Iran: Azeri uprising spreads?

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Fri, 05/26/2006 - 17:15.

The outside world is paying no attention, but if the National Council of Resistance (Mujahedeen Khalq) is to be believed, the Azeri uprising in northern Iran is spreading. Of course Mujahedeen Khalq (with some degree of likely US connivance) would love to fan the flames of ethnic unrest in Iran, and exploit it for their own ends. If nobody else loans some support to the Azeris, they may succeed.

Iran: Clashes in Naqadeh leave six dead, dozens wounded

Residents in Naqadeh and Pars-Abad in Azerbaijan, and Meshkinshahr in Ardabil provinces attacked government buildings and prevented the governor’s speech

NCRI - Yesterday in the fifth day of the uprising by Azeri speaking provinces, thousands of demonstrators in Meshkinshahr and Naqadeh staged anti-government demonstrations.

State Security Forces (SSF) and Revolutionary Guards special anti-riot units in an unsuccessful attempt to curb the demonstrations opened fire into the crowd, killing six demonstrators and wounding dozens of others in Naqadeh.

Angry residents attacked government buildings and offices including the Governors’ mansion.

In Meshkinshahr, demonstrators attacked the state-run newspaper Iran, which had published the insulting cartoons, and Governor’s Office while chanting slogans against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Guidance Minister.

In Pars-Abad, the demonstrations by thousands of protesters reached a peak at 5:00 p.m. Residents prevented the Governor from speaking and torched several government offices as they marched.

Thousands of people in Meshkinshahr marched toward the Governor's Office and the local Intelligence Department, and shattered the windows of the buildings by throwing stones. Protestors shouted slogans against Ahmadinejad and his Guidance Minister and clashed with the suppressive forces. A number of people were arrested and taken to SSF centers aboard buses.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, hailed the popular uprising in Azeri speaking provinces and described them as the outcry of the people in this region for justice and as an example of the Iranian nation's hatred and indignation toward the mullahs’ dictatorship.

The Iranian Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations and personalities, particularly relevant United Nations agencies, to condemn the brutal attacks by SSF and other suppressive forces on Iranian youth and people and demands urgent action to save the lives of those arrested.

See our last post on Iran.

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Azeri journalists detained

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Sat, 05/27/2006 - 15:30.

From Iran Focus, May 27:

London – The international press freedoms organisation Reporters Without Borders demanded on Saturday the “immediate release” of two Iranian Azeri journalists who were detained by authorities following mass anti-government demonstrations earlier this week by ethnic Azeris in north-west Iran.

Amin Movahedi was detained on Friday in the city of Meshkinshar and Orouj Amiri was arrested on Thursday in the nearby city of Marand, the group said in a statement.

“Absolutely no charges have been brought against Movahedi and Amiri and the authorities have not said where they are being held”, it said. “These journalists are being subjected to illegal harassment simply for working independently”.

The statement said that Movahedi was arrested by gunmen in civilian dress as he was leaving his home in Meshkinshar, Ardebil province, adding that he had previously been detained by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security for three days in December.

Amiri, who writes for several local papers, was arrested as his home in Marand, East Azerbaijan province, by plain-clothes police who hit him when he asked to see their warrant, the group said. “They searched his home and took personal documents, CDs, and the hard disk of his computer. His wife was forcibly led away for protesting against his arrest”.

At least nine people have been killed by government forces since Monday when a wave of anti-government protests began in dozens of towns and cities in the north-west of the country against the publication of an insulting cartoon in the official daily Iran.

On Monday, at least 100,000 Azeris rallied in the city of Tabriz. Subsequently, thousands have taken part in often violent demonstrations in the towns of Orumieh, Zanjan, Marand, and Ardebil.

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