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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Iranian politics

Iranian politics stories: 20 news summaries

Iran Students Hope to Reignite Smoldering Unrest

Green movement plans major protest tomorrow

(Newser) - Iranian students are planning a major protest tomorrow, their first in six weeks, hoping to turn an annual parade commemorating the taking of the US embassy in 1979 into an anti-government rally. Though largely forgotten by the media and discounted by Western policy makers, the so-called “green movement” that... More »

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Iran student Iranian politics Iranian election Mir Hossein Mousavi Iranian protests

Ahmadinejad Names 3 Women to Cabinet

But female ministers are hardliners, unlikely to please reformers

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today he would nominate three women to join his cabinet, reports the Guardian, attempting to soften his image after the brutal crackdowns following his disputed re-election. The decision is significant in a country where just eight of 290 MPs are female. But the two women whose names... More »

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Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad women Muslim women Iranian politics Iranian election

ANALYSIS





 Mousavi's Options Dwindle 
 as Time Ticks Away 

Beaten on the streets, reformer takes uphill battle to the elite

(Newser) - The Iranian protest movement is running out of time and options as the regime continues its brutal crackdown, Time reports. Government forces have full control of the streets of Tehran, hundreds of political opponents are in jail, and Western journalists have been packed off. Mir Hossein Mousavi now has no... More »

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Iran cleric Hashemi Rafsanjani Iranian politics Iranian election Mir Hossein Mousavi Iranian protests Basij militia

ANALYSIS

 Mousavi's Options Shrink 
 as Crackdown Hardens 

Battle for Iran moves from the streets to corridors of power

(Newser) - Two weeks after Iran's allegedly rigged presidential election, the regime's clampdown has hardened and left opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with few avenues for protest. The New York Times reports that shouts of "God is great" and "Death to the dictator" continue to echo at... More »

Iranian Press Pushes for Mousavi's Arrest

Pro-regime papers may be laying ground for new crackdown

(Newser) - Several Iranian newspapers sympathetic to the regime have published articles blaming Mir Hossein Mousavi for recent violence, reports the Telegraph. The papers demand that the opposition leader be arrested for treason, a strategy that may be part of an effort to strengthen the position of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Meanwhile, the... More »

(Newser) - An eerie silence descended on Tehran early today as Iranian officials admitted to discrepancies in the controversial presidential election, but still declared it legal. More votes were cast in 50 cities than the number of registered voters, officials concluded. But authorities said the discrepancy, which affects some 3 million votes,... More »

OPINION

Obama's Wrong:
He Must Take Sides in Iran

He's deserting the brave revolutionaries:
Krauthammer

(Newser) - Electoral fraud fueled the protests in Iran, but now there is a full-fledged revolution brewing—and according to Charles Krauthammer, the demonstrators are desperate for just one signal that the US supports them. Instead, President Obama has pledged "dialogue" with a "clerical dictator" and left the green revolutionaries... More »

 Iran Blocks Foreign Press 
 as Thousands Protest 

Government cracks down on communications, arrests reformists

(Newser) - Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are planning more rallies today, despite an appeal for calm by the country's supreme religious leader. Iran has banned international journalists from the protests after Monday's violence at a Mousavi demonstration, where seven people died. But state television, which showed rallies in... More »

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Iran Tehran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad protests Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Guardian Council Iranian politics recount Mir Hossein Mousavi

ANALYSIS

Ayatollah Authority 
 Undercut by Flip-Flop 

Protests are weakening Khamenei's grip on Iranian regime

(Newser) - The about-face done by Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—first blessing the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday's election then opening an inquiry into vote fraud yesterday—was a rare misstep for the shadowy, usually cautious ayatollah, the New York Times reports, and may have done substantial damage to his reputation,... More »

(Newser) - Iran arrested more than 100 opposition members as clashes between anti-government protesters and police continued today, the New York Times reports. Opposition candidates Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi called for yesterday’s disputed election, which saw incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win easily, to be overturned. Mousavi backers called for... More »

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Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad protests arrest Iranian politics Iranian election Mir Hossein Mousavi Medhi Karroubi

