Iranian protests - Page 38

Gov plans pro-gov protests on Wednesday, probably will use protests 2 say "ppl want us 2 arrest Musavi+Karubi+Khatami"

Behind the drama unfolding in the streets of Iran, the regime is quietly clamping down on some of the nation's best students by derailing their academic and professional careers.

On Wednesday, progovernment militia attacked and beat students at a school in northeastern Iran. Since last Sunday's massive protests nationwide, dozens of university students have been arrested as part of an aggressive policy against what are known as Iran's "star students."

In most places, being a star means ranking top of the class, but in Iran it means your name appears on a list of students considered a threat by the intelligence ministry. It also means a partial or complete ban from education.

The term comes from the fact that some students have learned of their status by seeing stars printed next to their names on test results.

Mehrnoush Karimi, a 24-year-old law-school hopeful, found out in August that she was starred. She ranked 55 on this year's national entrance exam for law schools, out of more than 70,000 test-takers. That score should have guaranteed her a seat at the school of her choice. Instead, the government told her she wouldn't be attending law school due to her "star" status.

Ms. Karimi says she thinks she got starred because she volunteered in the presidential campaign of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi last spring. She also participated in several antigovernment "Green Movement" protests that are convulsing Iran.

"They tell me, 'You are not allowed to study or work in this country any more.' Why? Because I voted for Mousavi and wore a green scarf?" says Ms.Karimi in a phone interview from the city of Isfahan, where she lives.

More than 1,000 graduate students have been blocked from higher education since the practice began in 2006, according to statements by Mostafa Moin, a former education minister, in official media in September.

Star treatment is reserved for graduate students, although undergrads also face suspension for political activity, according to student-rights activists. Several hundred undergrads have been suspended for as many as four semesters, according to student activists and human-rights groups in Iran. Under Iran's higher-education law, students are dismissed from school if they miss four terms.

iran88

Video: BBC airs new video of June attacks on U. of Tehran dorms filmed by the Basij attackers! http://bit.ly/cDcAP4 #IranElection about 1 hours ago from web Retweeted by IranRiggedElect and 3 others

On December 29 2009 16:30 SnK-Arcbound wrote:
Because the middle east is a big happy family when no on interferes /sarcasm

Amid reports of a low turnout for the annual march commemorating the anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution on Friday, there are calls among opposition leaders for nationwide marches against the government on Monday.

Protesters, including university students, truck drivers and gold merchants are said to be organising marches across the country under the umbrella of the country's Green Movement, apparently inspired by recents demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia.

The movement, also known as the Green Wave, made international headlines after the disputed 2009 presidential elections which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win a second term in office.

Monday's protests have been called at the behest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, which the movement backed as opposition presidential candidates in the election two years ago.

The governments of both Tunisia and Egypt were successfully toppled via massive and prolonged protests and rallies.

Permission to hold rallies in Egypt was sought prior to the demonstrators' actions but no such permit has not been granted in Iran, and the country's Revolutionary Guard has already promised to forcefully confront any protesters.

Some of the posters advertising Monday's rally on Facebook refer to February 14 day as a "valentine to Iran's freedom". The main Facebook page calling for demonstrations has over 43,000 followers.

On December 29 2009 16:12 Magic84 wrote:
Iran will do perfectly fine if Israel and USA leave it alone. I love mass media propaganda assault on Iran and Ahmadinejad, bbc and other crap. Not your business.

On February 14 2011 02:52 Fa1nT wrote:
Has there ever not been a problem in the middle east for the last 5000 years?

On February 13 2011 11:16 perser84 wrote:]


i am a iranian and i do agree with him

everytime usa is involved in other peoples matters it get worse ...i mean really worse

and most of the stuff is media proganda

true there are many things that are not right in iran

that is no of their business

usa support other countries that are worse and more corupted then iran
and do nothing

because other wise they dont become what they need like oil gas or other advantages

iran is not the nicest country but trust me usa has allies

that are much worse or are alike iran and are tolerated with the way they do

On February 14 2011 03:12 PlaKen wrote:
Iran's government is paranoid but can we really blame them? They have israeli/american spies trying to kill their scientists and destroy Iran's infrastructure from within. Unlike Egypt, people in Iran VOTED for the current president: Ahmadinejad. Whether the elections were 100% transparent or not is debatable but what we read in the news coming from sources such as CNN and BBC is the most biased shit I've ever seen. Also, the voices coming from iranians abroad are often very biased as well. These are second generation kids born to exiled iranian parents, parents who left due to having ties with the former Shah. Funny enough, Iran wasn't faring better when this puppet was in government. In fact, it was American interference which prevented a democratically elected prime minister Mosaddegh from staying in office.

Simply put, the WEST is the major blame in the instability currently reigning the middle east...Who put the taliban in power in Afghanistan? It was the USA who gave them the weapons and helped organize their resistance against the Russians. Who put Saddam in power? It was America that put him in power to help fight off Iran after its 1979 revolution. Who caused turmoil in Iran to the point where the people were fed up with a puppet-dictator ruling over them as a monarch and causing by the same token, an islamic revolution that has been a thorn in the backside of the West ever since? Who decided to give land near Jerusalem to Jews after WW2, land which was bought extremely cheaply or simply taken away from their owners and which has now resulted in a climate of never-ending turmoil between palestinians and jews?

These are all easy facts to forget but to me, its plainly clear that USA put the mid east in all this shit...Not the other way around. Interfering recklessly in other countries' politics rarely ends well.

On February 14 2011 03:12 PlaKen wrote:
Unlike Egypt, people in Iran VOTED for the current president: Ahmadinejad. Whether the elections were 100% transparent or not is debatable but what we read in the news coming from sources such as CNN and BBC is the most biased shit I've ever seen.

On February 14 2011 03:34 SerpentFlame wrote:

1) How do you hand count all the votes in the country in 3 hours?

2) It's convenient how Mousavi lost his home town where people hate Ahmadinejad

3) Accusations of rigging aren't a spawn ofthe Western world.

Only 105 out of the 290 members of Parliament came to the victory celebration for Ahmadinejad. Allegations of rigging stem from inside Iran even among prominent Islamic clerics among many other prominent figures in Iran . Why would people inside Iran say the elections were rigged when you run the risk of getting arrested, beaten, shot, or having your nephew killed? None of this happened when Ahmadinejad won his first election.

4) US-first style politics are sure to blame for the turmoil, and Israel has admitted to sabotage of Iran's nuclear program. But however good or bad the US is doesn't mean Iran isn't doing it wrong in the elections.

Iran's government is paranoid maybe, but the people aren't so closed-minded.