was also home, is 9 month pregnant and will give birth in a few more days.
When Miboudi’s wife told the agents that she was in her last days of pregnancy and demanded to know why they were arresting her husband, these agents said that ‘several pregnant women were dying in Iraq every day and you are no different from them’.
These agents then seized some of this family’s personal items such as family videos, computer, and laptop, identification documents including their passports, phone books and their satellite receiver.
On the same day at about 5 pm, agents raided the home of Allah Verdi Rouhi, 62, who is Miboudi’s father in law and arrested him. These agents then violently conducted a search. This family’s phonebook, computer, cellphone, identification documents, framed pictures of his children and his satellite receiver were seized by these agents. They then destroyed and broke his satellite dish.
Rouhi is suffering from critical physical ailments such as prostate and heart problems and was receiving treatment. He also nursed his sick wife who is confined to bed.
The families of these two men have not been informed of the charges of their loved ones. They were reportedly only arrested because Mr. Rouhi’s children are in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
There has been no information on their whereabouts and condition since their arrest.
The Rouhi family has gone to the Karaj Prosecutor, Revolutionary Court and Intelligence Agency several times but they have not been given any specific answers regarding their loved ones. This family is extremely concerned for the condition of its loved ones.
Four intelligence agents were involved in these raids.

Female political prisoner taken to infirmary after hunger strike
Nov. 25, 2010
Jailed journalist Hengameh Shahidi was hospitalized in the Evin Prison infirmary after going on a hunger strike.
A source close to this political prisoner said she was hospitalized in the infirmary because of her poor physical health. Shahidi went on a medical leave from prison on October 28 to receive medical attention. She was returned to Evin Prison on November 15, because officials refused to extend her medical leave and went on a hunger strike on arrival in prison in protest to the fact that she was not informed why she was returned to prison and her leave was not extended.

Iran hangs man in Kashan Prison
Nov. 25, 2010
A 24 year old prisoner was hanged in Kashan Prison.
This 24 year old man was Mahmoud M. and was hanged in the yard of the Kashan Central Prison.

No news on jailed mourning mothers 
Nov. 25, 2010
According to reports, Akram Neqabi (Mother Zinali) and Jila Mahdavian (Mother Tarmasi) are jailed in cellblock 209 in Evin Prison and there is no news on the state of their legal cases and their charges. Their families have not been allowed to visit them in prison as yet. They were both arrested with their daughters on October 9. Their daughters were released after some time. They have been charged with acting against national security and having contacts with dissident groups. They are only allowed to call their families once every week and inform them of their health so that their families do not worry. But they are not allowed to talk about their charges. Relevant judicial officials have not allowed these mothers to see their families in prison.


Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI )

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 25, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 731

Effect of Sanction in Iran

Nov. 23, 2010

Long lines in gas stations
The state run Mardom Salari daily said that gas stations were getting ready to announce new rates.
“The long lines in front of gas stations in the last day of Aban (Persian month equal to November 21) was a sight worth seeing. At least 60 cars were waiting for fuel outside of gas stations on Sunday night… Experts reason that the government stresses on the sudden announcement of prices to prevent swarming of cars for fuel outside of gas stations and to prevent a repeat of the bitter experience of 2007 when gas stations were burned to the ground after it was announced that fuel would be rationed”.

Regime fears attack against gas stations
The Iranian regime has put gas stations on night alert mode in fear that people will attack gas stations after a fuel price raise. The head of the Gas Station Association in Iran has said that gas station managers have been told to be present at night in their place of work because one of these nights, the fuel price raise will be announced.

Iranian officials fear popular protests after subsidy cuts
Iranian officials held a joint session in fear of popular protests after the subsidy cuts. The Iranian state-run TV said, “In this session, the traffic police announced its readiness to monitor the correct implementation of the Smart Subsidy Plan in the areas of traffic and order”.


Crack within the regime


Nov. 23, 2010

Plan to boost Ahmadinejad’s power leads to rifts among regime factions 
Based on an order by Khamenei, a group made up of the Guardian Council, the government and the parliament have presented a plan to increase the powers of Ahmadinejad as compared to the parliament.
This committee has recently ratified a 14 point plan which would enable Ahmadinejad to give notices to other bodies including the Guardian Council, Expediency Council and Parliament and to question them.
Some of these points were announced on Saturday by the spokesman of the Guardian Council, Kadkhodayi. But Larijani and a number of other MPs said that the Guardian Council Spokesman was announcing issues not ratified by the majority of the parliament.
A MP shed light on the fact that Ahmadinejad wants the power of lawmakers and is not willing to send bills ratified in his cabinet to the parliament and has changed the name of these bills to resolutions. Efforts by Ahamdinejad to increase his powers are a part of Khamenei’s policy to eliminate bothersome institutions in the current critical conditions of the government.
Reports from state run media say this Guardian Council committee wants to solve the differences between the government and the parliament because Ahmadinejad’s cabinet is not willing to implement some of the bills ratified by the parliament.
The head of the parliament, Larijani complained in a letter yesterday to the Guardian Council that even while Khomeini said that the parliament is on top of managing all issues, the executive power has recently brought up arguments regarding the competence of the parliament and has asked for authority of it and has said that the monitoring and supervision capabilities of the parliament interferes in executive issues.
Notably, the main issue the parliament and Ahmadinejad’s cabinet are fighting over is supervision over financial issues. On orders from Khamenei, Ahmadinejad wants to use a large part of the budget and enormous income from cutting subsidies without the disturbances of other factions in the government. Larijani also disclosed that the government had illegal imported about 10 million dollars worth of oil products to the country in the past three years and has arbitrarily swapped 76 million barrels of oil.
The head of the parliament also said that the government has thought otherwise of impeaching Ahmadinejad in light of the fact that according to him ‘the enemies are ready to target the system”.

Deepening rifts in government 
One of the heads of the pro-Ahmadinejad fraction of the Iranian regime stressed in parliament that the fundamental faction (Khamenei’s faction) has been divided into various branches and segments.
Abtahi, the head of the fraction called the Islamic Revolution, said in an interview with a state-run media that infiltration groups are the source of these differences and tumbling down of Khamenei’s factions. He asked that infiltration groups be cleaned of infiltrators and disclosed that a committee in the parliament has been tasked with this clean up.
Another pro-Ahmadinejad MP, Ismail Kosari said, “Today a number disagree with Ahmadinejad in any way they can and express disagreement over anything and try to tie up his hands in any way possible”.

Khamenei controlled newspaper attacks Rafsanjani
The Khamenei controlled Kayhan state-run daily wrote on behalf of its readers against Rafsanjani.
“For the Iranian people who thirst for justice it will be very beautiful when they witness the trial of Mehdi Hashemi (Rafsanjani’s son) and that the divine sentence is carried out against this person who was the main igniter of the seditions after the elections”.

