Is this the beginning of the end the mullahocracy in Iran: Protests and Regime Violence Erupt in Iran

[Elaine Friedland]

TEHRAN -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei annointed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of Friday's presidential race, triggering violent protests across the nation and allegations by his nearest challenger of widespread vote rigging.

The violence ratcheted up the stakes in the most contentious election since the founding of the Islamic Republic 30 years ago. Prolonged strife or a political standoff would heighten the uncertainty hanging over a country that is one of the world's biggest oil producers and Washington's main irritant in the volatile Middle East.

As night descended on Tehran, supporters of main challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi clashed with anti-riot police and plain-clothed militia. The city resembled a military zone as thousands of Special Forces units and anti-riot police stormed streets waving their electric batons and hitting rioters and onlookers.

Military cars blocked large swaths of main throughways and instead of traffic police, the para-military Basijis—trained volunteers in plain-clothes—were directing traffic. Vali Asr, the long Tehran avenue where Mousavi supporters last week formed a giant human chain during presidential campaigning, was covered in smoldered black ash—from burnt campaign posters that had been ripped from walls—and shattered glass. Dark smoke hung in the air from garbage dumpsters that were set ablaze on many streets.

On Motahari Avenue, one of the major streets in central Tehran, three public buses were set afire by demonstrators. Syamak Izadi, 62 years old, said he was riding on the bus in central Tehran when a group of men, dressed in Mr. Mousavi's trademark green, stopped the bus and told passengers to get off. They then doused it with gasoline and set it afire, he said.

Protestors played cat and mouse with the police. They gathered on corners throwing their fists in the air, then ran away when riot police descended. On Hafteh Tir square, several hundred people, including men and women, young and old, marched blocking traffic shouting "God is Great" and asking the public to join them. People gathered on pedestrian bridges and encouraged the protestors while drivers honked their horns.

There was unconfirmed shooting reported in northern Tehran with reports of one woman injured from stray bullets.

"The results are not acceptable to us, Mousavi needs to lead the crowd and depose this government," said a 37-year-old biologist who gave his name only as Kasra.

Shouts of "Allah o Akbar" rocked Tehran, reminiscent of the revolution where residents take to their rooftops and shout God is Great in order to show their protest.

Mobile phone service was suspended across the capital. BBC's Persian language service, which many Iranians listen to for news, was jammed. Social networking site Facebook, used by Mr. Mousavi's young supporters to organize, was blocked. On Vali Asr, a pedestrian bridge was set ablaze near Mellat Park.

Supporters of Mr. Mousavi had begun gathering outside the interior ministry and outside his campaign headquarter in central Tehran early in the morning. At that time, uniformed police and plain-clothes security officials broke up groups of protesters, chasing some away from the buildings.

At one point, groups of supporters near Mr. Mousavi's headquarters shouted "death to the dictator," a chant borrowed from the Iranian revolution. Security forces responded by bludgeoning several with batons.

Several journalists were beaten badly, and a female protester was beaten unconscious by uniformed police. As the police battled the protesters, demonstrators and onlookers from windows and from the sides of the streets shouted, "security forces, shame on you."

"Is this democracy?" said Ali Reza, a 30-year-old Mousavi campaign worker, whose eyes were red from tear gas and his white pants torn and bloodied. "We don't have any power to fight these people, but what they are doing is unfair," he said.

Security forces also used pepper spray and tear gas against workers inside the campaign headquarters, throwing canisters through the front door.

Most shopkeepers had closed their stores along the street. But several also opened their doors to provide refuge to protesters. At a traditional Persian restaurant, security forces knocked down the front door, and dragged out dozens of young men and women.

Iranian universities--in the middle of final exams--suspended classes for a week as of today, students said.

The violence and stiff public resistance to the final tally is unprecedented in recent Iranian elections, and threatens wider demonstrations by Mr. Mousavi's supporters, a stiff crackdown from the state, or both.

Political observers warned of a potentially turbulent week ahead. One popular slogan shouted by Mr. Mousavi's supporters at the campaign rallies: "If there is cheating, Iran will blow up."

