Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Solidarity Needed

I was able to get a few hrs of sleep after probably 48 hrs of working the phones, translating twitters and so on. I'm hopeful that this is the end of the regime. The critical mass has been achieved i.e 2 million people who showed up in Tehran and thousands who did in other major cities of Iran. I don't think it is time for my personal reflections here any ways. And I am very confused by what I hear. If whats going on in Iran is not a revolution then I don't know what it is.

I am disappointed that the US govt has decided to sit on the sidelines and not show solidarity with the people of Iran against the regime. Not surprised though, Obama is capable of doing what tyrants do and it is in his character to side with the mullahs by being silent. The regime will be toppled, if and if only the armed forces join the people. Say Revolutionary Guards and regular army feel there is no need to stay with the regime and either join the regime or sit it out. So far, this has not happened and regime while shaky, has not shown signs of distress or fall.

You foreigners, you readers and listeners.... what you can do is to ask your respective governments to show solidarity with the people of Iran. Ask your MPs, Senators, Congressmen and other elected officials to condemn the Iranian regime and support the Iranian people. If this goes on for another 3-4 days, then we can all be sure that the end of the regime is in sight. Please don't let us Iranians down. Don't abandon us in this hour of need. Thank you!

I'll try to keep you all posted. In the meantime, if you like what I am doing you can contribute to my coffee fund. The coffee will keep me reporting. We all need to stay awake for the next few days.

Updated; Breaking News: 7 killed in Tehran anti-regime riots!

Michael Ledeen has great insight

ABC News report from Tehran - Video: "Do you want another revolution"? "Yes"

Ayatollah BBC analysis of Iran riots

Update @ 2:20am ET: Khamenei has announced he'll lead the next Tehran Friday prayer this week. This means his thugs will come out in the streets of Iran in millions. The Iranian people need to stay on the offensive but that can't happen if you and I don't support them from here.

Updated @ 3:30 am: Two aides to ex Pres Khatami are detained. The names are ex VP Abtahee & Mr. Hajarian - ((I believe this is an intimidation tactic being used to prevent reform leaders from engaging in anti-revolutionary actions))

Updated @ 4am ET: Russian bastards endorse Ahmadinejad

Updated @ 5am: Rumor has it that up to 16 high ranking revolutionary guard commanders detained for trying to join the popular uprising. No way to confirm this but if true, it means there's a chance to change the regime for good.

20 comments:

Jay said...

Winston: I'm here with you brother.

When I was a kid, I remember the American/Iranian hostage crisis. I thought Iran was an evil country. Seeing photos and videos of American hostages blindfolded on the nightly news was horrifying. I thought to myself, "What a screwed up country that is." ... and this was at age 9 and 10.

But now it seems like opinions have changed. The majority of Iranians want to be friends with the USA and are tired of hardcore Islamists ruling their country.

If these protests turn the country into a free society, it will be on par with the downfall of the Soviet Union. I am hoping very hard that the government there is overthrown. Then the USA and Iran can warm to each other and the world will sleep a lot easier.

Winston said...

Yes, the fall of Iranian regime is equal to the fall of the soviet union. In this case, the fall of Mullahs will have an effect on the rest of the muslim world

FearlessDream said...

Thanks for your blog! I'm learning Persian but I'm a beginner, so I'm frustrated that I can't read what's going on in Persian and to hear from the Persian blogging community, but it's nice to have some blogs like yours in English!

I really hope things will change for the better. While the violence against the protesters is disheartening and alarming, this latest protest against the government is a very hopeful thing to see going on in Iran. I hope this is the beginning of a major regime-changing revolution!

saggezard said...

The name of students killed at Tehran University Sunday night:

Fatemeh Barati
Kasra Sharafi
Mobina Ehterami
Kambiz Shoaee
Mohsen Imani

According to the Guardian UK they were buried at Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery Monday without their families being notified.

FearlessDream said...

I have contacted my state Senators about the issue and will work on getting in touch with my local state Representative as well. It is the only way I know how to help.

This latest update does sound like an intimidation tactic, but hopefully their intimidation games will not hurt the uprising.

Anonymous said...

if the mullah gov't falls this will be the end of the iranian support for hezballah. the next gov't will be more concerned with fixing iranian problems than exporting revolution i think,

yochanan

saggezard said...

Slogan shouted against Ahmadinejad:
آن خس و خاشاک تویی
پست تر از خاک تویی
شور منمنور منم عاشق این خاک منم
زور تویی کور تویی هاله ی بی نور تویی

You are the trash and the side act,
You are lower than dirt,
I am enthusiasm, I am the lover of this soil,
You are THE despot, You are blind, You are the halo that does not possess light

Matt said...

The people of the U.S. back Iran, even if our own Government does not say or do anything, tell them that U.S. people give our hearts to the Iranians and hope that they may overthrow the evil regime and gain their freedom.

Louise said...

Canada joins chorus of protests over Iran election.

