Iran in Crisis - A-O Coverage
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A-O Report Special Coverage
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IRAN IN CRISIS
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(A-O Newswire) -- The Iranian leadership remains locked in an internal power struggle between key leaders within both the political and clerical hierarchies.
The crisis was triggered by current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who backed the incumbent in his efforts to retain power by rigging the election. As we reported in the last edition of the A-O Intelligence Digest, reports surfaced that the sitting President’s bureaucrats had pre-stuffed ballot boxes filled with fraudulent votes and those boxes were switched during transit from polling stations to official count locations. In this manner, Ahmadinejad was able to boost his vote count ten-fold and claim a landslide victory with nearly 65% of the vote.
Sources indicated that the President’s bureaucrats who were in charge of the election, had millions of extra ballots printed by a secondary printer located outside of Iran within a Persian Gulf nation. At the end of the voting period, the ballot boxes were then switched, ensuring the continuity of the Supreme Ayatollah’s foreign policies as well as preventing cultural reforms that would give women additional liberty in Iran.
The leadership split is not so much about reform as it is a belief that Ahmadinejad is incompetent and incapable of managing the nation’s affairs. The key leaders rebelling against the Supreme leader include some notable figures in the original revolution of 30 years ago.
The actual election winner was Mir Houssein Mousavi one of the linchpins in the revolution and a former Prime Minister who is not considered much of a reformer. There were key leaders above him providing support including former President and now Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was elevated to the top clerical ranks in anticipation of succeeding the Supreme Ayatollah upon his eventual death.
Another key supporter is former President Khatami, as well as much of the Parliament, including Parliamentary leader, Ali Larijani. Additional clerical support from the Supreme Council has created a real struggle for power.
During the past week, the Iranian public took to the streets in protest and until Saturday, both sides exhibited remarkable restraint, though it is hard to know much as the Iranian government has clamped down on all forms of electronic communication and forbidden international news outlets from properly covering the protests and censoring outgoing reports.
On Friday, the Supreme Ayatollah issued a warning that further public demonstrations and protests were unlawful and would be dealt with according to Iranian laws. The Supreme leader’s warning had the effect of throwing down a gauntlet and setting the stage for a full-scale clash that could potentially lead to civil war.
The opposition, led by candidate Mousavi staged more demonstrations on Saturday, although attendance was far less due to disruptions by police and militia forces which prevented many Iranians from gaining access to areas where the protests were to be staged.
Government helicopters poured some sort of liquid substance that caused a burning sensation on protestors. Some news outlets in the US speculated the liquid may have been some form of acid or acid-like substance.
During the nights, militia forces conducted raids on the homes of protestors and arrested known organizers, including the entire family of former President Khatami as well as members of Mousavi’s staff and family. It was reported that even members of Ayatollah Rafasanjani’s family were arrested.
At the same time, reports surfaced, indicating that much of the Revolutionary Guards members refused to participate in any intervention. Much of the Tehran police force refused to conduct arrests and stood idle, intervening only in instances of violence.
Most analysts and Iranian ex-patriots are concluding that Iran will never be the same as before the elections. The public is becoming very upset that their right to vote in fair elections has been violated. Such consternation mixed with the economic collapse of Iran’s economy has created a deep seated anger against the established leadership.
A captured, Iranian government election document was presented to the European Parliament by two Iranian film makers who claimed the document was smuggled out of Iran. The document was an election statement signed by the Interior minister in charge of the elections who stated that actual election vote totals.
According to the document, the incumbent president garnered only about 12% of the vote and was in last place. The winner was challenger Mousavi who reportedly received more than 50% of the vote.
The authenticity of the document has been challenged, but it has further fueled anger within the Iranian population.
The Iranian militia, consisting of members very loyal to President Ahmadinejad have been the primary instigators of violence and terror but much of their activity has come under the cover of darkness as they have terrorized suspected protestors and leaders of the competing electoral candidates and some opposing clerics.
The situation has placed President Obama in an awkward and delicate position. The White House fears making any comments that would impede the potential for future diplomatic dialogue and negotiations for Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The White House also fears that stating any substantial support for the protestors might actually do more harm to the protestors than remaining quiet.
In the end, President Obama was forced on Saturday to speak out, warning Iran’s leaders that the Iranian people had a fundamental right to free speech and cautioned the leaders that the world was watching to see whether or not the Iranian regime would violate the fundamentals of human rights.
His words did seem to encourage protestors on Saturday as the protests turned violent. Reports are murky as the international news media is hamstrung in collecting accurate accounts. According to internet tools such as Twitter, it seems that perhaps dozens of Iranian protestors were murdered by government forces on Saturday. Iran’s official news agency placed the number killed at 10.
Reports surfaced that many injured protestors were later arrested at local hospitals where they sought treatment for their injuries. The militia appears to be the forces conducting the arrests.
Winning candidate Mousavi, also declared that he was offering himself up as a ‘martyr’ and ready to die for the cause. He also warned that if he was arrested or killed that Iranians should stage ongoing strikes until the government relented and ordered a new election.
This set the stage for Sunday and renewed violence but Sunday morning passed with relative calm and quiet. Reports began to surface at midday that suggested protests might be resumed later in the day.
At this point, it remains impossible to know just how this crisis will turn out. Various TV news channels who interview various experts obtain different opinions on the outcome, but again, it does appear that Iran will never quite be the same as it was before the elections. Even so, there is little likelihood that Iran will halt its nuclear weapons program, unless the economy and the government totally collapses into chaos and governmental authority collapses with no one able to seize the reigns of power. Under such a scenario, the nation would become engulfed in a civil war that could lead to the break up of that nation.
We’ll be posting further analysis of the Iranian situation in our private website section for A-O donors, as part of the next weekly edition of our “A-O Intelligence Digest.” We’ll look more closely at the potential for civil war and the potential impact it could have on Biblical Prophecy fulfillment.
Our next A-O Intelligence Digest will also be looking at disturbing new developments involving North Korea’s latest challenges including a potential missile launch towards Hawaii and a North Korean freighter thought to be transporting missile parts and nuclear materials bound for Iran. If you’re not already a donor with a username and password to the donor section and the A-O Intelligence Digest, you can easily become a donor and gain access to our special coverage. Just click THIS LINK for details on how to donate online and or by snail mail.
We will continue to monitor the Iranian crisis and post updates here in the public sector of The A-O Report as needed, should very significant and urgent developments warrant such coverage.
NY Times Blog for constant updates on Iran
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