By: Josh Shahryar - twitter.com/iran_translator and twitter.com/joshshahryar
(This report has been compiled through reports by twitter users in Iran and aboard, as well as contacts inside and outside Iran. Media outlets have been credited where used. As reports coming from Iran cannot be fully authenticated if the report confirms something, at best it confirms that several reliable sources agreed upon it. This report is released under Creative Commons (CC) and can be republished under the condition that a link to the original source is provided.
(This Brief also has material from September 6 included, but since most of September 6 was covered in September 5, I did not repeat most of the news.)
Protests / Unrest
September 7
1. At around 4:30 PM Tehran time, security forces entered the office of Mousavi's campaign committee, who are pursuing the fate of detainees, without any warrants or court orders. They confiscated all documents and material inside the office and took it with them to an undisclosed location. When asked about a warrant or court order, the security forces told the office personnel that the confiscated documents and material were not going to be returned, so there was no need for a court order or a warrant.
The committee, which is headed by Alireza Beheshti - the son of Ayatollah Beheshti - had been set up by the Mousavi campaign to investigate the cases of the detainees to determine the number of casualties as well as investigating disappearances and other issues related to violence against protesters.
The committee's office was one of the few places, where people could come, file complaints and speak of violence against them. This was important as security organizations have turned a blind eye towards victims and in some cases, even arrested the victims who complained.
2. The government has banned the annual gathering to commemorate Ayatollah Taolghani. The gatherings for Shabe Qader at Imam Masooma's Shrine in Qom, will continue as planned. However, instead of the usual speakers; Ayatollah Amini, Ayatollah Javad Amoli, Ayatollah Ostadi and Nategh Nouri, this year, the speakers will be pro-government clerics; Ahmad Khatami, Ayatollah Sediqi, Dr. Rafi'ie and Alireza Panahiyan. Reports had indicated that the Greens were going to join the gatherings and this appears to be an attempt by the government to stop the Greens from having venues to gather.
3. Reports indicate that dozens of people gather in different parts of Tehran every night and chant against the government. These gatherings are quick and simultaneous.
An example of such a protest from September 03 in Shahrake Gharb:
YouTube - Nightly protests in Western district (Shahrak Gharb) 03 Sept. 2009
August 06 from Vanak Square:
September 06
4. Flyers are being distributed across Iran for the protest on September 18. Reports indicate that since the backing of reformists, people have started to organize in mass numbers, in order to make the protest as successful as possible. Pictures of flyers:
آسمان دیلی نیوز � اهم اخبار � پخش اعلامیه راهپیمایی 27 شهریور در سطح شهر تهران
5. Dozens of students from across Iran, are losing their right to study in universities, as the government starts to punish them, for taking part in protests. Reports indicate that these students, are being suspended from their universities or outright barred from ever joining higher education facilities because they have either been photographed during protests or have been detained.
Tabriz, Shiraz and Tehran are the main cities where this is happening.
Opposition
September 7
6. Former President Seyed Mohammad Khatami, today said that they were opposed to those, who in the name of fighting Western liberalism, were using fascist tactics and totalitarian ideas to force people, to where they thought was best. He warned all those who cared, to think of rebuilding national solidarity and yet again restore trust that the current system could help solve the problems.
He hinted that he was in favor of Islam remaining in the government, yet he was opposed to those who were using it to commit wrongdoings. Speaking about the current crisis, he said they believed the election was a great opportunity, which had been wasted. He said that people had hoped, to come forward and take part in the election and this could have been an event to restore people's trust.
His speech indicated that, if in the coming months, nothing was done to right the wrongs that had been committed, then it would be too late to reform the affairs.
7. On September 5 Grand Ayatollah Safi-Golapyegani visited the Imam Sajjad seminary in Qomm, to meet and confer with Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi. The meeting, which took place on September 5, was held behind closed doors. According to Ayatollah Golpayegani’s official website, the two Shia Sources of Emulation, discussed and reached a mutual decision on different issues. Safi-Golpayegani had previously called the elections 'a grand lie'. Makarem-Shirazi has yet to take sides. Makarem-Shirazi however, refused to congratulate Ahmadinejad and did not show up to meet him on his first visit to Mashhad.
8. Other reports coming in from Qom, indicate that clerics are slowly gearing up to get involved. According to these reports, pro-Khamenei clerics are attempting to gather support for Ahmadinejad, on the grounds that Khamenei has backed him, while opposing clerics are declaring Khamenei's authority null and void.
After reports of the meeting between Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sane'ie and Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, it has now been confirmed that Sane'ie has also met with Ayatollahs Safi-Golpayegani, Mousavi Ardabeli, Shabiri Zanjani, Bayat Zanjani, Mousavi Tabrizi, Sayed Javad Shahristani (who is the representative of Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali Sistani of Iraq) and Said Hasan Khomeini.
Reports also confirm that in the past two months, Ayatollah Shabiri Zanjani has met with Ayatollah Sane'ie and Ayatollah Montazeri. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani met with Sane'ie, on the day his office was reportedly about to be attacked by pro-government forces.
Sane'ie and Zanjani's meeting, reportedly resulted in both clerics reaching the conclusion, that clerics needed to take sides and show opposition to the atrocities being committed in the name of Islam. Sane'ie's meeting with Montazeri's was also about the same issue. It has now been reported, that both clerics discussed actions that could be taken in solidarity with other clerics.
9. Ayatollah Sane'ie, in a meeting with students, called all allegations levied against reformists during their trials a lie. He added that no one, should stay silent when it came to people's rights and that their rights needed to be defended.
10. The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers, in reply to IRGC Commander Ali Jafari, released a statement saying, making the system healthier was more important than saving the system.
The Assembly, which is composed of reformist clerics, asked the government to immediately release all political prisoners, openly apologize to all victims of the unrest, compensate all those who have lost property, put all political, judicial and military personnel and individuals, who have committed illegal acts on trial, prosecute them and stop all lies against politicians, clerics and scholars.
11. The Combatant Clerics Association, also released a statement saying that the Association, intended to file legal complaints, against Commander Jafari and accused him of violating Imam Khomeini's will.
12. The Islamic Iran Participation Front has released a statement, condemning IRGC Commander Ali Jafari's statements, in which he accused several high-ranking reformist leaders of attempting to weaken Khamenei. The reformist party asked for legal action against Jafari and accused him of slander.
13. Ali Hoseiniyan - an MP, who is a member of the Imam's Way faction of parliament and is considered Rafsanjani's de facto representative in parliament - also blasted Jafari and asked the military court to prosecute him for slander. In response to Jafari's accusations against Rafsanjani's son, Mehdi Hashemi, Hoseiniyan asked Jafari where he was, when Hashemi was a toddler and went to meet his father in prison during the Shah's rule.
September 6
14. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani accused some elements in the government of attempting to purge Imam Khomeini's ideals from the government and said that soon, they might close the doors of Khomeini's shrine on people. He expressed grave concern over the government's discontinuation of Shabe Qadr gatherings at Khomeini's shrine.
15. Shirin Ebadi - Iranian women's rights activist and a Nobel Prize Laureate - asked those who wished to participate in the protests globally, in support of the Sea of Green, to post questions on her Facebook page. Readers can post their questions on her Facebook account's wall. Link:
Shirin Ebadi | Facebook
16. MP Hossein Hashemian - the head of Imam's Way faction of MPs in the parliament - also blasted Jafari and called his accusations lies. He also indicated that several officers in the IRGC, were planning on tending their resignations because of his statements and because of the IRGC's increasing role in politics.
(Rest Below)