Alef, a web site which represents a major group of conservatives in the Parliament, mentioned to be run by a top-ranking MP, published a piece about Kamangir yesterday [Persian]. In the report, the author writes,

A blogger claims that Fars News and Press TV have assigned false sentences to the Norwegian Foreign Minister [referring to: Did IRNA change Norwegian Foreign Minister’s Words?]. He [the website mentions my real name] claimed that the sentence "West must be more concerned with their own arsenal, rather than pointing at Iran and North Korea" is made up. The blogger mentions that he will follow the story with the Foreign Ministry of Norway. Fars News and Press TV have not reacted to these accusations yet. This is not the first time this blogger makes similar claims.

Then, Alef publishes a pictures of the author of this blog, accompanied by my real name, and follows,

Who is he [real name]? He [real name] is a resident of Canada whose blog is frequently referred to by the media and warmonger neo-con blogs (including Pajamas Media and Gateway Pundit). His blog is the number one source for anti-Iran news from the Iranian blogosphere, for the neo-con media. The content translated by him, regarding President's speeches, Iranian missiles, stonings, executions, the social security project [Police raid against "immodesty" and alike], and so on, have been enthusiastically followed by the neo-con blogging networks. During last few months, he has increased his presence in the Persian blogging atmosphere, and also Iranian social networks, in order to direct anti-Iran content.

Shortly after this report, an Iranian blogger who first disclosed my real name started attacking me in a Persian social network, Balatarin [Persian]. He accused me of being a part of a "big filthy plot" against Iran. This coincidence has made some people making guesses about the source of the accusations made in Alef. The matter of fact is, among the people who read this blog, and refer to it, there are certain people whom like, or adore, the current American administration. Nevertheless, I have always tried to be objective and not take parts. The mission of this blog is to give an accurate account of the events which happen in Iran. Having said that, I happen to agree with Alef on parts of their report and I am actually very satisfied if I have been able to help the news about stonings and executions escape the borders of Iran.

I remember hearing a short while ago that the Islamic Republic Police had "arrested" dogs, as a part of their "fight against immodesty". Today, a very good friend sent a set of pictures of the arrested dogs. Clearly, these dogs are not meant to live in the conditions they are being kept, but, anyways, they do not treat human beings anything better. See more pictures in the Photoblog.

This image is not blurred because the photographer has been lousy. This image is blurred to protect Sharia. Asking "Is this not advocating immodesty", Shia News writes [Persian], "Is it really appropriate to have sportswomen's photographs published in the media?" Last week, the original images had been carried here, in a post titled Too Sexy for Fars News, after they were deleted from Fars News outlet. The other images of that group can be found in the photoblog.

More amazing than the blurred images are some of the comments, the visitors of the conservative site Shia News have left there.

...Whoever thinks these pictures are not arousing does not have any spirituality in his character...

...We must harshly punish the man who has gone to a women-only stadium to take these pictures...

...This is American Islam...

...The end of time [Armageddon] is coming...

...These are the signs of Imam Mahdi's return...

...Who is gonna look at these ugly women anyways?...

Armed men attacked nine passing cars and kidnapped the passengers. Reportedly, armed terrorists closed off the Chabahar- Iranshahr road in the south-east of Iran and set the cars on fire. The incident happened at 6:45am, local time, in the Sistan and Baluchistan Province, close to the border with Pakistan. Sistan and Baluchistan has recently been the scene of numerous explosions and terrorist attacks. The terrorists have reportedly kidnapped up to twenty people, after shooting the cars with RPGs. No hostage has been killed yet. The Police says the terrorists have fled to Pakistan, carrying the kidnapped persons with them. This happens a day after the local Police killed two men, claimed to have been "local thugs" [Persian] [Reuters]. Many Iranians believe that the Islamic Republic Police must stop arresting the citizens, for reasons such as immodesty, and put all their effort towards providing security . This is the footage of the remains of the cars, shown in the national television. Related: Explosion (and Execution) in Iran IR: “Ammunition Was American” Second Explosion in Zahedan

Female Basij members prepare for the "social security [against immodesty]" procedure. This picture was then removed from FARS outlet.

The Islamic Police started arresting people again. More pictures here.

Source: FARS.