Iran's interior ministry, in a televised press conference late Saturday afternoon, said Mr. Ahmadinejad had won 24,527,516, or 62.6% of the votes cast. Mr. Mousavi, a reformist former prime minister, won 13,216,411, or 33.8%, according to ministry figures.

Reformist Mehdi Karroubi garnered just 0.85% of the vote, and Mohsen Rezaei, a conservative challenger, won 678,240, or 1.73%. Mr. Khamenei said turnout was above 80%, and congratulated Iran for the vote.

The endorsement by Mr. Khamenei, who has final say in all matters of state policy, essentially served as an official seal of approval for the results.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Mousavi's campaign workers said the communications wing of their candidate's election operation had been shut down Saturday morning by court order.

"We were expecting some level of cheating but no one was expecting this charade," said Hamid Reza Jalaeipour, a sociologist and senior advisor to Mr. Mousavi's campaign. "Mr. Mousavi will not accept these results and will fight it."

In a statement attributed to Mr. Mousavi in leaflets passed out by supporters and posted on his website, the candidate said he "contests the obvious cheating in the election and would like to warn that he would not cave into this dangerous charade."

"Elections in Iran were a completely popular movement," said Mr. Ahmadinejad in a televised speech late Saturday evening. "It was a very big test, and it came at a very critical time."

Some Iranian voters expressed skepticism at the outcome.

"The television and election commission are all in Ahmadinejad's hands," said a 71-year old retired schoolteacher from southern Tehran, who asked for anonymity for fear of losing her government pension.

Campaign offices at Mr. Mousavi's northern Tehran headquarters were raided by unknown assailants and staff were harassed, according to workers there.

In this election, the race for the presidency wasn't just about the candidates but also about Iran's direction. Mr. Mousavi embodied hope from supporters inside and outside Iran for more moderate, pragmatic administration, while Mr. Ahmadinejad represented the republic's tradition of radical ideology.

On election day, throngs of voters flooded into polling stations. State media reported unprecedented turnout among Iran's voters. At many polling stations across the country, crowds formed lines that snaked several miles.

Mr. Mousavi said there was an organized effort to block his campaign staff from communicating with one another and the public on Friday. The Ministry of Telecommunications imposed a nation-wide block of text messaging from mobiles. Mr. Mousavi's supervisors at polls were planning to report discrepancies by text messages.

Thousands of Mr. Mousavi's volunteer supervisors were not issued credentials by the Interior Ministry, which runs the elections, and were barred from polling stations, Mr. Mousavi said. Internet speed was slower than usual all day and by noon nearly all Web sites affiliated with Mr. Mousavi were blocked.

The campaign said that a group of people, who identified themselves as intelligence officers, entered Mr. Mousavi's campaign headquarters in northern Tehran on Friday evening demanding that the young strategists at the campaign, responsible for much of deploying new media techniques, leave the premises.

Mr. Mousavi's campaign lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh, said in an interview that Tehran's chief prosecutor informed Mr. Mousavi's campaign lawyer that security agents would arrive Saturday morning with a court order to shut down all their communication operations.

Farnaz Fassihi
Roshanak Taghavi and Jay Solomon contributed to this article.

[Elaine Friedland]

01/05/2010 11:01 AM
The Beginning of the End?
The Iranian Regime's Fear of the People

By Dieter Bednarz and Erich Follath

Bloody protests in Iran during the Ashura festival marked a turning point in the conflict between the regime and its opponents. For the first time, demonstrators responded to police brutality with violence of their own. But although the opposition movement is gaining ground, the government's massive security forces are still as powerful as ever.

The ruler in his palace was at a loss. He felt helpless, alone and full of misgivings. Should he attack on this day in December, a day when his people were taking advantage of Ashura, an important Shiite festival, to take to the streets in the millions and demand his abdication in angry chants? Wasn't it imperative that he demonstrate uncompromising brutality and order his soldiers to shoot into the crowd, if he hoped to continue as leader?

The ruler, a man who felt chosen by history, was all too familiar with the symbolic power of the events surrounding Ashura. On that day, the faithful commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who fearlessly confronted superior forces 1,300 years ago in the Battle of Karbala, giving impetus to the rise of a religion dedicated to rapt suffering. The ruler of Iran apparently sensed that it would be more than a tactical mistake to resort to violence on this day. Indeed, it would be an incident of sacrilege that he would be unable to survive. Instead, he forbade his military leaders and intelligence officials from creating what could have been a bloodbath.