RGC official attacks Rafsanjani and minor regime faction
Mojtaba Zolnour, an official in the Revolutionary Guards Force said, “Sanei left the Imam (Khomeini) in 1985 because he felt that he would become the leader after the Imam but he did not get what he wanted and his stances changed after the leader (Khamenei) came to power and in 1995, (his stances) reached the red line”.
He attacked Rafsanjani and said, “Rafsanjani is sly and good at timing and looked into the formation of the Committee to Protect the Votes in the government and when Ahamdinejad said some things about his children in the presidential debates, Rafsanjani threw the ball in another court and instead of going to the judiciary, he wrote an open letter to the leader. Are Rafsanjani’s children different from other people that Rafsanjani writes a letter to the leader instead of going to the judiciary?”
“If Rafsanjani wants to be the pillar of anti-revolutionaries he has to worry about himself and for those who intend to be the pillars of the anti-revolutionaries, the people will know what to do with them”.
Zolnour cited the minor faction of the Iranian regime and said, “The heads of the seditions are currently in jail and their jailors are considered to be the people. Of course the government has (intentionally) planned not arresting them and has let them die politically. These people are in a dead end and their arrest would only cause them to come out of their dead end”.

Rafsanjani warns about the monopoly of the free university
In reaction to attempts by Khamenei to take over the property of the free university, Rafsanjani said, “The Free Islamic University was never without problems and some people are trying to take over it”.
“Imam (Khomeini) welcomed the proposition of establishing the free university and did not refuse to help out to this end”, he added.


Suppression

Ahwaz Pipe Factory workers denied wages for 7 months; injured laborer denied right to treatment
Nov. 23, 2010 
Workers of the Ahwaz Pipe Factory have held protests several times in the past years to the point that not holding protest gatherings has turned into an unusual issue for these workers.
Not receiving their wages and being injured with hot lead poured on their bodies in accidents has also turned into a regular phenomenon for them. Kamal Na’ami is one of the workers in this factory. His friends pull up his shirt to show how the hot lead burned his body.
He has large blisters all over his back, hands, stomach and feet but what you do not see in the picture is the fact that not only has he not received his wages for seven months, they have also not paid for his medical expenses and his birth certificate has been confiscated by the hospital he was treated in because he is not able to pay his 400,000 toman (about 400 dollars) hospital bill. He is the father of six children and has very hard financial conditions.



Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

Ahwaz Pipe Factory workers denied wages for 7 months; injured laborer denied right to treatment

Nov. 23, 2010
Workers of the Ahwaz Pipe Factory have held protests several times in the past years to the point that not holding protest gatherings has turned into an unusual issue for these workers.
Not receiving their wages and being injured with hot lead poured on their bodies in accidents has also turned into a regular phenomenon for them. Kamal Na’ami is one of the workers in this factory. His friends pull up his shirt to show how the hot lead burned his body.
He has large blisters all over his back, hands, stomach and feet but what you do not see in the picture is the fact that not only has he not received his wages for seven months, they have also not paid for his medical expenses and his birth certificate has been confiscated by the hospital he was treated in because he is not able to pay his 400,000 toman (about 400 dollars) hospital bill. He is the father of six children and has very hard financial conditions.

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 24, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 730

Latest News on Iran

Nov. 23, 2010

Tehran – more than 60 people who were the families of political prisoners gathered outside Evin Prison to follow up the cases of their jailed loved ones yesterday.

Nov. 23, 2010
Tehran- the price of some goods has sharply risen in the last two weeks for example:
A 10 kilo bag of rice which was 25,000 tomans two weeks in a discount store was 30,000 tomans this week. The price of a house in Khoramshahr Street was 10 million tomans (about 10,000 dollars) in 2007 but the same house was sold at 40 million tomans (about 40,000 dollars) in 2009.

Nov. 22, 2010
Zanjan – the Iranian regime tried to mobilize the residents of Zanjan to welcome Ahmadinejad to this town and closed universities to this end. According to reports, the regime tried to mobilize villagers to welcome Ahmadinejad and increase the crowds but even they did not participate because they knew that Ahmadinejad would not live up to his promises.

Nov. 22, 2010
Tehran – The internet in the dormitories of Iran Medical Science University is filtered and users cannot use Yahoo Messengers. Users cannot even have access to website such as Mibo with proxies. Also, the student’s accounts are disconnected once every 30 minutes making it impossible to download anything from the internet.

Nov. 22, 2010
Law and psychology students in Tehran protest
Students of the Law and Psychology College located in the central building of the Olympic Township gathered in protest to a plan to separate the entrances and exits of boys and girls and the lack of security for female student in this college.

Nov. 22, 2010
Two agents die in armed clash
Two state security force agents died in an armed clash in Firouz Abad in the Fars Province. The state run Siasate Rouz daily wrote, “Agents of the Mouk Base in Firouz Abad ordered a car to stop but the driver of the car started speeding instead and this led to an armed clash between the car passengers and the police agents and in the end, two agents were killed and the car fled the scene”.

Nov. 22, 2010
Storeowners who do not ban ‘improperly veiled women’ from entering stores will be punished
Store owners who do not put up signs which say ‘improperly veiled women are banned from entering’ their stores will be fined.
According to reports, the Tehran Trade Room is looking to implement a plan which would make it possible to fine store owners who do not put up a sign banning improperly veiled women from entering.
Some time ago, Friday Prayer heads simultaneously complained about the state of improper veiling in the country and the Clerical Fraction in the parliament asked the commander of the State Security Forces to give an explanation about improper veiling in the society.

Nov. 22, 2010
Political prisoner violently interrogated and threatened in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj
According to reports, political prisoner Arjang Davoudi was transferred to the Sepah Cellblock in Gohardasht (Rajayi Shahr) Prison and was interrogated and threatened for several hours by agents of the Intelligence Agency.
On Monday, November 22 political prisoner Arjang Davoudi was interrogated from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm in the Sepah Cellblock where he was threatened by intelligence interrogators. This political prisoner was abused and mistreated.
Davoudi has been jailed for years under inhumane conditions. Some time ago, his house which was his family’s only shelter was sealed off under the orders of Khamenei’s office in a letter which is in the Revolutionary Court and his family does not have a home.


Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 23, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 729

Student’s Day (December 7)

Call for widespread strikes on Student’s Day (Dec. 7)
Nov. 21, 2010
On the verge of Student’s Day in Iran, a group of students in Tehran University issued a statement and called on all students to join the strikes across Iran on December 6, 7 and 8.
Student activists stressed that ‘in the past year, we witnessed the blatant actions by the government including the murder of our compatriots in street demonstrations; scandal in Kahrizak Prison; violent attack against Tehran University dormitory; forced confessions from jailed activists; the arrest and detention of thousands of people; executions and hundreds of other illegitimate actions”.
They asked all student associations and activists to participate in their widespread strikes and cry out for freedom so that both tyrants and freedom lovers in the world would hear their cry.
“We ask all those who read this statement to publish it in their websites, weblogs and social networks and in distribute them in universities and dormitories and aid us in spreading this important message”.


Downfall

Head cleric admits that Iranians hate clerical rule
Nov. 21, 2010
Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, cited the fact that the people hate the clerical rule of the mullahs and said, “Creating rifts among clerics is one of the actions of the enemy which leads to the people separating themselves from the government which provides the grounds for separating oneself from religion”.
“Today, some people are looking to carry out this theory and advocate an Islam without politics which is in line with the separation of religion from state, and the departure of clerics from politics which means that efforts of religious clerics in the past centuries would be wasted”.
“Today enemies approach religious authorities and lie to them to the point that the religious authority becomes neutral and after some time by being presented false information, he feels that he is in the middle of the anti-revolutionary field.”
“They bring this issue up to lie about clerics to the people and say that in Iran, only one sector of the society rules over all the other sectors”.