It is no mystery that the Islamic Republic is pushing harder and harder for imposing their understanding of the decent way of clothing, and behavior. Having said that, the mainstream Iranian clothing does not include Burka. That is the female outfit in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and some other too religious/traditional places on earth, but, thanks God, not in Iran. An AFP piece published by Yahoo! News, with the title "Iran to intensify drive against unIslamic dress", uses an image of two Burka-wearing women passing by a wedding-dress store. The caption of that picture reads "Women in Burkas walk past a clothes shop. Iran warned that its police will enforce a...". Everything, including the style of the women's cloths, proves that that picture has not been taken in Iran. I think someone has gone too far.

Having said that, the Islamic Republic police did hold an exhibition of what they have confiscated in their war against immodesty. The captured articles included jeans and tight blouses (see more pictures in ISNA). The Police is also diligently pursuing their program for arresting urban low-level gang members (see more pictures in FARS, did you notice the Calvin Klein underwear in the third image?). Furthermore, Tehran chief of Police talked about the new phase of the "Social Security Procedure". "In this phase, boys with hairstyles which are copied from pervert Western groups will be targeted. These models distract the public security", he added. This sentence is the best translation I can make of his sentence. $50 for anyone who can crack the code and tell us what he really means by it.

The Iranian blogger, Dajal, writes,

Following the so-called fight against immodesty, the Police caused another incident two days ago in Tandis Mall in Tehran (see this for the previous instance). According to the eyewitnesses, the Police officers where denying the so-called immodest people entrance to the mall when they attempted to arrest a girl who passed by. The girl started running away when she saw the officers and fell on the ground for a couple of times before close to Tajrish Square a policewoman arrested her. She resisted while being transferred to a Police car. That was while another girl who was transferred to the car just before was crying. With the cries of the girl, people started gathering and eventually the Police threatened to use tear gas. The officers at last were forced to carry the girl inside the mall in order to buy some time before people left the scene. During all this, the Police officers were very cautious that no one would capture the scene on tape. The video shown in the above is captured by someone standing there and it is not clear because the capturer has been afraid of the Police. The video, however, clearly shows the screams of the arrested girl.

This is what is being said in the video,

[Girl to the Police] Sir, wait for a second! [Scream] Why are you lying? You bastards! [Girl to the Police] [A woman to the Police] Do you not have mothers and sisters yourself [that treat us like this]? [Girl to the Police] Stop the BS!

Update III: New footage of Police violence against women (link).

Update II: Shocking scenes of Police Brutality against people arrested, and not tried, for illegal activities, including drugs, alcohol, and selling satellite dishes (link).

Update:Rage in the Iranian blogosphere, more pictures are published.

According to a respectable women's rights group, today, Sunday, both in the morning and later in the evening, following the summer veil program, a group of Police officers got involved in physical struggle with the girls they questioned for their "immodesty". According to eye wittinesses, the officers were trying to arrest the girls, but because of their restraint, a few men on the scene got involved in the incident.

A shopkeeper in 7-Tir square in Tehran mentioned later "The officers questioned three girls, aged 25- 30, for their veils. The questioning was so harsh that they reacted. A female officer started pulling a girl's hand to get her in the police patrol, but she refused. Then, a male officer attacked the girl. That was when others got involved. The girls were taken away by passing cars safe from the police. They got into civilian cars while they had no covering and their cloths were torn away,

A taxi driver also said "In the morning, while the police was brutally questioning a girl, her cries for help enraged other people". He also said that when the second incident happened, a mother and daughter were hit by the Police. While showing their injured faces to the people, they took off their veils. The two ladies have reportedly captured the incident on tape. The picture above shows one of the ladies.

Taking off their veils when the Police questions them for improper veils is becoming a trend in Iran. A similar incident, ten days ago, was caught on tape and posted on Youtube.

Three policemen raped a street girl after they arrested her for immodesty and living in the streets. The three officers arrested her a month ago in Varamin, a southern suburb of Tehran, and raped her after they pulled her to a private house. The officers have confessed to raping the twenty-eight-year-old girl and are being tried for that. This report has not been confirmed by either independent sources or the state-run media.

The chief commander of Traffic Police in Tehran told to Fars reporter, "since the beginning of the social security program [the new anti-immodesty program by Police], 2905 cars have been stopped and transferred into Police custody. From them, 1554 have been confiscated for playing loud music, 385 have been involved in harassing women, 423 have been carrying badly covered female drivers, 55 have been carrying animals [pets], and the rest have been driven dangerously".