This atypical leniency benefited Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on that December day in 1978, but by then there was little left to save. Five weeks later, the people drove him out of office. The revolution of the masses had prevailed.

On Feb. 1, 1979, millions of Iranians celebrated the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from exile in France. He promised a just political system anchored in religion and characterized by strict laws. When the Islamic Republic was proclaimed on April 1, 1979, Khomeini's triumph was complete.

A New Dimension

Ashura is the day on which history was written and probably will always continue to be written. History was also written in December 2009, when Iranians' long-simmering dissatisfaction with their rulers reached a new -- and, at the very least, prerevolutionary -- dimension, when violence and counter-violence dominated the streets of three of Iran's biggest cities, Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan. When even the regime could no longer deny that people had been killed during the protests. When security forces shot at protesters and hundreds were arrested nationwide. And when bodies disappeared and their family members were not even able to bury their dead within the time period prescribed by their religion.

The government's actions proved that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khomeini's political heir, was not even making allowances for religious sentiments any more. "Even the regime of the shah respected Ashura," said reformer Mahdi Karroubi, the most prominent dissident next to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. During the 2009 Ashura festival, in which protesters from all levels of society took to the streets, the last bond between the rulers and the ruled was severed. As a result, the Islamic Republic lost its religious legitimacy in the eyes of many Muslims.

But does this also signify an admission of complete failure on the part of those in power? Does it mean that the theocracy faces inevitable, perhaps even immediate, collapse? Is it truly just a matter of time before the regime of Ayatollah Khamenei is finished? Only one thing is certain, namely that the clashes have reached a new dimension that is immensely dangerous for both sides. Never has there been so much popular dissatisfaction with the leadership in Tehran, and never before has such a broad front of people throughout the country fought with such determination against the "dictator" Khamenei and his ally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Losing Their Fear of the Thugs

In contrast to the protests last summer, the opposition has lost its fear of the regime's thugs. Instead of cowering to avoid government forces during the demonstrations, the rebels are now fighting back, and instead of relenting, they are becoming more radical in their demands. Many are no longer interested in reforming the theocracy, but rather in abolishing it altogether.

And never has the regime struck back with such brutality. At least eight opposition figures were killed within a few hours. In what was essentially a warning to his uncle, Seyed Ali Mousavi, 43, was executed by a targeted gunshot in front of his family's house. Fearing attacks, Karroubi and Mousavi are believed to have fled from Tehran on Wednesday evening, although their families have denied their departure. The regime was sharply condemned by the international community, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticizing its "unacceptable actions" against the protest movement and US President Barack Obama talking of the Iranian government's "iron fist of brutality."

But the government's efforts to deter the protesters are becoming less and less effective. Each new wave of violence coming from the regime only heightens the popularity of the protest movement, which no longer consists solely of younger supporters of the reform movement from the middle and upper classes. Now formerly apolitical shopkeepers and the unemployed are risking direct confrontation with the government's gangs of thugs, and even the elderly are joining the protests.

The rebellion undoubtedly acquired special momentum as a result of the fact that this time Ashura coincided with the traditional observance of seven days of mourning after the death of the opposition's most symbolic religious figure, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, 87. The country had not been gripped by such a strong wave of emotion since the death of revolutionary leader Khomeini in 1989.

Taking to the Streets

In conservative Najafabad, the birthplace of Montazeri, many deeply religious residents, like retiree Reza Nouri, took to the streets, even though authorities had imposed a curfew and the Revolutionary Guard had sealed off the city. Nouri, a farmer, admits that he voted for Ahmadinejad, because he had promised to "distribute the riches from the oil industry on the plates of the poor."

But the old man now concurs with the opinion of the deceased ayatollah, who accused the government of trampling Islamic values by lying to the people and committing crimes against protesters. Like Nouri, many are no longer willing to accept this "betrayal of the revolution" for which they once fought.

In major cities, the movement can draw from an enormous reservoir of people with poor prospects. Almost half of Iran's working-age population is now unemployed, and even the official unemployment rate lies at 25 percent.