Crack within the Regime

MP undermines Rafsanjani in increasing rifts in government
Nov. 21, 2010
Rasayi, a member of the parliament from Ahmadinejad’s faction cited remarks made by another parliament member that ‘the united front of the fundamental (pro-Khamenei) movement stretches from Ahmadinejad to Hashemi Rafsanjani’ and said, “In light of the actions of these two personalities, this issue is like us believing that two parallel lines meet, because we believe that unfortunately Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani failed in last years seditions and is still not even willing to announce his separation from the sedition and the sedition movement still depends on him and has not lost hope in him. Therefore, with his actions in the past years, especially last years seditions, Mr. Hashemi cannot be a unifying side in the fundamental (pro-Khamenei) movement”.

Iranian regime changed 6 heads of universities in Tehran
Nov. 21, 2010
Ahmadinejad's government has changed 6 heads of universities in Tehran. These universities are:
Tarbiat Modares, Sharif Industrial University, Khajeh Nasir TosiUniversity, Arts University, Teacher's Training University, and the Industrial University (Electricity and water).


Economic Situation in Iran

Regime deprives families of political prisoners of cash subsidies 
Nov. 21, 2010
The Ahmadinejad government has refused to transfer cash subsidies to the bank accounts of political prisoners and their families.
The family of a political prisoner said, “When families of political prisoners or recently released political prisoners go to register in the Smart Subsidy Plan to receive the cash subsidies, they are banned from registering”.
“We had registered from before but when we went to the bank we realized that the money had not been transferred to our accounts. The amount which was announced would be transferred to the bank account of the guardian of a family was not transferred for the families of political prisoners”.
The Iranian regime wants to put more pressure on political prisoners and their families in this way. This is while the transferred cash subsidies are not usable.


Resistance

People in Isfahan torch Bassiji motorcycle
Nov. 20, 2010
On Saturday, November 20, a motorcycle which belonged to the Bassij Offices in the Amir Almomenin Mosque in Zarin Shahr was stolen.
According to eye witnesses, in the past week, a number of new motorcycles were given to Bassijis in this mosque and they showed off the new motorcycles by constantly riding them trying to create an atmosphere of fear. People in this area stole one of these motorcycles and burned it a few streets away from the mosque.

Angry Khuzestan Pipe Factory: death to despots 
Nov. 20, 2010
On Saturday morning (November 20), more than 250 workers of the Khuzestan Pipe Factory gathered outside the Khuzestan Governor General offices in Ahwaz in protest to not receiving their wages for 18 months and promises that were not kept by officials regarding the reactivation of the factory. According to reports, they were not given any answers until 9:30 am. The angry workers chanted “Governor General support us, support us” and “death to despots”. This gathering was still ongoing when this report was given.


Suppression

Minister of Higher Education threatens university heads with expulsion to tighten control over universities 
Nov. 21, 2010
The Minister of Higher Education said, “The heads of universities have always been told that anyone who does not implement the regulations of the Ministry of Science (Higher Education) has to go”.
“I believe that not implementing the regulations of the Ministry of Science is an excuse for universities to leave the (controlling) area of the government but it has to be noted that we believe that universities are independent but are not separate islands from the government”, Kamran Daneshju said. (Fars state-run News Agency)

Iran takes 15 year old boy hostage as ransom for brother
Nov. 20, 2010
The eldest brother of Mohammad Saber Malek Reiesi, a 15 year old Baluch boy who was taken hostage 14 months ago by the Ministry of Intelligence asked human rights activists in a letter to do their best to save his brother’s life.
Mohammad Saber was arrested along with two of his other brothers because his eldest bother Abdolrahman was not willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Intelligence. Intelligence agents went to their parent’s house and told them that if they did not hand in their eldest son, they would execute their three sons in prison.
This letter given to Human rights in Iran reads in part:
I am the eldest brother of Mohammad Saber Malek who was arrested on September 24 while he was with his smaller brother in the Ali Ebn Abi Taleb Hospital in Chabahar. He has been kept in a state of limbo for 14 months in the detention centers of the Intelligence Agency in Zahedan.
Ministry of Intelligence agents have constantly called my family and demanded that they turn me in as the condition for releasing my smaller brother and my family in under psychological pressure. Because of these threatening phone calls by the Ministry of Intelligence, my elderly father is in a dangerous physical condition.
All these threats and mental pressure on my family is because I was not willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Intelligence who wanted me to be spy for them in sessions of the Sunni clerics and the people of Baluchistan. I left the country for security reasons…
After my family and the headmen (in their region) pursued this issue, my two brothers were released after four months on a 70 million toman (about 70,000 dollar) bail but my smaller brother was not released. The Ministry of Intelligence is harassing my family to put me under pressure to turn myself in.

Iran expels female student from university because of religion
Nov. 20, 2010
Arezu Samimi, a Baha’i student at the Science and Industrial University in Behshahr was expelled from this university for ‘following the Baha’i faith’.
This student’s religion has been registered as Islam in the official website of this university but after she followed up and protested this issue to correct her student information form, heads of the university expelled her.
The expulsion of Baha’i students from university is ongoing while the heads of the Ministry of Higher Education have denied the existence of ‘students who have been expelled because of their religious beliefs’ and those ‘who have been banned from education’.


Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 22, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 728

Downfall

Does Ahmadinejad want to manage the world like this? Letter of political prisoner on notorious Karaj prison conditions 
Nov. 19, 2010
Segments of a letter by political prisoner Ali Saremi from Gohardasht Prison in Karaj about prison conditions:
It is not difficult to evaluate the state of non political prisoners. When a prisoner comes into prison, he has nothing more than some money in his pocket and the clothes on his back. In the quarantine section of prison, where a prisoner is usually kept for up to 3 days, they receive one pair of underwear and a disposable plate and cup. But when they are admitted into the cellblock, they neither receive clothes, plates, cups nor toothbrushes or toothpaste and they have to provide all these themselves.
This is while many prisoners do not have homes, have been shunned by their families or cannot afford to provide these things. A number of them are mentally disturbed or have problems in controlling their urine.
The life of these needy prisoners is appallingly miserable. They eat their food in a piece of plastic or cuttings from a carton of milk that others have drunk or they use a piece of tin from a the container of a disinfectant used to clean the restroom.
In addition to this problem is the problem of the daily increase of prisoners which is a result of the mismanagement of prisons by the government.
In 2009 when I was transferred to Gohardasht Prison, there were about 500 prisoners in our cellblock (cellblock 4). This year, in November there are about 1,300 prisoners in our cellblock which means that in the course of a year it has increased five fold and every month, more than 60 people are jailed.
Gohardasht Prison has eight cellblocks which mean that in the past year more than 450 people have been jailed in each of the eight cellblocks. In light of the fact that there are more than 10 prisons in Tehran, more than 4,500 prisoners are jailed every month in Tehran and because there are more than 10 large cities in the country, more than 45,000 people are imprisoned every month in the country.
One wonders what the people will do if this government continues its rule for a few more year, god forbid. All of the (above mentioned) issues are in addition to the problems of addiction, and the lack of warm water among other things in prison.