As you might know, the Islamic Republic has started a summer veil program to face "immodesty". The conduct of this event has caused distress and objection all over the Iranian blogestan. For example, female bloggers have started a game titled "does everyone have to wear Chador?" At the middle of this social unrest, one picture has become a legend. Titled "Let's all go to heaven", Maryam Majd published a set of photographs, among which was the begging-kid picture shown above, which I pointed at previously as well (link). This picture has been mentioned of, and even copied in, many other blogs. Doing a very hasty search I found these: The Spilled Fragrance, Lalipo, Long Live Iran, Cold, Masih. No surprise they fear blogging this much.

p.s. Please let me know if you know of any other source.

Update: Now there is a video of Police brutality.

Update II: What is being said here,

Girl (screaming): I am not coming. Let me go. You man! Don't touch me! Let me go! I don't want to go! I don't want to go!

Police (to people): Do not gather! Go!

Update III: BBC picks the footage.

This is the English translation of a post by Masih Ali Nejad. She is a reformist journalist, whom if I remember correctly was banned from entering the parliament building after her revealing stories made MPs frustrated. This post talks about a picture taken at the scene of the ungoing anti-immodesty raids by the Police.

A Child Begging for Her "Immodest" Mom

Just look at this picture, which I have copied from my dear friend's blog. Do not look at the woman who is being questioned by the Police. Do not look at her fist and how she is pulling the police officer's Chador [black veil] in front of the bus, which is there to carry "immodest" people. Follow the mother's fist, to see another person who is pulling the Chador. That is a kid who is too small for this much humiliation, but the ignorance of the police officer has forced her to cry. I can even hear her cry. I feel like I am being humiliated there.

In an absolute coincidence, last year this day, I tried to clarify what the Islamic Republic means by the term "immodesty" (link). These days the same term is used very frequently in the streets of Tehran. While the administration is trying to regulate outfits and talks about men's immodesty, for a portion of Iranians this is a war to be fought until the last moment. The ammunition of this battle is the ability to talk back.

"In Full Support of this Godly Motion"

After angry protesters chanted against "immodesty" at the end of Friday Prayers, it was obvious that the Police was going to implement its harsh words against "improper public conduct", as stated a short while ago. As the summer arrives, in the boiling and polluted city of Tehran, "the essentials of Islam" start shaking with the Iranian youth enjoying short-sleeves and clear scarves.

The Summer Veil Program has just started in Tehran. That means a few bad weeks for the Iranians before the Police realizes that they are just making people more enthusiastic in turning the streets of Iran into a fashion hall. Did you know that according to many visitors, Iranians always look like they are either coming from a party or going to one?

"Effective March 21st, women with improper cloths will be fined, News", The old man:] "Try wearing proper cloths so that you are not fined...my pension is not that much, you know".

During the pre-election campaigns, Ahmadinejad kept insisting, with a very kind voice, that the rumors that he would limit social freedom is a myth. In a famous TV interview he asked if the country's problems were just a few girls' hairs. Today, Tehran Police Chief said "our society is a value-based society and breaking these values is against the norm (Fars). Thus, the people will not stand breaking the values and Police, as the body responsible for the values of the society, would intervene." Examples of such violations were mentioned by him as "short pants, short scarves, short and tight manteaus, and transparent cloths". Regarding the practical way of dealing with "immodesty" he listed three levels: "if the violation could be resolved in the street, the violator would be guided and after the appearance is corrected the person would be let go. If the appearance can not be corrected in the street, they will be arrested and transferred to Police centers, where the families will also get involved. In case of resistance, the Judiciary will step in."

In another news (Entekhab), the Police also announced that people will be asked for their Military Service Cards. According to the law, every male citizen must serve for two years in the army. After that, a card will be issued. Only at the time of war the Police would ask people for their cards. During the war with Iraq, failure to producing that card would result in being arrested and even transferred to the front.

Thanks to Smileme for the hint.

A calm protest in front of the Revolution's Court was attacked violently by the Police. Here are a few news on the incident.

Farnaz writes,

This morning, Iran's local time, a group of women activists gathered in front of the Revolution's Court to protest against the unlawful trend of arrests, interrogations, and trials of activist women in the year which will end in a few weeks. According to the witnesses, half an hour after the protestants gathered in silence, two Police officers, one not wearing Police uniform [an icon of the intelligence forces] and a black-wearing woman approached the participants and tore apart their banners while swearing. Then, they confiscated one of the participants' cell phone and told them to leave the place immediately, because "it is ordered from the above". According to the latest news [at the time of writing], a Police officer is pushing, beating, and swearing to the protestants. He has been heard saying "we will arreast you all" and "we will hang you all from trees".