In Isfahan, the protest movement has gained particularly strong support in the working class neighborhood of Hossein Abad, and in Tehran more and more disgruntled residents of the city's poor southern neighborhoods are joining the street protests. Many of the protesters are young people who, driven by a fatal mixture of desperation, curiosity and boredom, initially join the marches and, provoked by the violence of pro-government forces, eventually resort to throwing stones. Western observers say that the street scenes are almost reminiscent of the 1968 unrest in France and Germany.

Even Khamenei is said to have been taken off-guard by the determination of the protesters. Until now, the revolutionary leader was considered untouchable, but now the words "down with the dictator" are resonating throughout the country. Opposition representatives claim that Khamenei was temporarily flown by helicopter from his residence in northern Tehran to barracks of the Revolutionary Guard, also known as the Pasdaran, which has remained loyal to him. "It can't go on like this for much longer," Grand Ayatollah Montazeri's son Saeed Montazeri, a levelheaded 47-year-old religious scholar with the title of hojatoleslam, said in an interview with SPIEGEL.

The Regime's Historic Miscalculation

The leadership's fear of its own people is the consequence of an historic miscalculation on the night of the June 12 presidential election. With rarely seen audacity, Ahmadinejad declared himself the winner, even though the votes were a long way from being fully counted, and his most dangerous challenger, Mousavi, was probably running at least neck-and-neck with him.

In retrospect, it seems likely that election results were rigged in many districts to secure Ahmadinejad's reelection, apparently with Khamenei's support. This notion is reinforced by the fact that, despite all the protests, the revolutionary leader was suspiciously quick to congratulate his favorite, Ahmadinejad.

But contrary to what appeared to be the regime's expectations, millions of Mousavi supporters were not willing to accept the results. Three days after the election, hundreds of thousands gathered in Tehran for the largest protest march since the overthrow of the shah and peacefully chanted: "Where is my vote?" Leading the protest march was Mousavi, in his shirtsleeves and with a microphone in his hand.

Mousavi, once a bland technocrat, seemed to relish his new role as a people's leader and challenged the leadership by staging additional protests. The government struck back and eventually started shooting at protesters. Photos of the death of music student Neda quickly circled the world via the Internet, and she became an icon of the movement.

Wave of Protests

Despite mass arrests and show trials of regime critics, some of which ended in death sentences, the flood of protests did not subside. When the regime rigorously banned all protests, the movement cleverly used government propaganda events and a martyr culture that has been cultivated for decades to demonstrate its refusal to capitulate. Funerals of activists turned into impressive protest meetings, while official events, like those to mark the 30th anniversary of the occupation of the US Embassy in Tehran in November or the "Day of the Student" in early December, became open showdowns with security forces.

But it wasn't until the wave of protests on Ashura that the regime lost control over the street, and not just in Tehran. In incidents reminiscent of the riots against the shah, protesters overpowered brutal security forces nationwide, tore off their uniforms and triumphantly held up police boots and helmets like trophies. The perpetrators of violence had become the victims -- and vice-versa.

Eyewitnesses report scenes of regime thugs trembling in fear and of outraged protesters shouting: "Beat them! Beat them!" But in many cases other protesters apparently intervened, shouting "Let them go! Don't beat them!"

There has also been substantial damage to property. Buildings went up in flames, police cars were set on fire and many of the motorcycles that the feared Basij militias had used to brutally disperse groups of protesters were destroyed. One of the questions most heatedly discussed on Iranian blogs since the middle of the week is: "Are we now just as bad as our opponents?"

Still Powerful

Despite initial reports of insubordination among members of the Revolutionary Guard, the regime still has more clout than the protesters. The Pasdaran comprises 125,000 armed troops, and the special units that are particularly loyal to the regime are estimated to include between 5,000 and 10,000 men. The regime's militias count at least a million members. Roughly 90,000 members of the Basij are considered reliable and prepared to engage in street fighting. To enhance the operational capability of government forces, the militias have been placed under the command of the Pasdaran, of which Khamenei is the commander-in-chief.