The fear of regime’s officials from people’s protest against the cancellation of taxes
Nov. 20, 2010
The secretary general of Ershad office in Alborz province said with anxiety: Enemies are trying to stand against the taxes law in many different ways by hearsays of possible inflations, outbreaks of poverty and high expenses and making the insecurity in the society and increase in sanctions.


Crack within the Regime

Deleting the picture of Rafsanjani from the pictures of political prisoners of Shah’s time
Nov. 20, 2010
Following the deepening of internal hew of regime, Rafsanjani’s picture have been deleted from the pictures of Shah’s time Political prisoners in the museum called Ebrat. Regime’s newspaper wrote: these days visitors of the Ebrat Museum have been witnessed to the changes made in the museum like taking the made pictures of torture signs of some of Islamic Revolution leader’s pictures, including Rafsanjani and has been replaced with the pictures of some people who have nothing to do with the anti-shah struggles.


Economic Situation in Iran

The capacity of the import is about 200% of the export
Nov. 21, 2010
This is the Ahmadinejad’s statistics in economic field. According to official statistics, in the seven months of the current year, the value of imports is twice the exports.
As the deputy minister of economy said, at this time the value of import goods is 34000 million dollars. The capacity of imports comparing to last year has increased in value about 23% and in weight 61%. But this scale is not included in the goods that have been imported by Guards Corps and robber gangs. The main part of the imports, are disposable goods and among them there is everything. From tomb stone to knifes.


Suppression

Spiritual leaders of Sunny in Iran have been forbidden to travel abroad
Nov. 20, 2010
According to the received news, security forces, have held the passports of some of sunny leaders in Tehran Airport and prevented them to travel abroad. Sunny Online wrote: On Thursday when some of sunny leaders who were travelling to Turkey to take part in an Islamic international conference, there passports were held by security forces. Molana Abdolqani Badri, the head of education department of Zahedan zone, Dr. Obeidollah the master of this department and Molana Osman Qalandarzehi, the head of Madineh School in Khash were among them.

Political prisoner denied treatment in notorious Karaj prison
Nov. 19, 2010
Political prisoner Mashallah (Hamid) Haeri, who is detained in Rajayi Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison in Karaj, is in poor physical health and prison officials ignore his condition.
According to reports, this 53 year old political prisoner is in need of a specialist doctor and special medicine because he is suffering from hemorrhage and a critical heart problem. Prison officials prevent him from getting the special medicine his family brings for him.
He is detained for being a member of a dissident group and has been sentenced to 15 years of prison by the Revolutionary Court

The violent attack of agents to an emergency hospital
Nov. 21, 2010
The guards attacked the emergency hospital called Imam in Tehran and hit one of masters of the university, Dr. Salimi while police officers were present.

Iran fatally shoots Kurd border tradesman
Nov. 19, 2010
In the persistence of the killing of tradesmen in Kurdistan, at least four tradesmen were killed after being shot by security forces of the Islamic Republic.
On the night of November 16, a number of Kurd tradesmen in the Vazin area in Sardasht were targeted by the forces of the Islamic Republic and as a result a tradesman identified as Ribaz, son of Mostafa Babekr was killed.
Another tradesman identified as Savat Haji Ahmad, son of Rasoul was shot and injured.

Implementation of sex division plans in the specialty classes of Science and Industry University
Nov. 20, 2010 
According the news from Science and Industry University, university management have implemented the sex division plans in the classes of mathematics. Students are strongly against these acts.


Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 20, 2010

No news on condition of political prisoner after he was thrown in solitary
Nov. 18, 2010
There has been no news on the condition of political prisoner Mohammad-Ali Mansouri, three weeks after he was thrown in a solitary cell in cellblock 1 in Gohardasht Prison known as the ‘doghouse’.
Mansouri was summoned along with a number of political prisoners to the Intelligence Unit in prison after singing the banned national anthem when a prisoner was being released from prison. After long interrogations, he was transferred by the head of the Intelligence Unit, Faraji, to a solitary cell in the doghouse.
His family has gone to the Revolutionary Court, Prison Organizations and Gohardasht Prison several times but has not been given any answers on the condition of their loved one. This has led to serious concerns for his family. Prisoners who are transferred to cellblock 1 are subjected to severe physical torture including being beaten with electric batons while handcuffed, being subjected to electric shocks and being tortured with other tools for a prolonged amount of time which usually leads to broken legs and hands. Cells in this section lack minimum facilities and prisoners have to sleep on the ground. Guards wet the ground day and night to prevent the prisoner from sleeping on the ground and to subject the prisoner to extreme cold. Prisoners are allowed to bathe only once every few weeks and to use the bathroom three times a day. The amount of food given to prisoners is only enough to live on and the sanitary conditions are appalling. Ailing prisoners are banned from taking their medicine and are denied minimum medical treatment.
Political prisoner Mohammad-Ali Mansouri was arrested in September 2007 after participating in the 19th anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and was sentenced to 17 years of prison by Judge Salavati. He was sentenced to spend his prison time in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj. He was also a political prisoner in the 80’s.

Gohardasht Prison guards attack political prisoners in systematic raid 
Nov. 18, 2010
Prison guards in Rajayi Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison in Karaj raided the cells of political prisoners in cellblock 4 on Thursday morning and searched their cells and personal belongings.
According to reports from Rajayi Shahr Prison, on November 18, 32 members of the Special Guards Forces in prison along with 14 military officers’ raided hall 10 in this prison which is where political prisoners are kept and violently searched their belongings.
These raids, in which prison guards violently conduct searches, beat prisoners and destroy their personal belongings, have been carried out numerous times in the past months. Some time ago prison guards raided cellblock 4 along with two dogs and searched the belongings of political prisoners in hall 10 in this prison.
Rajayi Shahr Prison is used by security officials to send political prisoners (to as punishment) because of its unsuitable conditions. This prison which is known as the ‘center of exile for political prisoners’ is used to put pressure on political prisoner because of its unsuitable sanitary conditions, detaining political prisoners with methadone prisoners, prisoners who inject drugs, troublemakers and drug addicts who have been arrested on the streets and those who are psychologically ill in one cellblock, the systematic beating of prisoners, limitations in in-person visits and the lack of medical services.

Still no news on student activist after 60 days
Nov. 18, 2010
Sixty days after the arrest of Foad Farimian, an Amir Kabir University student, those close to him still have no news on his whereabouts.
This master’s degree student in Amir Kabir University was arrested two months ago by the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. This student was active in Mir Hossein Moussavi’s election staff in this university.
His family and friends are extremely worried because officials refuse to answer their concerns about his condition and whereabouts.


