[Terez]

This will be one to keep an eye on:

http://www.reuters.c...e-idUSKCN0VZ0E7

Reuters said:

Moderates and reformists supporting President Hassan Rouhani appeared to have made a strong showing in high stakes elections that could speed or slow Iran's post-sanctions opening to the world, according to early unofficial results on Saturday.

Tens of millions thronged polling stations on Friday to vote for parliament and the Assembly of Experts in a poll seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30. [...]

Even if reformists do not emerge with a majority in the 290-seat legislature, dominated since 2004 by anti-Western conservatives, analysts say they will secure a bigger presence than in the past elections.

"Initial counting shows tight competition between the two sides. It is still too early to determine who will come out on top, as votes are still being counted in Tehran and outside," an official Iranian source said.

A Reuters survey, based on official results published so far, suggested the pro-Rouhani camp and independents were leading in the parliamentary vote.

[EmperorMagus]

Terez, on 27 February 2016 - 01:01 PM, said:

This will be one to keep an eye on:

http://www.reuters.c...e-idUSKCN0VZ0E7

Reuters said:

Moderates and reformists supporting President Hassan Rouhani appeared to have made a strong showing in high stakes elections that could speed or slow Iran's post-sanctions opening to the world, according to early unofficial results on Saturday.

Tens of millions thronged polling stations on Friday to vote for parliament and the Assembly of Experts in a poll seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30. [...]

Even if reformists do not emerge with a majority in the 290-seat legislature, dominated since 2004 by anti-Western conservatives, analysts say they will secure a bigger presence than in the past elections.

"Initial counting shows tight competition between the two sides. It is still too early to determine who will come out on top, as votes are still being counted in Tehran and outside," an official Iranian source said.

A Reuters survey, based on official results published so far, suggested the pro-Rouhani camp and independents were leading in the parliamentary vote.

First off, I have to mention that the entire Iranian Majles is more useless than the most useless US lame duck president.
But, it's interesting who gets voted into office. For example, Tehran has voted 29 reformers and 1 "hardliner" (they call themselves principlists). Eight of the thirty elected in Tehran were women (which is twice the number in the last Parliament).

I think the greatest achievement of this Majles will be changing the healthcare system. (the president has already done that, they will just make what he has done lawful)

This post has been edited by EmperorMagus: 28 February 2016 - 02:57 AM

[Terez]

For everyone else, that Reuters link I gave has been updated several times; it now has new info on the results.

I think in the US we're mostly concerned with the mandate given to the moderates and what that means for the future of the nuclear deal, further detente, and the next Supreme Leader. It all looks good from our perspective. The uselessness...our Congress has an approval rating in the single digits. Far worse than the lamest lame duck president ever.

Also....Trump. Yeah. That could be problematic for that detente thing. Hillary is better, but not great; Iran was a point of contention between her and Obama in 2008. And she's generally hawkish. I think a lot of Democrats are going to end up regretting their votes in this election. But we have another thread for that. Just making a contrast; y'all are getting your shit together and we're losing ours.

[EmperorMagus]

30/30 reformist from Tehran sent to Majles.
15/16 reformist from Tehran to Assembly of Experts that chooses the next "Supreme Leader" (the better not-propagandic trans. is Respected Leader but w/e)

The current chair man of the assembly was outed, this made my mother happier than my birth.

I can't say I'm disappointed with the results, although I do have to add that if Tehran had the 25 additional seats its population warrant it would've been better. (Tehran has 15mil/75mil of population which translated into approx. 60 seats instead of the 30 it gets).

[Terez]

I'm having a hard time finding info on what the new Majles will look like. I think the graphic on the Wikipedia page shows the outgoing body?

[EmperorMagus]

Terez, on 29 February 2016 - 06:55 AM, said:

I'm having a hard time finding info on what the new Majles will look like. I think the graphic on the Wikipedia page shows the outgoing body?

That looks outdated.
Basically over 50% will be slightly less insane than the last one. The conservative majority was broken, however, the second chamber of legislature is still deeply conservative.
The smaller differences between parties are just differences between who is in whose pocket.

[Terez]

I tried changing the Wikipedia language to fa. Good guess, but ultimately not helpful because I couldn't find the right page. Is there an updated graphic on the Farsi page?