President Ahmadinejad dismisses the unrest as a "disgusting spectacle." But the regime's nervousness is evident in how it is assigning blame for the protests, pointing its figure at the United States and the hated "Zionist entity," Israel.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has also assigned some of the blame to terrorists, by which he apparently means a group known as the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI). And indeed, the group's spokeswoman, Maryam Rajavi, has been calling for an overthrow of the regime from her exile in France for years. However, many Iranians have not forgotten that the left-leaning Islamist organization was once in league with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who waged an eight-year war against their country.

'Without Restraint'

Instead of making compromises, the regime has focused its efforts on counter-demonstrations, and indeed managed to mobilize large groups of people in Tehran last week. The government has also announced that it will take even harsher action against the protesters. Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, provocatively called upon the courts to proceed against the protesters "without restraint." One of the representatives of the revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, publicly advocated the death penalty, invoking the system of velayat-e faqih, or guardianship of the Islamic jurists, which forms the core of the Iranian constitution.

The Islamists know that the downfall of Khamenei would spell the end of a corrupt system of patronage from which the conservative elite, many mullahs and, most of all, the large military-industrial complex consisting of the Pasdaran and Basij have profited handsomely for more than 30 years.

Opposition leader Mousavi has announced his willingness to die a martyr's death, and on Friday he delivered a list of demands to the regime. Its key points are the call for new, transparent voting rights, the release of political prisoners, a free press and the approval of peaceful demonstrations. Mousavi did not deign to mention his adversary Ahmadinejad or Ahmadinejad's benefactor Khamenei.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

URL:

* http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,670068,00.html



01/05/2010 01:34 PM
Saeed Montazeri on Protests in Iran
'It Can't Go On Like This'

Saeed Montazeri, son of the leading Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, talks to SPIEGEL about who is responsible for his father's recent death, reformists' chances of success and why Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not suited to be president.

SPIEGEL: Hojatoleslam Montazeri, we have reached you on your mobile phone. Where are you at the moment? Are you under house arrest?

Saeed Montazeri: I am in my house in Qom, which is next to my father's house. Officially, my movements are not restricted. But the windowpanes occasionally rattle. It is apparently regime thugs who want to provoke me. My father's office is being tightly controlled by security agents. His hosseiniyeh (religious institute) was closed 12 years ago and occupied by the thugs.

SPIEGEL: Were you at least able to give your father, who was seen as one of the most respected clerics in Iran and a mentor of the opposition movement, a dignified burial?

Montazeri: The security forces only showed restraint for the first 24 hours after his death. Immediately after the funeral, they began rioting in front of my father's house and insulting him with chants.

SPIEGEL: Who were these people? Were they soldiers in uniform or police officers?

Montazeri: No, the men in uniform just stood by and watched. It was the Basij militias, who had clearly been sent by the regime, who became violent. For the first time in Qom, however, we also heard counter-demonstrators chanting their determined slogans. "Down with the dictator!" they shouted. It can't go on like this for much longer.

SPIEGEL: The seventh day after the death of your father, a traditional day of mourning, coincided with the Ashura festival. In Tehran and other big cities, there was an escalation of violence and at least eight deaths …

Montazeri: … for which government bodies are responsible. They are to blame.

SPIEGEL: But there was also a new willingness among the protestors to use violence. They set police cars on fire and attacked Basij militias.

Montazeri: Ordinary people have no interest in setting property on fire. They wanted to demonstrate for their legitimate interests. They were provoked by the state.

SPIEGEL: Would your father, who advocated nonviolent resistance in his Islamic legal opinions, have seen it this way?

Montazeri: Without a doubt. My father consistently condemned state brutality and stressed that there is a religious right, even a religious obligation, to rise up against rulers who abuse their power. His commitment to this cause took years off his life. Even though the cause of his death was heart failure, the regime is partly responsible for his death, and not only because of their harassment of him. My father was very distressed about what this regime did to people in recent months.

SPIEGEL: Did your father, in his last days, feel that the Islamic Republic still stood a chance of surviving? Do you believe in the future of the theocracy?

Montazeri: Until the very end, my father hoped that those in power would come to their senses, so that our people could be spared serious harm. I believe that the form our future society takes is not that important. It can be an Islamic republic, a secular republic or, as far as I'm concerned, even a monarchy. The important thing is that people are able to live in freedom and prosperity, that they have freedom of movement and that their voices are heard.

