* * Journalist and regime opposition activist, Heshmat Tabarzadi (photo) arrested
* * Hospitals throughout Iran filled with wounded. There are also reports by hospital staff and specifically the Imam Khomeini hospital in Tehran that corpses are being removed by order of the public prosecutor’s office. Staff have been threatened that any report of such incidents would lead be met with severity.
* * Three of Mousavis colleagues and close associates arrested:
- Forouzandeh, head of Mousavis headquarters
- Mohammad Bagherian, Mousavis senior advisor
- Ghorban Behzadian-Nejad, Mousavis campaign director
* * Haleh Sahabi (photo), daughter of , is among those arrested. Haleh is a renowned writer, Qoran scholar, political and women’s rights activist who has been in the forefront of the feminist school had been arrested earlier this summer during the post-election protests and was released on bail on August 17th. Haleh was rearrested in front of her house on Monday by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and her whereabouts is as of yet unknown.
* * Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi’s sister, 47-year-old Nushin Ebadi arrested and her belonging, including a computer were confiscated.
* * Journalist and regime opposition activist, (photo) arrested
* * : Praised the courage of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s nephew’s nephew and conveyed his condolences to the Mousavi family. Dast-Ghayb called for all the members of the clergy and especially the Maraaje’ (plural ) to break their silence to free all prisoners, and confront all the corruption, illegal actions and stop making excuses in protecting the regime.
* * Two of the Mothers for Peace were also arrested. Parvin Fahimi (photo), i’s mother was taken from her home at 4 a.m. when the regime’s agents stormed her house, arresting her, her son and a number of the other members of the mothers solidarity group that was formed following the summer protests in Iran.There is also no knowledge of her son’s whereabouts. The wave of arrests of activists and opposition members continues.
* * Green Wave Movement (Jaras) reports: The Islamic regime’s supreme security council has concluded that former-President Mohammad Khatami will not be arrested due to his international renown. Following the attack by the Basij on the eve of Tasua, a meeting of the heads of the revolutionary guards, authorities from the ministry of intelligence and security and Khamenei’s representatives took place in order to decide whether or not to arrest Khatami, Karubi and Mousavi. The regime’s supreme security council however opposed any such move due to possible international repercussions. Reportedly, Khatami however is going to be charged with ‘historical revisionism’ for his account of , as well as insulting ‘Islamic canons’. His case will be presided over by the special court of clergy and will be scheduled shortly.
* * Green Wave Movement (Jaras): In clashes that took place in the Hossein-Abad area of, Isfahan, 400 to 500 people were arrested and transferred to the regional prison. Many continue to be detained; some of the arrested include Habib Noori, ’s brother and two of his nephews. Reza Noori, his son and Mehdi Noori, his nephew were also among the detainees.
I am reporting from Isfahan. Yesterday the city of Isfahan was like a military base and cars were honking their horns. The roads leading to Hossein-Abad were closed. The government-paid thugs and guards maneuvered their way through the city to create an atmosphere of terror. We need to save all the arrested protesters. We should hold memorials for the martyrs of Tehran, Tabriz, and Najaf-Abad. We should not leave people of Hossein-Abad alone. Iranians living abroad, I beg you to voice our cries to the world. The ruthless regime is massacring people. Death to the filthy and dishonoured Khamenei. We have no free media here.
- Translated by Saam Irani
Iran News Agency Correspondent:
The first movements on the mourning day of Ashoora started on Bistoon Street by the crossroads of Sardar Jangal. After fire was set to tents (a ceremonial mourning action) people started shouting protest slogans. The MC for the event who witnessed the turbulence annulled noon prayer for Ashoura and asked the police to direct people away. That is how the people were dispersed.
On the evening of Ashoura, a number of protesters gathered in Motahari Street. Police previously stopped religious groups from getting there and they moved toward Danaye Ali and other routes. People gathered but were not chanting slogans. After a few minutes Basijis appeared with their motorcycles. After a minor attack, the people started chanting slogans.
