Friday’s weekly Friday prayer service at Tehran University will do a lot more than honor the onset of the Muslim sabbath. The country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, plans to lead the service himself — and he has publicly requested the attendance of all the main players in the political drama that has roiled Iran since last Friday’s disputed election. Reports on Thursday suggested that opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi encouraged his supporters to attend the event, but overnight word circulated that he and reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi had urged their followers to stay away, although the authenticity of those claims could not be verified.
Tag Archives: president
Peru’s indigenous win victory over lands
Peru’s Congress voted overwhelmingly to revoke two decrees that indigenous groups had said would result in the exploitation of their native lands for oil drilling, mining and logging. The 82-14 vote on Thursday with no abstentions came after five hours of intense debate. “Today is a historic day,” said Daysi Zapata, vice president of the Interethnic Association for Development of the Peruvian Jungle, in a statement on the group’s Web site
Iran 101: Understanding the unrest
For almost a week, tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in daily protests — handkerchiefs shielding their faces from the pungency of tear gas, fists punching the air, and chants of "Down with the dictator" echoing against buildings. The massive outpouring is a result of a disputed presidential election that the protesters think coronated the incumbent hard-liner, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over their candidate, Mir Hossain Moussavi
Sen. John Ensign: "I Had An Affair"
The news blindsided official Washington: Sen. John Ensign, a well-known social conservative and family-values advocate, admitted on June 16 to an eight-month extramarital affair with a married campaign aide. The Nevada Republican’s sober confession, read before a pack of reporters in Las Vegas, doubtlessly dashed the hopes of many in the party who considered Ensign an emerging national leader
Moussavi calls for day of mourning in Tehran’s streets
Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi planned to turn Tehran into a sea of black Thursday when thousands of them march, dressed in dark clothes, to mourn comrades killed or wounded while calling for a new presidential election. Demonstrators expected to start their rallies from mosques across the Iranian capital, converging in a city square Thursday afternoon, for what is expected to be one of the largest protests since last Friday’s disputed election
U.S. Shoots for the Moon, This Time to Stay
On Agenda, Gays Ask, But Obama’s Not Telling
On January 9, the President-elect’s spokesman Robert Gibbs gave a rare one-word answer. Asked if Barack Obama would “get rid” of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits gays from serving openly, Gibbs replied firmly, “Yes.” Ever since, the relationship between the President and his gay and lesbian supporters has only gotten more complicated. Soldiers continue to be discharged from the military for being openly gay, and activists have voiced increasing concern over the administration’s lack of action on other key issues.
10 Days in Tehran: What I Saw At the Iranian Revolution
A few days before the Iranian election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held a big rally at the Mosallah Mosque — said to be the world’s largest, if it is ever completed — in central Tehran. It was not very well organized. About 20,000 supporters of the President were inside the building, being entertained by a series of TV stars, athletes and religious singers
Iranian-Americans say history is at hand
Some Iranian-Americans, watching the post-election unrest in Iran, say the tug-of-war between the people and their hardline government has come to a head after three decades. “I am absolutely convinced that what we are witnessing is a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic,” said Dr. Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City.