Muslim Feminist reports that fifty arrests are made. As there is heavy planning for a protest in front of the parliament, on March 8th, these arrests can be seen as a preemptive action. The names of the detainees are mentioned in Zanestan, in Persian.

Kosoof gives the names of the detainees and has their pictures. He also reports on a violent act commited by the Police against one of the activists,

Shadi Sadr, Asieh Amini, Jila Bani Yaghoub, Mahboubeb Abbasgholizadeh, Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh, Sara Loghmani, Zara Amjadian, Mariam Hossein Khah, Jelveh Javaheri, Niloofar Golkar, Parastoo Dokoohaki, Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh, Maryam Mirza, Saghar Laghayee, Rezvan Moghadam, Saghie Laghayee, Nahid Keshavarz, Mahnaz Mohammadi, Nasrin Afzali, Farideh Entesari,Sara Imanian, Elnaz Ansari, Fatemeh Govarayee, Azadeh Forghani, Sommayeh Farid, Minoo Mortezayee, Sara Imanian.Nooshin Amhadi Khorasani, Parvin Ardalan, Shahla Entesari and Susan Tahmasebi—five prominent members of the women's rights movement—who had to attend their court hearing left the court session in support of their fellow activists. They, too, got arrested upon their departure from the court.

The police officers hit Nahid Jafari's head to the police van and as a result of such violent actions, her teeth broke and the officers are currently refusing to take her to the emergency room.

Reportedly, the detainees have been transferred to the "Social Corruption Office", the IR body which arrests girls and boys for "immodesty".

Blogestan is following the news, in Balatarin, in Persian.

Zanestan reports that the detainees have been transferred to the infamous Evin Prison. A Dutch journalist present in the scene has been arrested, too.

More news to come.

A truck full of CD, photograph, and other media resources containing “bad” material was destroyed in the religious city of Qom. At the first sight it is nothing new. Though, pictures taken by the news agencies do contain interesting moments.

This CD belongs to an Iranian stand up comedian who was first a religious showman. He calls himself Mr Sean to resemble Mr Bean.

Almost at the middle of the scene there is a picture beneath a pile of CDs. It is showing a woman's chin. The point is that the woman is wearing scarf. I suppose she is an Iranian movie star. I call this home-grown over-ground “immodesty”.

Look at these boys' faces. The one whose face we see is obviously laughing with sarcasm in his face. “So you think I can't find one right now?”

 

During the protests which lead to the revolution, thirty years ago, the Islamic groups were only representing a fraction of the crowd. So, even a month after the revolution Etellat quotes Talaghani, one of the leaders of the Islamic movement, saying "there is no mandate regarding the covering". Below it quotes the general prosecutor mentioning "those who attack non-covered women are against the revolution" and reports that some of them are arrested. After Ahmadinejad took power he frequently expressed his ideas about the Iranian women and their invaluable contributions to the society. He seemed to be opposed to the idea that women are the sources of immodesty. However, it seems that beneath these popular gestures the pace of actions is entirely different. Persian sources are talking about a new bill about the women who work for the government (see). Talking about the details of their cloths, it seems to have nothing in common with the open-minded picture which is given inside Iran from the president. Pictures are from here (see).

The Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Khameneii visits the International Book Fair. For a majestic man like his Excellency, its not something he does even once a month. Even with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance's strict censorship, the man faces not very good books there. I was reading in the news that the ministry has banned publishers from exposing books which are more than two years old. Partly because in his early years, Khatamai had a fairly tolerant censorship policy. I am sure the guards have done all their best to avoid any “bad” scenes during his visit, parts of which will be shown over and over on the national television. However, Ayatollah has to see men in short sleeves, something assumed to be not very decent in the Islamic Republic eyes. He also meets a sense of the other side of the Iranian society; In the second picture he is starring at the book “Zorba the Greek” (see). I have not read the book but I know that for the Islamic Republic, “good” books have to obey specific rules, like guiding people to moral values which are much better to be Islamic values. The book in the bottom right seems to me to have Forough Farokhzad's (see) face on it, a female poet whom passed away about forty years ago. The Islamic Republic finds her as another sign of women's immodesty during the Shah's time. One of her famous poems starts with “I committed a sin, a very joyful sin” (Persian: گنه کردم گناهی پر ز لذت) and is believed to be talking about a love affair which resulted in her being expelled from home by his angry father.

