Iranian Government and State-Run Media Escalate Conflict

Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of Ali Rafsanjani

It appears that the Iranian government is getting increasingly desperate. Earlier today several relatives of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani, including his daughter, were arrested and detained for a time. According to The New York Times,

Mr. Rafsanjani, one of the fathers of the Iranian revolution, has been locked in a power struggle with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and worked closely with the reform movement during the disputed presidential election. Sunday morning, state television said five members of his family had been detained, including Mr. Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh Hashemi. Later, family members said all had been released.

The detentions suggested that Mr. Khamenei was facing entrenched resistance among some members of the elite. Though rivalries among top clerics in Iran have been a feature of Iranian politics since the 1979 revolution, analysts said that open factional competition amid a major political crisis could hinder Mr. Khamenei’s ability to restore order.

Now the Washington Post is reporting that the Iranian state-controlled media is calling losing presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi a “criminal” and claiming that protesters are members of a terrorist group based in France, Mudjehadin-e khalq.

Authorities appeared to be seeking to blame the violence on radicals. State television charged that “the presence of terrorists . . . was tangible” in Saturday’s events. It asked viewers to send videoclips of protestors in order to help authorities to arrest them.

Scenes of the violent protest were shown frequently on Iranian state television and in a special broadcast the rioters were said to be members of the Paris based Mudjehadin-e khalq organization, an Islamist Marxist group that is labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization. After siding with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war and a series of terrorists attacks, the group has little support among most Iranians.

Audio clips were played of alleged telephone recordings in which people said to be members of the organization urge others to get information about the protests to Western news organizations. Despite the media claims, involvement of the group seems highly unlikely since supporters are rare in Iran.

In addition, the Post reports that Mousavi has not made any public appearances today, and his followers are very worried that he may be arrested. The Post says that it is becoming clear that there is power struggle going on in the Iranian government between Rafsanjani and Ayatolla Khamenei.

The week of unrest has focused attention on the political maneuvering in Iran’s normally opaque power circle, especially between Rafsanjani and Khamenei, who announced Friday that he supported Ahmadinejad. In a rare show of criticism, Iran’s head of parliament, Ali Larijani, who is known for his extreme loyalty to Khamenei, said that the Guardian Council, the elite group charged with certifying elections, should not side with one candidate.

“Although the Guardian Council is made up of religious individuals, I wish certain members would not side with a certain presidential candidate,” said Larijani, according to a Web site affiliated with him.

Another stunning event that appears to have had an immense effect on Iranians, as well as people around the world is the death of the 16-year-old girl who is being called Neda. She was shot in the chest yesterday, presumably by Basiji militia; and her death was videotaped, apparently by a number of onlookers, because a number of different views of the girl’s death have been posted on-line. Video was posted on Twitter and Youtube with along with the following explanation:

“At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karegar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gas used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.”

"Neda" collapses after being shot in the chest

According to Robin Wright in Time Magazine, Neda’s death may prove to be highly consequential for the Iranian regime.

Iran’s revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman — laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face — swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran’s escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as “Neda,” Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.

According to Robin Wright, during the 1978 Iranian revolution, deaths that occurred early on during protest led to more protests and then to commemorations on 40 days after the deaths. Martrydom is an important cultural tradition in Iran, and a charismatic martyr like “Neda” could be a powerful symbol that will fuel further protests.

During the revolution, the pattern of confrontations between the shah’s security forces and the revolutionaries often played out in 40-day cycles.

The first clashes in January 1978 produced two deaths that were then commemorated on the 40th day in mass gatherings, which in turn produced new confrontations with security forces — and new deaths. Those deaths then generated another 40-day period of mourning, new clashes, and further deaths. The cycle continued throughout most of the year until the shah’s ouster in January 1979.

[….]

Shiite mourning is not simply a time to react with sadness. Particularly in times of conflict, it is also an opportunity for renewal. The commemorations for “Neda” and the others killed this weekend are still to come. And the 40th day events are usually the largest and most important.

“Neda” is already being hailed as a martyr, a second important concept in Shiism. With the reported deaths of 19 people Saturday, martyrdom also provides a potent force that could further deepen public anger at Iran’s regime.

The Iranian government is also taking steps to silence journalists, and a number of journalists, both foreign and Iranian have been arrested. From The New York Times:

The Iranian government continued its efforts to block all coverage of protests and the security crackdown. The BBC said on Sunday that the government ordered its reporter in Tehran, Jon Leyne, to leave the country, and other news organization said they were ordered by the authorities not to report on events on the streets.

Since the elections, the Iranian government has revoked foreign press credentials and told reporters not to venture outside to cover protests, and the media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said Sunday that 23 Iranian journalists have been arrested since last week.

Newsweek’s correspondent in Tehran, Maziar Bahari, who is also a prominent documentary filmmaker and holds dual citizenship in Iran and Canada, was detained at his home on Sunday. And two other prominent Iranian journalists, Mohammad Ghoochani and Mashalah Shamsolvaezin, were also reported arrested on Sunday.

But so far Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have not been able to stem the tide of information getting out of the country by way of citizen journalism, news posted on Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube, and sent by e-mail to newspapers and cable TV.

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