Jailed female journalist banned from visits
Nov. 18, 2010
An informed source said that the family of jailed journalist Nazanin Khosrovani, who had gone to prison to visit her, was told that she is banned from visits. Agents refused to give further explanations about why this prisoner of conscience was banned from visits.
Khosrovani was arrested on November 2, 2010 in her home by security forces and has only called her family once since her arrest. Officials have not said why she was arrested and what she has been charged with. Nazanin Khosravani was not involved in any media activities after the elections and according to her friends she did not have any media or political activities. Her arrest and lack of knowledge about her condition after her arrest has surprised her former colleagues. (International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran)


Iran Students Committee(Supporters of PMOI)

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 17, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 727

Downfall

Iran establishes new Bassij organization to counter ‘soft war’
Nov. 15, 2010
The paramilitary Bassij Organization announced after a session it had on November 11 and November 12 in Mashhad that it has established a new media organization called ‘Bassij Press’ and has elected its founding committee.
In this session, the heads of the Resalat daily, Javan Online and Fars News Agency were chosen as members of the founding board and were tasked with writing the statute of this organization.
Naqdi, a Revolutionary Guards Corps official said in a speech in this session that this ‘media’ was for ‘coordination’ with other media.
He listed some of the activities of this organization as ‘indicating the mentality of the leadership and the Bassij way of thinking, recognizing the enemy, educating Bassij forces and using the Bassij in the media’.
He welcomed the establishment of this new suppressive organization and said, “We all know that the communications of armed forces and the media in our country is an important issue and we have to use this opportunity and it will benefit our power and national security”.

Iran tasks 5,000 Bassijis with implementing subsidy plan
Nov. 15, 2010
The Iranian regime has tasked Bassij members with countering popular protests against the new subsidy plan. The state-run Khabar Online website announced this and said that more than 5,000 Bassij forces in the government offices have been tasked with carrying the plan to cut subsidies.


Pasdar Yaddolah Javani: enemies are after making internal opposition
Nov. 15, 2010
Yaddolah Javani, head of the political department of Guards corps, with anxiety about the after comes of tax cancellations, said: enemy is after taking advantage from the situation. They are looking for the weakness of the government and create dissatisfaction among the people in order to make internal opposition.

Fear of the Regime from the Strike of Bazaar Jewelers
Nov. 15, 2010
Javan online site gave the news of jewelers' further strike and said about threatening the member of this guild by oppressive forces. This site wrote: there are signs of new wave of protests.
According to Javan online, while the member of jewelers union have been told to enroll for doing the tax over profit in tax office site but there are efforts for new protests over this act.
One of the members of this guild in past few days by appearing in gold bazzar of center and east of Tehran during a discussion with jewelers have asked them to close their shops. This man who is doing this by a group of 10 has received warnings.


Crack within the Regime

Iran’s minority faction ridicules subsidy plan
Nov. 15, 2010
The state-run Mardom Salari daily, run by the minority faction of the Iranian regime, ridiculed Ahmadinejad’s plan to cut subsidies and wrote: “Everyone is happy that cash subsidies have been transferred to their bank accounts (of course without them having the right to use it). You can buy 2 kilos of meat with the money transferred to your account. It’s just too bad you’re not allowed to use it. Even if you were allowed to use it, how would you pay your water, electricity and gas bills? So you can cross out buying meat for now and try to make due with bread.

Iran arrests former RGC official
Nov. 15, 2010
There is no news on the condition and whereabouts of Mohammad-Reza Farzin, the deputy commander of the Khatam Anbia RGC Base in the Iran Iraq war, who was arrested on October 14 by the Revolutionary Guards Forces Intelligence Unit in the Khorasan Corps and was taken to an unknown location. The Mashhad Intelligence Agency has announced that it does not know anything about the whereabouts of Farzin. His family has been threatened several times that if they talk to the media, they will have a fate like that of their father.
Notably, his family says that his arrest was linked to a municipality council in Mashhad three days before his arrest where he severely criticized the RGC.


Economic Situation in Iran

Underground economy
Nov. 15, 2010
‘Underground economy’ is another name for smuggling which has reached 20 billion dollars under the rule of the Iranian regime. Of course these are statistics announced by regime officials and the real numbers are much higher. The underground economy consists of an extensive collection of goods including shoes, textile, satellite equipment, computer, cellphones and other technological goods. This is a growing industry. According to evaluations, this smuggling has so far eliminated 30 percent of productions in Iran. For example, because the price of shoes and textile that is smuggled into Isfahan is very cheap, the oldest factories and industries in this city have gone bankrupt and have forced to close down. Mohammad-Reza Jannesari, a regime official in Isfahan said, “Smuggled goods are very prevalent in the markets. Despite the fact that all airports and borders and mailing systems and carrying companies are under control and monitoring, we have still not been able to prevent this smuggling”.
It is very clear why they have not been able to prevent this issue. It is because Iran’s airports, ports and other border areas are all controlled by the Revolutionary Guards Corps and the main operators of the underground economy are institutions and gangs linked to the RGC.

30 percent of bakeries will probably go bankrupt after Smart Subsidy Plan
Nov. 15, 2010
Hossein Naziri, the head of the Baker’s Union said, “The Smart Subsidy Plan for flour and bread will increase the freedom of bakers in buying suitable flour; Of course, one third of bakers will be eliminated from the production cycle in the ensuing rivalry.


News on Universities

Retreat of Mullah’s dictatorship from breakup of Medical Science University of Iran
Nov. 15, 2010
 Students of Medical Science university of Iran, with their wide protests, made the Mullah’s dictatorship to retreat from breaking up this university. Mullah Islami, the spokesman of commission 90 of parliament said: it is possible to cancel the breakup of this university.


Suppression

Retention of more than 1000 pieces of satellite equipment in central province
Nov. 15, 2010
In continuation of suppression and censorship of media and to stop giving information to people, head of security and intelligence department of police force of the central province gave the news of retention of more than 1000 pieces of wave receiving satellite in the city of Arak.
Colonel Ahad Ahmadi said: agents of police forces for moral security were successful in arresting the man who was active in provision of satellite equipment.

Young protester suspiciously dies in detention
Nov. 14, 2010
Last week, 30 year old Hamid Madmali who was arrested by the Intelligence Unit of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, suspiciously passed away in an unknown detention center. He was arrested on charges of insulting the leader in his contacts a satellite Persian network.
According to reports, Hamid Madmali who was from the town of Masjid Soleiman was arrested some time ago in his home in Tehran for having communications with a satellite Persian network and criticizing the leader and president of Iran.
RGC forces violently beat him upon his arrest and took him to an unknown location. His family’s months long pursuits for his whereabouts led to nowhere.
Finally after constant pursuits, intelligence agents buried his body in his birth place, Masjid Soleiman, under severe security measures and his brother was also threatened for filing a complaint against the relevant institution.

Iran arrests another labor activist in Saqez
Nov. 14, 2010
On Thursday, November 11, labor activist Omar Ismail Pour, was summoned and arrested by the Revolutionary Guards Corps. According to reports, no one knows where he was taken and what his current condition is.

