Iran stuff

[tiny elvis]

I have been looking for information about Iran's election that predates June 12. Can anyone help?
Stuff like this
Google cache

Khatami finally broke his silence and through an official statement that his office forwarded via facsimile to news agencies he officially announced his possible candidacy in the election. In his speech to representatives of various social groups in the province of Ilam, Khatami said, "Mir Hossein Mousavi or I would run in the election."
Previously, the coalition council of the reformists had decided that representatives of the six reformist parties, E'temad Melli, Mojahedin-e Enghelab, Mosharekat, Kar, Majma' Rohaniyoon and Kargozaran would agree on one candidate while representatives of the E'temad Melli Party (headed by Karoubi) refused to continue attending the meetings while discussions were ongoing.

this
http://www.payvand.com/news/09/jan/1005.html

Dec 31, 2008
Kargozaran Newspaper banned in Iran
Mohammad Parvizi said the paper was banned upon articles 6 and 12 of Press Law and the case has been sent to the court.
He added, "The paper was banned over publication of an article justifying anti-human crimes of the Zionist regime and calling Palestinian resistance as terrorism and claiming that Palestinian combatants take position in kindergardens and hospitals and so cause the deaths of children and civilians."

and this
LA Times June 7 2009

Rafsanjani has created a multimillion-dollar electronic network under the aegis of the Expediency Council to set off alarm bells in case of suspicions of fraud, said one person close to his camp, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He's also dispatching members of his Kargozaran political party to monitor polling stations and the election desk at the Interior Ministry. He convened a regular series of meetings to alert journalists and activists to the possibility of cheating after Ahmadinejad purged longtime employees from the section of the ministry that monitors fraud about two months ago.

"He has access to the intelligence systems of the government, and he can put pressure on the establishment," said Kaviani, who has attended the meetings. "The most important thing for him is to get rid of Ahmadinejad, no matter the cost, and he thinks that if there's no cheating Ahmadinejad won't win. All the efforts are to prevent Ahmadinejad to get 51%."

Good for him. A multibillionaire politician will naturally work with, or under the aegis of, government agencies. Still waiting for the Expediency Council's report. There is other info about who's who in this article.

Here is a small chronology written contemporaneously with reports. It's from a pro Reformist Iranian web page.

June 7, 2009
Mesbah Yazdi's religious order (Fatwa) to Interior Ministry to permit electoral fraud to be revealed

June 9, 2009
The head of the political office of the Revolutionary Guard Corps accusing Mousavi of starting a velvet revolution and declaring they will extinguish it at root: "Using a specific color for the first time in the elections is a sign of starting a velvet revoluion". Mousavi has been using the color green, which signifies that he's a descendant of Muhammad the prophet.
Election monitoring committee of Mousavi and Karroubi warns of electoral fraud

June 10, 2009
Ahmadinejad is given more than 15 minutes of airtime on state-run TV while the other candidates receive less than 2. In his closing remarks he points out things that no one knew why he is bringing up at that point or what exactly he means:
"I like to add this too, we have accurate information that they believe that they have lost ground, and that people have claimed the ground, and they have lost the game, and they are looking for imposing a conflict. I ask people to stay calm."

June 11, 2009
Text messaging is blocked in Tehran

June 12, 2009
08:00 Voting starts

08:13 Khamenei casts ballot and warns of possible disturbances
.Rafsanjani's wife casts ballot and urges people to take to streets in case of fraud
.Reports of ballot shortages preventing people from voting in many stations, although the Interior Ministry printed more than 57 million

20:06 Extension of voting hours till 21:00, and again to 22:00

20:57 Karroubi campaigns reports of 33 incidents of electoral fraud in various provinces

17:00 News of police maneuvers in Tehran

18:30 Plain-cloth agents attack one of Mousavi's campaign offices in northern Tehran

19:05 Head of Mousavi's election monitoring committee writes to Interior Ministry and warns of electoral fraud

21:10 Access to Mowj.ir (one of Mousavi's campaigning websites) is blocked in Iran

22:00 Polls close
.High voter turnout reported
.Saturday and Sunday university exams are postponed indefinitely

23:20 Mousavi claims victory in a press conference
.According to CBS, Ahmadinejad also claimed victory

http://lotfan.org/

Did you know that the 'revolution' color was chosen before the election? Did you know what the color symbolizes?
Did you know that Mousavi, Rafsanjani and universities were planning to revolt before the election?
Why did universities postpone exams as soon as the polls closed?
Essay question: Did you think that the revolt was spontaneous? Why or why not?

[tiny elvis]

1. MSNBC pulls an odd headline

out of this report.
Video: Khamenei calls Britain ‘most treacherous’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31450802#31450134

[GregD]

2. I was curious about the significance of green, and why that color was selected.

Thanks for this. Interesting post.

[tiny elvis]

3. so glad someone responded

thanks
More pre election green info

3 June 2009
(Ahmadinejad asked)
“Where is all this heavy spending on advertising coming from?”

He named Faize Hashemi, Rafsanjani’s daughter, whose personal millions have helped to provide the Mousavi campaign with green headscarves, t-shirts and rubber bracelets. With this, Ahmadinejad had turned the excitement and vigor of the Mousavi campaign on its head.

http://tehranbureau.com/2009/06/04/the-ghost-of-elections-past/

[Kaleko]

4. It's hard to separate spin from fact

when it comes to the details of this saga.

Is the billionaire Rafsanjani trying to topple the Khameini/Ahmadinejad regime by using Mousavi as his front man?

So many questions remain.

[tiny elvis]

5. I am asking people to help me find answers

No takers so far.
Ahmadinejad - Mousavi Debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DNmR15Lui8

The debate is worse than US debates. Accusations and responses to accusations. Mousavi condemns Ahmadinejad's accusations as irreligious.
Very little about issues and policy.
The issues for Mousavi are that unemployment is high, inflation is high, foreign policy is unrealistic, the president ignores the law at will and resource idustry is nationalized. He also wants to bring back the value-added tax.
He talks most about the president ignoring the law, specifically with regard to nationalization and 'doesn't play well with others' foreign policy. Ahmadinejad says that Mousavi's former government ignored the law more than his own.
My suspicion is that Mousavi is just a capitalist seeking better relations with other capitalists.