[EmperorMagus]

Terez, on 29 February 2016 - 07:20 AM, said:

I tried changing the Wikipedia language to fa. Good guess, but ultimately not helpful because I couldn't find the right page. Is there an updated graphic on the Farsi page?

https://en.wikipedia..._election,_2016

This is the wiki page but it's not up to the hour.
tbh, I can't find a reputable source for the election in either Farsi or English, I just watch the Iranian news channel (which is hard to do from Canda) to find out the latest updates.
I think the Reuters article has been further updated though.

[Terez]

EmperorMagus, on 29 February 2016 - 07:52 AM, said:

Terez, on 29 February 2016 - 07:20 AM, said:

I tried changing the Wikipedia language to fa. Good guess, but ultimately not helpful because I couldn't find the right page. Is there an updated graphic on the Farsi page?

https://en.wikipedia..._election,_2016

This is the wiki page but it's not up to the hour.

That was the first page I looked at. But I couldn't figure out how the results factored into the bigger picture, and there were all those warnings about reliability at the top of the page.

[EmperorMagus]

The Presidential Elections are in full swing in Iran. The main contest is between Rouhani (the current president) and a guy name Raisi (English spelling can be Raesi).

I'm posting here mostly to rant.

Raisi is an Ayatollah, which is the highest academic rank a Shia cleric can reach and only one level below the clerics who are trusted enough to have large numbers of followers. That is not a bad thing on principle; I'm sure there are some Ayatollahs who are reasonable people. Unfortunately, Raisi is not one of them.

Raisi was one of the Revolutionary Court judges who authorized thousands of executions after 1979. Particularly, he is seen as the person responsible for more than three thousand deaths of political prisoners in 1989 (they murdered all the Marxists, Communists, and MEK members in prison). In the aftermath of the 2009 protests, he publicly, on national TV, called the protesters "Mohareb" - A term in Shia law denoting someone who acts against the public peace, an offence punishable by death. So he is a person who literally called for executing more people thirty years after murdering at least three thousand men and women in cold blood for nothing other than political expediency. Thirty years, and not a single speck of shame, not a single sign of regret.

This rotting pile of human garbage now has the full support of the Supreme Leader, the Revolutionary Guard, the Information Ministry (Iran's version of the Mossad, the only ministry whose head is chosen by the Leader), and every other security force in the country - Except for the Artesh, who are the branch of armed forces with the most integrity and the least connection with religious institutions. And there are whispers that he has been already 'chosen' by Khamenei to replace him as Supreme Leader. He is expected to reach to second round of voting alongside Rouhani right now.

Yeah, it makes my blood boil.

[Tsundoku]

Using this thread for this article on Iran "sliding into Hell". Looking like hundreds of executions - or more - over the recent unrest.

https://www.news.com...380dc74bc7f566f

Iran is sliding into hell on Earth as hundreds learn their fate
With 18,000 people detained and an execution spree imminent, this country is descending into hell while the world watches on. WARNING: Distressing.

Jamie Seidel

December 17, 2022 - 10:49PM

WARNING: Distressing.

It took less than a month to investigate, arrest, judge and execute two young protesters in Iran. Now the trouble-torn nation is bracing itself for a killing spree.

On Monday, Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, with hands and feet bound and a black bag over his head, was hanged from a crane in the centre of his hometown of Mashhad, northeast Iran.

Pro-government media broadcast footage of the event, including masked security personnel standing among concrete barriers to hold back the crowd.

He was arrested on November 15 and charged with allegedly killing two paramilitary police. He was not permitted a lawyer nor allowed to see the evidence. His trial was held in secret.

Shortly after Majid’s execution, Iranian state-controlled media announced up to 30 people – including three children – had been charged with moharebeh (waging war against god). One is a 26-year-old professional international football player.

But a further 18,000 people detained since protests first erupted in mid-September face a similar fate. They are yet to front the judiciary.

Iran has conducted more than 560 formal executions so far this year alone.

But it was the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman which proved to be the final straw for the people of Iran.

Mahsa Amini was arrested in September by morality police for “not wearing her headscarf in the correct manner”. She was released from police custody in a coma and died a few days later from severe head wounds.