Iran expels student activist from medical university
Nov. 15, 2010
Yaser Rahmani, a medical student at the Shiraz Medical Science University and the political secretary of the Islamic Association in this university was finally expelled from university after being kept in a state of limbo for one and a half years. He was expelled in a sentence by the Central Disciplinary Committee of the Ministry of Health and Hygiene…
Notably, in this time, the Protection Department of his university and security officials in the province of Fars tried to ruin the image of this student activist and member of the Office for Consolidating Unity by saying that he had given interviews and had made confessions under pressure whish he has strongly denies.

15 protesters sentenced to prison for post-election protests
Nov. 15, 2010
According to reports from Mashhad, 15 people were tried on charges of acting against national security and propagating against the government. Some of these people were arrested in 2009 and spent time in prison. They were sentenced to 3-16 years of prison. Their charges were having email communications with a number of people outside of the country. Three of them identified as Ali Ebadi, Mohammad Mirzayi and Mehdi Jalili are currently in prison and the rest are free on bail.
Notably, Ali Ebadi is a former political prisoner and has been detained in a solitary cell for more than a year.

Some of those sentenced are as follows: 
Ali Ebadi, six years of prison
Mehdi Jalili, 16 years of prison
Hassan Oganji, 6 years of prison
Zohre Ebadi, wife of Hassan Oganji, three and a half years of prison
Javad Ebadi, 3 years of prison
Ahmad Mirzayi, six years of prison
Mohammad Ghobrayi, six years of prison
Salmas Parsi, three years of prison


Other News

New commander chosen for Khamenei’s protection guard
Nov. 15, 2010
It was announced about 10 days ago that Brigadier General Ibrahim Jabari has been appointed as the new commander of Khamenei’s protection guards. The reason behind this appointment was not announced.
Background info:
Khamenei’s protection guard known as the Vali Amr Corps consists of 12,000 people. Ibrahim Jafari was appointed as the head of the Zanjan RGC Base after the Iran Iraq war as a second brigadier. He was chosen as the head of the Qazvin RGC Base in 2002 and in this post, suppressed the people in this city for six years. Seven months before the elections in 2009, Jabari was transferred to Tehran and was appointed as the deputy commander of the RGC in Tehran. Eleven days before the elections, he was elected as deputy to the head of the Bassij, Hossein Taeb.
In this time, from June 15 to Aug. 16, 2009, the Bassij directly controlled everything in the capital along with the RGC and suppressed the post-election protests. In the first six months after the elections, Jabari acted as the senior deputy to Taeb in violently suppressing the protests. He has close contacts with Mesbah Yazdi. Yazdi who is a cleric is known as the godfather of Ahmadinejad. Jabari went to Qom on November 17, 2009 on orders of the head of the RGC in Iran, Mohammad-Ali Jafari, and became the RGC commander in this town. In the 12 months of his command, there were many protests in Qom. He played a major part in suppressing these protests. This RGC official who has a history in suppression and committing crimes against the people has been chosen as the new head of protection for Khamenei.



Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 16, 2010

Iran hangs man in Abadan
Nov. 13, 2010
Farid Boghlani, was hanged in the Karoun Prison in Ahwaz.
According to reports, Boghlani who was sentenced to 13 death sentences by the Penal Court in the province was taken to the gallows in the morning after months of anticipation. He was hanged with the presence of the families of his victims, reporters and judicial officials seeing to his case. (Fars state-run News Agency)

Hand of prisoner will soon be chopped off in Mashhad
Nov. 14, 2010
The hand of another man will soon be chopped off in Mashhad. Prosecutor Mahmoud Zoqi and Colonel Ahad Karimi, the State Security Forces Commander in Mashhad said in separate interviews that in the near future, the amputation sentence of a thief who has committed violent crimes would be carried out in Mashhad. (Khorasan state-run daily)

Iran arrests 3 activists in Saqez
Nov. 14, 2010
According to reports from Saqez, in the past few days, security forces arrested three Kurd activists in this town.
Haj Saied Fatahi, a 60 year old Bazaar merchant, Ali Mohammadian (Ali Khorkhoreyi), artist and Rozgar Moradi, a law student at Tabriz University were arrested.
Judicial officials in Saqez have not given any reason for the arrest of these men as yet. (Mukerian News Agency)

Iran persecutes wife of political prisoner for having satellite equipment and computer in home
Nov. 14, 2010
Some time ago, agents of the Intelligence Agency in Rasht raided the home of political prisoner Hadi Abedi Bakhoda and violently searched this home. These agents seized some of this family’s personal belongings including their computer, telephone book, satellite receiver, CD’s and other things.
These forces also intended to arrest Mehri Javan Doust, Bakhoda’s wife but were met with her resistance against this arbitrary arrest. They summoned Javan Doust that same day to the Intelligence Agency and interrogated and threatened her for three hours and then released her. But last week, she was once again summoned to the Rasht Intelligence Agency and interrogated again for a prolonged amount of time. Because intelligence interrogators did not have any evidence to charge her, they used her children’s computer and the fact that she had a satellite receiver in her home as an excuse to file a criminal record against her.
These interrogators have also informed her that she will be put on trial on November 15 on these charges.
Hadi Abedi Bakhoda was shot in the spinal cord in the 80’s when regime forces were trying to arrest him and is now paralyzed and on a wheelchair. He was a political prisoner in the 80’s and was recently sentenced to 2 years of prison under fabricated charges. Because of his physical condition, he is receiving treatment under the care of his wife.

Political prisoner banned from mourning father’s death in prison
Nov. 14, 2010
According to reports, prison guards in Gohardasht (Rajayi Shahr) Prison in Karaj prevented a memorial ceremony for the late father of political prisoner Karim Poursamadi in cellblock 2 in this prison.
Close to a week after the death of this political prisoner’s father, political prisoners intended to hold a memorial ceremony to give condolences to their fellow inmate Karim Poursamadi which was unfortunately met with the refusal of prison agents and they were told that they did not have the right to hold any kind of ceremony in prison.
About four weeks ago, the Intelligence Agency called Poursamadi’s father and told him that his son would be hanged in the morning. His father subsequently had a brain stroke and suddenly passed away.
Notably, because there is no evidence against Poursamadi, his detention order had been changed to a 50 million toman (about 50,000 dollar) bail by the Revolutionary Court but he has not been released from prison. He was under severe pressure because he was not allowed to say his last farewell to his father when he was ill and because he was banned from participating in his funeral.


Iran Students Committee (Supporters of PMOI)

UPDATE ON IRAN - Nov. 15, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 726

Downfall

Iran gets ready to counter social impact of sanctions
Nov. 14, 2010
Despite constant propaganda by Ahmadinejad who calls the Security Council’s resolutions ‘pieces of paper’, the intelligence and security apparatus of the Iranian regime is getting ready to counter the social impacts of the sanctions. According to the state-run Javan Online website, the head of the Ministry of Intelligence cited the sanctions and said that ‘economical issues’ were the main front of the enemies of the Iranian regime against this regime. He called economical sanctions ‘disruptive programs’ of the enemies.
The head of the Intelligence Ministry used terms popular among regime officials and admitted to the impacts of the sanctions on social protests and its spread and accused the ‘heads of the seditions’ of ‘taking advantage of economical issues’ in the country.
IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency): Alavi cited the economical sanctions of the enemies against the Islamic Iran and said, “Today the main front of the enemies in fighting against Iran is the issue of economics to the point where they have carried out many disruptive programs in this sector”.
According to the head of the Intelligence Ministry, the heads of the seditions are trying to take advantage of economical issues in the country.
“Intelligence and security systems will deal severely with any kind of disruption or those who want to take advantage of this issue economically including in the implementation of the Smart Subsidy Plan”.
“Today we deal harshly with those who take advantage of ethnic, social and cultural issues against the system and the country is stable in terms of security and it is powerful”, he added.