Minor clashes occured between people and Basiji motorcyclists. This is when the Special Unit of Revolutionary Guards stepped in and began to beat people. Since a large number of people had gathered on Bistoon and Danaye Ali Streets, the protesters were soon dispersed. Clashes started between people and their oppressors. In one of the clashes, people succeeded to take back three of the arrested people away from the oppressive forces.
- Arash Azizi, Persian2English
Iran News Agency – December 28, 2009-12-28
Saturday night at 11:00 pm, in one of the Hosseynis in Yazd, despite the heavy atmosphere of oppression, people torn down a large picture of Khamenei. Since the regime was unable to replace the picture, they were forced to put up the torn picture. The situation in Yazd was turbulent. Police goons attacked people with knives several times.
- Arash Azizi, Persian2English
- Hundreds Detained Transferred to Evin Prison
550 of those arrested last night were transferred to Evin Prison.
Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) new agency reported: After clashes yesterday in Iran’s capital, many arrested protesters were transferred to Evin Prison.
According to human rights activists inside Iran, since last night, 550 people detained were transfered to the main quarantine area: number 7, section 240, and section 209.
At the time this report was written, many new prisoners were transfered to Evin prison. It is likely that by the end of the day, the number would increase to a thousand. Last night, prison authorities were surprised by the number of prison detainees and were forced to transfer food supplies from different sections of the prison in order to accommodate newcomers.
Yesterday, Mr. Radan, commander of the police force, announced the arrest of 300 people.
- Translation by Arash Irantalab
* * Parleman News reported that the security forces claimed that only eight people lost their lives during the Sunday clashes in Tehran. The names of eight of the individuals who were killed are as follows:
- Mehdi Farhadi-Rod, 34
- Mohammad-Ali Raasekhinia, 40
- Amir Arshadi, 30
- Shahram Faradji, 30
- Seyyed Ali Mousavi-Habibi 42
- Jahan-Bakht Pazooki, 50
- Name unknown, 31 (the regimes security forces claimed that this individual was killed due to knife wounds from plain clothes agents and his name is as of yet unknown!)
- Unknown woman, 43 (this woman was tossed over a bridge by plain clothes agents of the regime)
* * Saham News reports: On Tuesday morning, December 29th, Mehdi Karubi and his family attended the mourning observances for Imam Hossein held at the Ayatollah Ghaffari Mosque, located in the Tehran’eh No area. As Karubi and family exited the mosque and began to drive out of the street when a number of plain clothes agents confronted them, attacking the vehicle and breaking the windshield. The agents were then confronted by the outrage of supporters and people of the area, forcing them to flee. On Monday, Karubi called the plain clothes agents thugs and said that he is bewildered at how the regime could act so outrageously toward the protesters during Ashura, a holy time of mourning.
* * According to the regime-run media outlet, Islamic Republic News Agency claims that in fact the reason for the disappearance of Mousavi’s nephew’s body from the hospital is that he was being taken for autopsy to the Kahrizak medical examiner by agents of the regime in order to complete the police report for further and proper investigation of this ’suspicious’ incident.
According to eyewitnesses, Seyyed Ali Mousavi-Habibi was in fact assassinated by unknown plain clothes agents in a patrol car containing five passengers who had followed the deceased from the time he exited his house to head toward the protests. In an attempt to get as close as possible to the Mousavi-Habibi, the vehicle is said to have hit several pedestrians severely injuring them; they did however manage to get close enough to shoot him directly in the chest area. The vehicle then sped away. Reportedly the deceased had been receiving phone calls threatening his life.
* * Iranian cartoonist, Nikahang Kosar drew the below cartoon after Obama’s condemnation today:
[...] Planet Iran reported tonight that the regime has rounded up and arrested several reporters, women’s activists, and freedom activists today. [...]