 Ahmadinejad  On 
 Ropes as Iran Votes 

Massive turnout expected in critical presidential ballot

(Newser) - The polls have opened in Iran's presidential election, and a near-record turnout is expected after an unusually intense campaign that saw nightly rallies and Western-style TV debates. Until just two weeks ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seemed a shoo-in for a second term, but the moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi has surged on... More »

 This Woman 
 May Take Down 
 Ahmadinejad 

Wife of reformist candidate strikes a blow in Iran

(Newser) - Tomorrow Iran goes to the polls in a critical presidential election that could see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tossed out of office. As Der Spiegel reports, Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister with a reputation for clean governance, is riding a wave of support—thanks in part to his wife, a... More »

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Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad women Muslim women Iranian politics spouse Iranian election Mir Hossein Mousavi Zahra Rahnavard

Women Candidates Shut Out of Iran's Presidential Race

Council chucks out applications from all 42 female hopefuls

(Newser) - Iran's vetting board has once again rejected every female candidate from the nation's upcoming presidential election, Time reports. Women made up almost a tenth of the 475 hopefuls who signed on. The rejection is widely blamed on the Guardian Council's interpretation of a word in Iran's constitution which they have... More »

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Iran women women's rights candidacy Guardian Council Iranian politics Iranian election

Rival Slams Iranian Prez's Holocaust Denial


Reform candidate accuses Ahmadinejad of needlessly antagonizing West

(AP) - A reformist challenger to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the hardliner's denial of the Holocaust is serving Israel's interests and pushing the country deeper into international isolation. Moderate cleric Mahdi Karroubi is one of two reformist candidates hoping to unseat Ahmadinejad in the country's June 12 presidential election. More »

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Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Holocaust Iranian politics Iranian election Mahdi Karroubi

Former Iranian PM to Run for President

Moderate Mousavi emerges to challenge Ahmadinejad

(Newser) - Mir Hossein Mousavi, the last prime minister before Iran purged the position, will challenge Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and two other moderate reformers in this summer’s presidential election, he announced today. The run will be the reputed moderate’s first major foray since his post was eliminated in 1989, AFP reports.... More »

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Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian politics Iranian election Mir Hossein Mousavi

For Iran, Change Means Having to Say You're Sorry

Ahmadinejad demands Obama apologize for American 'crimes'

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has responded to President Obama's offers of a new start for US-Iranian diplomacy with a demand—that the US "apologize to the Iranian people and try to repair their past crimes." The Iranian president delivered a tirade against the United States at a rally today, condemning... More »

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Iran Barack Obama diplomacy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian politics Susan Rice

Iran Impeaches Minister for Fake Oxford Degree

Key Ahmadinejad ally misspelled words on 'honorary doctorate'

(Newser) - It turns out lying on your resume is frowned upon in Tehran, too. Iran’s parliament gave Interior Minister Ali Kordan the boot today, for posing as an honorary Oxford law graduate, the Daily Telegraph reports. Kordan’s bogus diploma is riddled with typos and misspellings, declaring Kordan “intitled”... More »

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Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Oxford Iranian politics forgery Ali Kordan

 US Election Captivates Iran 

Some Iranians pro-McCain, some pro-Obama, for strange and different reasons

(Newser) - Though isolated and remote, Iran is understandably interested in the outcome of the US presidential election. Iranian papers are covering every aspect, publishing extensive biographies and transcripts of the debates. Opinions run the gamut, but one consensus seems to be that it doesn't matter who wins because the US has... More »

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Iran Barack Obama Israel John McCain Election 2008 Iranian politics opinion

Iran Promises West 'Bloody Nose' Over Nuke Program

'The nation will slap you in the mouth,' Ahmadinejad warns

(Newser) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad invoked some schoolyard rhetoric today, threatening the West with a "bloody nose" over ongoing criticism of Iran's uranium enrichment program, Reuters reports. "The Iranian nation will bloody the enemy's nose if they want to violate an iota of our rights" to nuclear technology, Ahmadinejad... More »

Conservatives Lead 'Cooked' Iran Vote

New lawmakers expected to blast
prez on economy

(Newser) - Early results in Iran's elections today are no surprise—conservatives will keep power—but they are expected to be more critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Reuters reports. Some are teaming with reformists to fight the president's economic policies, which have let inflation rise to 19%. Reformists also picked up seats... More »

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Iran Islam Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ayatollah Ali Khamenei election Iranian politics

20 Stories