Government cleric worried over popular demos in Iran
Nov. 14, 2010
Janati, the temporary head of Friday Prayers in Tehran said, “It has to be noted that the enemy and seditionists are not sitting idly and they are like fire under the ashes and we have to wake up and counter them with caution and foresight”.
The head of the Guardian Council admitted to the fact that Khamenei had lost his credibility and said, “A number of people tried to instigate doubts between the people… and said that the seminaries have distanced themselves from the Islamic government and have taken a stance… a number of people sat at home and made irrelevant remarks and created doubts in this manner and of course foreigners took advantage of this”.
Janati also tried to bring up excuses for Khamenei’s trip to Qom and said, “Foreigners thought that the revolution had lost its backing, meaning the seminaries, but the trip by the Supreme Leader to Qom and the great and unprecedented welcoming he received by the people, religious authorities, clerics and seminary students, ruined the plans of the enemy”.
Janat openly demanded the arrest of Rafsanjani’s son demonstrating the deep rifts in the government and said, “Dealing with those who have still not been arrested has to be taken seriously and if such people returned to the county, they have to be arrested immediately.
There have been those who were involved in various kinds of corruption and unfortunately intelligence agencies could not carry out measures against them in the past but now these kinds of people do not have any security and can be dealt with”.


Crack within the Regime

Top cleric speaks out against Rafsanjani’s son; growing internal rifts in government 
Nov. 14, 2010
Simultaneous with the growing rifts in the factions of the Iranian regime, the Attorney General of Iran, Mohseni Ejeyi, threatened once again that Rafsanjani’s son would be arrested upon arrival in Iran.
“Upon the arrival of the suspect, he will be dealt with like other suspects and his case will be looked into by the judicial system”, He said in remarks which were carried by the IRNA state-run News Agency.
“His charges are not only related to post-election events. His charges are both related and unrelated to financial issues”, he added.

Grabbing at Metros
Nov. 14, 2010
On Monday, article 64 of fifth program was surveyed in the parliament.
This article is for giving management and controlling institutes rights to the government. One of the debating phrases of this article is institute. Some of them parliament members say that even though there is no article about metro, but government is trying to load this article, he wants to control and manage the metro. It means that he wants to take this out of Ghalibaf’s grab, the Tehran’s mayor, and Mohsen Hashemi, the Rafsanjani’s son.
Alias Naderan, the member of the parliament from Tehran said: please correct the name institute in this article so that the government doesn’t have the right to manage the institutes.
Mohsen Nariman another member said: article 64 is in contrast with the fifth program of constitutional law.
Jamshid Ansari also said: institution word which has been added in two places to this article has caused a misguide that the government wants to regain some of the institutes.
Before investigating this article, Ahmadinejad claimed: for building Tehran's metro, 5600000milion dollars had been expended and is one of most expensive metros in the world.


Economic Situation in Iran

Iran has a 44 billion dollar debt 
Nov. 14, 2010
The Central Bank of Iran shed light on the fact that the sum of all the Iranian regime’s debt to foreign countries until the end of 1388 (the Persian year equivalent to March 2010) is more than 44.4 billion dollars.
State media said that the finalized debts of the Iranian regime until the end of last year has been put at 21 billion 426 million dollars. This report goes on to say that the regime’s debts have increased by 24 million dollars compared to the year before that.
From this amount, 8 billion 787 million dollars are short term debts while 12 billion 739 million are long term debts.

Head of Iran’s central bank says Iran’s messy currency market is one of a kind 
Nov. 14, 2010
Seyed Hamid Pourmohammadi, the head of the Iran Central Bank said, “There is a messy market in the country which we have a respectable name for, “disorganized currency market” which does not exist anywhere else in the world.
According to the state run Peimaneh Website, Pourmohammadi cited the fact that there are various currency institutions in this market and said, “Currently there are about 1,800 discount shops (shops for poor classes) in the disorganized currency market and each one of them have between 600 to 1,200 branches. There are about 10,000 interest-free loan, 1,000 currency exchange centers and 1,000 leasing centers”.
According to Pourmohammadi, 27 thousand million tomans of the people’s wealth has been collected only in 9 of these institutions.
“There are close to 17,000 bank branches in the country which is equal to the active branches in the disorganized currency market”.
He said that most of these institutions negotiate in religious terms with the Central Bank.
“The names of many of the institutions who do not have licenses are religious names and they are connected to political and supervisory systems”.
 “It is impossible to talk to them. There is no common grounds when dealing with them”, Pourmohammadi said.
“Currently, banks which have recently been established are looking for national names for themselves while institutions who work without licenses use religious names”.
“If we want to go towards a kind of discretionary supervision over the bank network, this cannot be done with the current conditions”.
He also said that institutions which do not have licenses are like time bombs scattered in the country and stressed that “currently the rules of the Central Bank is being imposed on banks and it is not imposed on those who do not have licenses”.
Pourmohammadi said that if the Central Bank wants to keep its reputations, these cancer tumors have to be uprooted and that the Central Bank is seriously taking measures to uproot them.
“Therefore if we plan to deal with them we have to clean house but we are vulnerable from the inside on the grounds of supervision and we have to strengthen the pillar of supervision in the Central Bank”.
The head of the Central Bank said that in the past when the Mohammad Rasoul Allah discount shops (shops for poor classes) faced a crisis, it had a negative effect and some of these effects continued for a long time afterwards.


News on Universities

Nov. 14, 2010

Trial of students is a military court
In the coming of 7th of December, the 'Student  Day', regime has increased it pressures on students including the arrest of student activists or setting up inhuman provisions which includes investigation and trial of students in military court. Their justification for such an excuse is that because the culprits of university were from police forces, therefore the students' trials have to be in these courts.




Varamin – Pishvaye Varamin in Free University - Varamin- Agents of the Protection Department in the Pishvay Free University in Varamin harass students they deem ‘improperly veiled’ and prevent them from entering this university.
One of the students of this university said in this regard: security employers who most of them are illiterate and native, with a nasty act stopped boys and girls entering the university. This became a subject of a physical clash between the security guards and the students.

Tehran- Free University of east Tehran - one of the students of Free University of east Tehran after he had a call with one of his friends, took the mobile number of one of his friends and while he was speaking with him suddenly, a person who was sitting beside him shouted and said: only get the number, cut the line, is was obvious that he was under investigation.
Contacts in next day with the friends of this student didn’t give any results and his families who are not Tehran’s resident have no news from him. He was one of the east Tehran university activists and had said to his friends that he had calls from intelligence agents.

Pressure on Students in Semnan University
Semnan - Semnan University - According to one of the students of Semnan University, for putting pressure on students to prevent them from gathering. In this university seats have been taken away from university enclosure. Students have to sit on the ground. To stop student from sitting, university security have poured oil on the ground, monitoring cameras have been installed also.