Iranian state-controlled media attempted to brush aside allegations of brutality, saying Mahsa had suffered “a heart attack” while being “convinced and educated” in proper moral conduct.

More than 488 demonstrators have since been killed as authorities attempt to crack down on growing civil unrest, reports Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI), a group which has been monitoring the protests.

Now it fears the Islamic Shia government is on the brink of unleashing a devastating series of show trials and public executions to intimidate its population into submission.

Warring against god

Moharebeh is a Farsi word meaning “waging war against god”. It’s a charge that has regularly been rolled out against Iranian political dissenters and human rights activists since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It carries the death penalty.

Now Iran’s theocratic (religious) government wants everybody to know that to oppose them is to oppose god.

“Indeed the requital of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle, and try to cause corruption on the Earth, is that they shall be slain or crucified, or shall have their hands and feet cut off from opposite sides, or be banished from the land.”

So read a Quranic verse displayed on a banner at Majid’s public execution.

But one leading Iranian religious leader, Molavi Abdolhamid, has denounced the executions. He spoke out after the first protester, Mohsen Shekari, was executed on December 8 for injuring a security guard during a protest in capital Tehran in September.

“The man’s execution was incorrect and against sharia law,” the Sunni leader said at the weekend. “Where is it written in sharia that for killing one Basij member, five people should receive the death sentence – and in such a short time?”

He added: “[The protests] will not be extinguished by killing people.”

Messengers of murder

“We fear that other protesters under death sentences or charged with capital offences are at imminent risk of being sent to their deaths, Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa deputy director Diana Eltahawy said. “The clear aim is to instil fear among the public in a desperate attempt to cling to power and end the popular uprising.”

The international human rights group said 12 other protesters have been issued a death sentence so far. Another six face “imminent” trials.

“[International professional footballers’ association] FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country,” the FIFPRO World Player’s Union tweeted on Thursday. “We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment.”

He is one of several high-profile local figures detained by Iran’s religious police.

“We fear for the life of Iranian artists who have been indicted on charges carrying the death penalty,” a UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) statement read.

It said Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin has been sentenced to death after being convicted of moharebeh. Another rapper, Toomaj Salehi, was accused of “spreading corruption on Earth” (another definition of moharebeh). He faces trial without a lawyer and in a closed court.

Both had released songs critical of the government.

“These arrests and indictments appear solely to be related to the peaceful exercise of their legitimate right to freedom of artistic expression and creativity,” the UNOHCHR report said. “They are only aimed at silencing dissenting voices in the country and constitute undue restrictions on the right of all persons in Iran to enjoy and have access to the arts and to take part in cultural and public life.”

Amnesty International said it has a copy of a document signed by a senior Iranian police commander demanding the execution of prisoners “completed in the shortest possible time”, with sentences carried out in public as “a heartwarming gesture towards the security forces”.

Iran’s foreign ministry has accused Australia of having a “dark” record on human rights that “deserves international attention and reaction”. The claim came after Canberra imposed sanctions against senior members of Iran’s ruling regime, morality police and the Basij paramilitary group.

“The decision by Australia is an example of interference in Iran’s internal affairs and incitement and promotion of violence and hatemongering,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani accused. “The Government in Canberra has been for many years violating the basic rights of Australia’s native inhabitants, prisoners and asylum seekers.”

But Iran has a long history of waging war against itself.

In 1988, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the summary execution of thousands of political prisoners to crack down on political dissent. The death toll is believed to have been anywhere between 2800 and 5000 people over 32 cities.

In 2009, a disputed presidential election reportedly resulted in 72 deaths. The public hanging of victims via mobile crane was also a feature of this “Green Revolution”.

In November 2019, protests erupted over an unexpected fuel price rise. An estimated 304 people were killed within a week.

Meanwhile, analysts are struggling to understand the implications of the three-month-old protests.

“One sign that the Iranian government might be willing to make some concessions to the protesters was the recent announcement that the ‘morality police’, who walk the streets enforcing hijab law, may be disbanded,” University of Essex international law expert Sahar Maranlou said. “

Some are sceptical this will definitely go ahead. But, if it did, it would be a significant move signalling that the protesters have had more impact than previous movements. However, the fear of more executions as a tool of control is unabated.”