""We have called for a full and transparent investigation into electoral fraud and discrepancies," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told Parliament in Ottawa, as the government called Iran's top diplomat on the carpet to explain the reported beating and detention of a freelance Canadian journalist in Tehran following Friday's contested ballot."

---

"France and Germany also called in the Iranian ambassadors to their respective capitals to register their concern about the integrity of the voting process and Tehran's subsequent clampdown."

---

"The U.S., UN and European Union, as well as individual governments across Europe and around the globe, expressed concern over the shooting death of at least one demonstrator and wounding of several others Monday in addition to the voting irregularities in Ahmadinejad's win over reform challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi."

Even the F*ckin' UN is condemning them. THE UN, the hotbed of corruption and anti-semitism!!!! Members of the OIC must have stayed home yesterday.

Louise said...

Twitter delays maintenance to support Iran's protest!!!

Yes, indeed, Winston, the world is behind you and your people!!

Louise said...

Winston, have you heard anything about members of the police and the security apparatus switching sides? This article says they are:

Iran election: The beginning of the end

I hope it's true.

Rosemary Welch said...

You have my support as well. My computer crashed last night, but she's working now. I heard about IRG getting arrested last night, but I wasn't sure. I wanted to research it before I wrote anything about it.

I am so angry, Winston. Our very own al-State dept refused to condemn the actions of these terrorist loving mullahs. Am I living in the Twilight Zone? Someone please wake me up! Obama made held a press conference yesterday. He angers me too. He is going to talk to Ahmadinejad no matter what. We have no support from him.

HEY YOU LEFTIES, gotta question. Who are human rights protectorates now? Where the hell are you? Oh, kissin' Obama's arse? Why? Do you now that the people you and he loves would kill you for all the stuff you believe in before they would look at you? YOU ARE SO STUPID it makes me physical sick.

Oops. Sorry Winston. Didn't mean to go off on your comment section. It just hurts so much that we're this close...

Louise said...

Rumours abound in situations like this, but click on the link to Truth and Justice< in the sidebar of Azarmehr's blog. He is reporting something astonishing:

"It has been reported that:

a) Mir-Hossein Mousavi has been assassinated

b) Protestors have set the basiji headquarters on fire, in retaliation to the shooting dead of the protestors

c) Mullahs are starting to flee the country"

Oh how I hope b) and c) are true.

Vardit said...

I only hope the Iranians for regime change has the strength to fight on. Acocrding to one person ex Mossadnik from Israel,he believes the protests will be short lived because the uprising is mostly in Tehran and one other place whose city name escapes me now. Iran under Amadinejad the monster is unacceptable period. I wish the Iranian people who want to really shoot Ahmadinejad's balls off the best of luck. If that is not civil, Josephine will have to come over and kick my ass, at least we'll have a nice visit..hahahahaha

Urban Infidel said...

Here is a youtube channel where videos from Iran are being uploaded:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ahriman46&view=videos

Louise said...

Seven-Point Manifesto of the Iranian Resistance

1. Stripping Ayatollah Khamenei of his supreme leadership position because of his unfairness. Fairness is a requirement of a supreme leader.

2. Stripping Ahmadinejad of the presidency, due to his unlawful act of maintaining the position illegally.

3. Transferring temporary supreme leadership position to Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazery until the formation of a committee to reevaluate and adjust Iran’s constitution.

4. Recognizing Mir Hossein Mousavi as the rightfully elected president of the people.

5. Formation of a new government by President Mousavi and preparation for the implementation of new constitutional amendments.

6. Unconditional release of all political prisoners regardless of ideology or party platform.

7. Dissolution of all organizations — both secret and public — designed for the oppression of the Iranian people, such as the Gasht Ershad (Iranian morality police).

Rosemary Welch said...

Have you been over to Sand Monkey's? Here's a post from yesterday: An E-mail From Tehran. Some info in it, but they e-mailer was cut short because Basij were cracking down on the French Embassy! Holy cow.

Vardit said...

I wish Iranian protesters for a regime change the best of luck. Will someone please tell me if there should be a regime change, would it still include chanting for "Death to Israel" or wiping Israel off the map? I would love nothing more than for a regime change and for Israel and Iran to have good relations like they onced had...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for doing the work that the U.S. news media is failing to do. And could our president be any weaker? My prayers are with the Iranian people who have the good sense to know that Ahmadinejad has got to go!

califax said...

Hi,

please do not permit the regime to cover up their crimes. Please circulate the names of the killed together with some information about them on the web. They shouldn't stay anonymous for the world.
We started a website to initiate this. If possible we'd like to get for each victim of this terror the name, a good-looking photo, the age, basic information about their death (where, when, who killed them). Contact info to exiled iranian opposition in sefa western countries is welcome too.
We do NOT under no circumstances want any information that might give away living protesters identity or risk peoples lives in other ways.
Please contact deltafoxtrot at twitter or use the comment form at http://iranmemorial.wordpress.com/ if you have any information.