Resistance

Lorestan villagers clash with security forces
Nov. 13, 2010
Villagers in the Gondabeh Shiravand in the province of Lorestan clashed with security forces in protest to the seizure of their land. These forces shot bullets in the air and used tear gas and violently attacked the protesters. In this attack which continued for four hours, at least two women were injured.


Suppression

Café nets in Hamedan, 17 of them are being managed by Basijees
Hamedan- from 30 café nets in Hamedan, 17 of them are being managed by Basijees, that unfortunately because of the low quality of internet services in other centers, so they are forced to use these controlled centers and if anybody uses these center permanently faces with serious problems because he becomes suspicious by guards.
Body search in Isfahan
Isfahan- on 12th of November in Khajo bridge, security forces and guards corps, were scattered all around in large numbers and they made a lot of disturbance for travelers, they even did body search which caused a lot of inconvenience for the people.

Iran arrests 3 female lawyers upon their arrival from Turkey
Nov. 13, 2010
Three lawyers were arrested in the morning in the Khomeini Airport in Tehran.
According to reports, Sara Sabaghian, Maryam Kian Ersi and Maryam Karbasi were arrested by security forces upon their arrival from Turkey in the Khomeini Airport at about 4am.
There are still no reports on where they are being kept or why these three lawyers were arrested.
Sara Sabaghian who is a member of the Support Committee for Women’s and Children’s Rights in the Lawyers’ Center, was arrested along with lawyer Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah and a number of other lawyers on July 8, 2010. Sabaghian is one of the lawyers of jailed blogger Hossein Ronaqi.
Maryam Kian Ersi is the lawyer of Kobra Najar, a woman who has been sentenced to death by stoning.

Iran sentences lawyer to six years of prison 
Nov. 11, 2010
Mohammad Mostafayi, a lawyer and human rights activist who represented many death row minor offenders and Sakineh Mohammadi (sentenced to death by stoning for adultery) was sentenced to six years of prison by the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court headed by Judge Moqiseh.
According to reports, this lawyer was sentenced in absentia after his case was sent to the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court without his presence and without the time of the trial being announced to him. He was sentenced to five years of prison to be served in the town of Izeh on charges of acting against national security by giving interview to Farsi media stationed outside of Iran and talking about the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and one year of prison on charges of propagating against the government.

Transferring Borojerdi to an unknown place
Nov. 13, 2010
On Saturday 13th of November, Mr. Borojerdi, from the special section of religious men was transferred to an unknown place. It seems a new wave of pressures and disturbance against him has started. He had been under so much pressure and disturbance of guards due to his crucial positions against the ruling dictatorship, especially the misuse of supreme leader from the name of Islam. Akram Validost, Mr.Borojerdi’s wife, following the pressures by security guards, have had a hearth attacked ans was hospitalized in Rajaii hospital in Tehran.
Mr. Borojerdi due to his position against the supreme leader Khamenei, in separating religion from the government, had suffered a lot of expenses like the murder of his parents, arrests of his followers, confiscation of his house and assets, being under control and pressures on his family and children.

Iran lashes political prisoner in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj
Nov. 10, 2010
According to reports, on November 10 at about 10 am, political prisoner Behrouz Javid Tehrani was suddenly summoned to the sentence implementation unit of Gohardasht Prison after 8 years of prison under torture and was lashed by Hassan Akharian who is the head of the sentence implementation unit and is known for torture, murder, and the rape of prisoners. Tehrani was lashed 74 times…
While being flogged, Behrouz Javid Tehrani did not even cry out to give his torturer satisfaction and despite the severe pain and a bloody and bruised back, smiled at his torturer and treated him with contempt.

Iran expels Baha’i student from high school 
Nov. 11, 2010
According to reports, a Baha’i student identified as Sahar Sabetian (f) who was studying at the al-Zahra High School in Sari was expelled from this university on Saturday October 31 and was denied the right to education. She was expelled for answering the insults of her religious teacher regarding her religious beliefs.

Prejudice against Kurd students in Beheshti University 
Nov. 11, 2010
In an unprecedented measure, the head of the Beheshti (Meli) University in Tehran have carried out ethnic prejudices against Kurd students in this university.
Kurd students were given less dormitory rooms than last year. According to this report, the heads of the dormitory do not allow Kurds to room together. Kurds students are not allowed to live in one block, one floor, or room in a building.
They also face limitations in leaving and entering the dorms.

Sunnis under increased pressure in Kurdish areas
Nov. 11, 2010
According to reports, last Friday, when Sunnis in the town of Kamyaran intended to hold their Friday Prayers in the Jame Mosque in this town, security forces surrounded the mosque. These forces body searched all the participants, even the women, which led to protests from the Sunni prayers.

Prisoner goes blind due to lack of on time treatment 
Nov. 13, 2010
According to reports, a prisoner was blinded in his right eye after an attack by a gang which works under the command of the head of Gohardasht Prison, Ali Haj Kazem.
Prisoner Zare Javadzadeh, 29, is detained in Hall 3, Cellblock 1 in Gohardasht Prison. Some time ago, a prison gang which has been organized under orders of the head of this prison to suppress dissident prisoners and sell narcotics attacked this prisoner with knives and clubs. He was stabbed in the eye and sustained a serious injury.
He was told in the prison infirmary that he had to pay a large sum of money to have an eye surgery and that the prison would not pay for his surgery. He was told that they could only take his eye out; otherwise, the prisoner would have to pay for the expenses of surgery. Javadzadeh accepted to pay the expenses for fear of going blind but said that he needed about two weeks to come up with the money. The heads of the infirmary said that they would postpone the surgery for two weeks and would wait for his payment.
After two weeks, he was able to come up with the money for surgery but a specialist doctor told him that because he waited too long for the treatment, his eye is untreatable and that he would be blinded and he did lose his eyesight in his right eye.
Zare Javadzadeh was arrested in 2007 and was detained for a long period of time in the Shahpour Detention Center, Intelligence Agency detention center and the notorious Kahrizak ‘death’ camp. He was under severe inhumane torture for 48 days in the Kahrizak Camp. Javadzadeh was tortured along with other prisoners by Ahmad-Reza Radan and Yahaqi, two State Security Forces commanders, for two weeks in this death camp.


Other News

Classes without teachers more than a month after new academic year 
Nov. 14, 2010
Ali Abbaspour Tehran Far, the head of the Educational Commission in the parliament said, “More than a month and a half after the start of the new academic year, some classes still do not have a teacher. In some junior high schools in Tehran, they do not have any teachers or teachers have not showed up on their classes for weeks”.
This is while the Education Minister claimed in the beginning of the academic year that no classes would be without a teacher this year. Last year, because the early retirement plan was carried out, some classes did not have teachers.
“Some schools have mixed classes because of a teacher shortage and all these problems exist in the country’s schools. Using rhetoric does not benefit the Education Ministry. The Education Ministry is a sick ministry and bringing up issues to cover up this matter does not help the Ministry of Education and infrastructure issues have to be solved first”.


Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)