SPIEGEL: Is such liberalization even possible under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Montazeri: It's difficult to say. Those responsible must first apologize for the misdeeds and repressive measures they have imposed on the people in the past few months. That would be the precondition for the Islamic Republic continuing to exist. And the presidency, after the resignation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would have to be given to the candidate who captured the most votes in the last elections: Mir Hossein Mousavi.

'Let Them Arrest Me'

SPIEGEL: Do you think Mousavi is the right man for the position? Isn't the former prime minister also a politician of the past?

Montazeri: Mousavi never claimed to be the leader of the movement. As far as the future of our country is concerned, a council would have to be convened that would include both Mousavi and the opposition politician and cleric Mahdi Karroubi, as well as the highly respected reformist former president, Mohammad Khatami. Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani should also be included. They are my friends, and I share their positions. Mousavi and Karroubi attended my father's funeral and paid a -- nonpolitical -- visit to my house to offer their condolences. I do not see myself playing an advisory role. I see my role as a human rights activist, not as someone who is active in politics.

SPIEGEL: Can those things even be separated in the current situation?

Montazeri: You're right, that's difficult in Iran today. These days, every ordinary police officer, every bazaar merchant and every teacher is politically active. Those on the frontlines, when things start to escalate, are usually young people, students and workers. But the peaceful demonstrations now include people from all levels of society and from all age groups -- men, women, deeply religious women in full veils and those with more secular views, hardly veiled at all. Mousavi and Karroubi speak the language of one part of the opposition …

SPIEGEL: … and yet one sometimes has the impression that they are running after the movement. Haven't they in fact become merely the figureheads of the opposition, while those who are willing to do anything are the ones calling the shots?

Montazeri: Mousavi and Karroubi have consistently stressed that they do not represent all of the disappointed. And they don't want violence, either. My friends and I have repeatedly recommended that the people in the streets remain calm, and that they should practice patience. A problem like ours cannot be solved in a day. But if young people are forced to look on as their friends are beaten, arrested or even shot dead on the streets, any attempts to convince them to exercise moderation will soon fail. And, to be honest, I find it understandable, even if I don't approve of it.

SPIEGEL: Mousavi's nephew was shot and killed during the Ashura protests. Do you know any further details about the incident?

Montazeri: It wasn't as if he were simply shot by accident. It was undoubtedly a targeted effort. We have heard from several sources that it was planned well in advance by the authorities, who also carried it out. It may have been intended as a sort of final warning to Mousavi. I don't possess prophetic gifts, which is why I don't known whether he'll be shot and killed one day, or whether the regime will arrest him. The consequences would be catastrophic.

SPIEGEL: What would they be?

Montazeri: It has been shown, again and again, that suffering and casualties accompany historic processes, with many people arrested, tortured and executed. Many lose their families. The outcome can only be evaluated at the end of such bloody processes. Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini once said: "Our fathers are not our guardians, and what right did they have to determine this form of government for us?"

SPIEGEL: You expect to see revolutionary excesses, with a bloodbath?

Montazeri: I hope that it doesn't happen that way. I still hope that those in power will come to their senses, that they will accept compromises and choose the path to national reconciliation. If they don't, my country will be in far worse shape in a year's time than it is today.

SPIEGEL: Will Ahmadinejad still be president in 12 months, and will Khamenei still be the supreme religious leader?

Montazeri: Ahmadinejad is not suited for the office of president.

SPIEGEL: For which office is he suited?

Montazeri: Perhaps for the office of mayor of a small town. I prefer not to comment on Khamenei. However, my late father was firmly convinced that he lacks the qualifications for his office.

SPIEGEL: By making such statements, you are running the risk of being arrested yourself. Aren't you afraid for yourself and for the safety of your family?

Montazeri: I have been in prison several times already. Most recently, I spent 325 days in solitary confinement. I'm not afraid. Let them arrest me. Let them come, if they want to.

URL:

* http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,670071,00.html

[Elaine Friedland]

I finally received an email from our Iranian friend. She is well.