These pieces of clay are called Mohr (Persian: مهر) (see). During the prayers Muslims bow down and put their foreheads on them as a sign of courtesy to the God. The picture is taken in a mosque. According to the Islamic law, boys have to start praying when they turn into 15. But many Muslim families like to "encourage" their boys to say their prayers very earlier. The head-band reads "Basij is the devoted army of God" (Persian: بسیج لشکر مخلص خداست).

According to Islam, Girls should wear scarf and say their prayers when they turn into nine. Again, many families prefer to start that process sooner. In the second picture, the girl seems to be rearranging her scarf which she is wearing beneath her Chador.

This picture is taken during the protests against "immodesty" in Tehran.

 

After the Friday prayers, Tehrani attendants protested against "immodesty" and "lack of moral security". They also condemned the proposal to let women watch games in stadiums. Though, nobody seems to have remembered that actually Ahmadinejad issued that order.

The Iranian administration is talking about immodesty. I just wanted to clarify the meaning of this word. Here I give samples of "bad", "acceptable", and "decent" people with the Islamic Republic's definition.

Bad

Acceptable

Decent

The copyright of the three first images are for Nader Davoodi (see). He has collected a fascinating set of images from Iran (see).

p.s. The woman in front of the microphones is Elaheh Koolaii, a former female member of the parliament from the reformist party. Azadeh reminded me that she is a better example of what the administration has in mind as the "acceptable" way of clothing for women. However, I have to remind her that she was threatened to be killed if she wanted to join parliament sessions wearing like that. Anyway, she was brave enough to do that.

Saeed Hanaii killed sixteen prostitutes before he was executed in 2001. There were doubts that he was helped by hands from inside the administration.

Islamic Republic Police has announced new plans to stop the non-Islamic behaviors in the streets. Carrying an animal or having worn no socks are reportedly amongst the criminal acts for which a girl may be arrested (see). Basically, this is the good side of the coin. Like any other huge metropolitan area, there are places in and around Tehran in which not very decent people are living. With the increasing poverty even a traditional society like Iran suffers from the problem of prostitution. However, unlike other countries, working girls do not have the obvious access to free condoms there. Having a religious administration for which a girl seeking customers in the streets is nothing but devil himself, it is not strange to see people executing "God's will" as a personal business. The story begins with Basij, the Islamic Republic's militia. Being a Basiji, means a member of Basij, you are among the elite part of the nation, as seen through the eyes of the administration. A Basiji's responsibilities include attending every demonstration and shouting "Death to Some Country" when the national television announces to do so. Also, in some occasions you would be guarding in the streets, stopping cars and searching them for alcohol and satellite dishes, devil's instruments. You may even be asked to face people partying in the streets for that national, but not Islamic, event or the students striking against an administration's move. The problem happens when these powerful pets of the administration get inspired by it's theories and leave the slow bureaucracy (see). For example, Saeed Hajjarian, former president Khatami's top advisor, was assassinated by a similar group. In September 2001, when Saeed Hanaii got arrested at last, he had killed sixteen prostitutes. He was a very religious man with a wife whom was very seriously attending praying sessions outside their house. Using her weekly absence, Saeed rode his old motorcycle looking for working women in the streets of Mashhad, a religious city in eastern north of Iran. The forensic investigation proved that he had never had any sexual contact with the women. His method was to strangle them and then to leave them in the streets. He was also so determined that he would be among the first people gathering around the scene. Actually, police found out that he frequently helped them carry corpsepose to the Ambulance. When he was sentenced to death there were rumors that some top clerics do not think he deserves such a sever punishment. Interestingly, one of his charges was carrying a "faked" Basij card. He was executed and is now history. But, many details of his actions are missing. For example, he had had access to the official information about the prostitutes (through Basij?). Also, the actual conduct of the crimes were not clear, he was not a strong man and could have not very easily carried the corpses by himself. When the hardliner state-run newspapers published articles partially supporting his actions, people started to think the whole story was not exactly the one declared in the court. Remembering similar events in the past and connecting that to the "faked" Basij card you might think some people took administration's words seriously (see). Just after the administration announced plans to arrest "indecent" girls in the streets, six stabbed corpses were found in Tehran (see). Police is talking about similarities between the cases. When ministry of justice stated to reporters that "stopping immodesty does not need judicial authorization" people remembered last week's protest against immodesty where it was announced "God's people (in Islamic Republic literature means people devoted to Islamic Republic, Persian: حزب الله) can not stand what is polluting the country's cities".