Iranian Authorities Barred International Journalists From Reporting on The Streets

Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.
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Iran Body Of Clerics Declare Elections To Be Fair

A body of 12 clerics declared Iran's disputed presidential vote valid and free of major fraud, paving the way for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be sworn in next month despite claims of vote manipulation that sparked weeks of massive protest.
The Guardian Council, an electoral authority the opposition accuses of favoring Ahmadinejad, said Monday that it had found only "slight irregularities" after randomly selecting and recounting 10 percent of nearly 40 million ballots.
From today on, the file on the presidential election has been closed," Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said on state-run Press TV.
Opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has said Ahmadinejad stole re-election through fraud and demanded a new election. Western analysts have described Ahmadinejad's roughly 2-1 margin of victory as suspicious and improbable.
Conservative Ayatollah Ahmed Jannati, who heads the Guardian Council, said that "meticulous and comprehensive examination" revealed only "slight irregularities that are common to any election and needless of attention," according to the state TV channel IRIB.
The decision ruling out the possibility of a new vote was expected after the country's supreme leader endorsed the vote on June 19. The government had delayed a formal declaration as Mousavi supporters flooded in the streets in protests that were put down through a show of force by riot police and pro-government militiamen.
Mousavi has made few public appearances since then and said he would seek official approval for rallies.
The cleric-led government has said Ahmadinejad will be sworn in for a second term as early as July 26.

Women Move To Forefront Of Iran Opposition Movement

For years, women's defiance in Iran came in carefully planned flashes of hair under their head scarves, in brightly painted fingernails, and in trendy clothing that could be glimpsed under bulky coats and cloaks.
But these small acts of rebellion against the theocratic government have been quickly eclipsed in the wake of the disputed June 12 presidential elections. In their place came images of Iranian women marching alongside men, of their scuffles with burly militiamen, of the sobering footage of a young woman named Neda, blood pouring from her mouth and nose minutes after she was fatally shot.
In a part of the Muslim world where women are often repressed, these images have catapulted female demonstrators to the forefront of Iran's opposition movement.
It is a role, say Iranian women and experts, that few seem willing to give up, and one that is likely to present even greater challenges to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hard-line government in the wake of the recent violence and protests.
"Iranian women are very powerful, and they want their freedom," said one woman in Tehran who said she had been taking part in the protests.
Like all women in Iran interviewed for this story, she did not want to be named, fearing government retribution. But, she said, "they're really, really repressed, and they need to talk about it."
The election seemed to open the floodgates for airing that sense of frustration.
Assertions by Ahmadinejad's chief rival for the presidency, Mir Hossein Mousavi, that the election was riddled with fraud were the catalyst for days of protest. The government's harsh response - evidenced in hundreds of arrests, the deaths of more than a dozen demonstrators, clampdowns on the media, the refusal of Iran's theocratic leaders to entertain the possibility of a recount - fueled popular discontent across wide swaths of the population.
But there is an extra layer of resentment and anger among many of Iran's 35 million women. Many fear that a second term for a man first elected in 2005 in part on a platform of restoring "Islamic values" will only prove worse than the first.
"The root of the current unrest is the people's dissatisfaction and frustration at their plight going back before the election," said Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. "Because women are the most dissatisfied people in society, that is why their presence is more prominent."

Iran Arrests Foreign Nationals

Iranian authorities said Wednesday they have arrested several foreign nationals, some with British passports, in connection with the country's post-election unrest.

Hard-line Iranian students mock British, U.S. and Israeli flags outside the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday.

Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ezhei told reporters that some with links to the West and Israel had planned bombings ahead of the June 12 presidential election, the government-funded Press TV reported Wednesday.
"England is among the countries that fan the flames with their heavy propaganda, which is against all diplomatic norms," the intelligence minister was quoted in the semi-official Fars news agency. "And the BBC Farsi has also played a major role. Also, a number of people carrying British passports have played a role in the recent disturbances."
The British Foreign Office said it was looking into the allegations.
"We have seen reports of the arrest of British nationals in Iran," the Foreign Office said. "Consular colleagues and the embassy in Tehran are making enquiries."
The Iranian government has long blamed foreign countries, especially Britain, for meddling in its affairs but has not offered up proof.
Tehran said Wednesday it temporarily was recalling its ambassador from London, another move in escalating tit-for-tat gestures between the two governments.

Press TV said Wednesday that police have identified a building in central Tehran that was being used as a "headquarters" to foment post-election unrest.
The television station, citing unnamed sources, said the building was used by campaign staffers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi. Evidence indicated that "foreign elements" were behind the planning, Press TV said.
While the government stepped up its allegations against foreign nations, Tehran residents waited Wednesday to see whether a planned massive peaceful demonstration panned out.
Demonstrators who have taken to the streets in the capital city and elsewhere were expected to gather at a square near the parliament building Wednesday afternoon, according to hints posted on social networking sites.

Iranian Soccer Players With Green Wristbands Punished

The Guardian’s Web site revealed that several of the Iranian soccer players who wore green wristbands during the national team’s recent match in South Korea have been punished:
Their gesture attracted worldwide comment and drew the attention of football fans to Iran’s political turmoil. Now the country’s authorities have taken revenge by imposing life bans on players who sported green wristbands in a recent World Cup match in protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.
According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka’abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been “retired” from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday’s match against South Korea in Seoul.
They were among six players who took to the field wearing wristbands in the colour of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, which has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the 12 June election was stolen.
Most of the players obeyed instructions to remove the armwear at half-time, but Mahdavikia wore his green captain’s armband for the entire match. The four are also said to have been banned from giving media interviews.