Kaveh Ghoreishi
Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaiee, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, resigned his post in the first week of April and was replaced by Hamid Baghaiee, a close confidant of President Ahmadinejad and a Mashaiee protégé. Many observers have longed believed that Mashaiee was Ahmadinejad’s ideal choice to run for president in 2013. Some have argued that Mashaiee’s resignation (or perhaps his removal) from the post is a clear sign that President Ahmadinejad’s close friend and ally is losing his fight with his powerful conservative critics. more»
Editor’s note: Ali is a student activist at Amir Kabir University in Tehran. Hamid is a former student at a provincial university. They spoke to Arash Aramesh of InsideIRAN.org about the situation in Iran’s universities. more»
Ashkan Parsa
The Iranian parliament is discussing the details of a bill which will set the stage for dissolving many non-governmental organizations and civil society institutions.
According to this piece of legislation, a committee comprised of representatives from security and propaganda agencies, such as the Ministry of Intelligence, the Organization of Islamic Propaganda, the Basij, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps will be responsible for monitoring and supervising civil society institutions and their activities. more»
Ali-Akbar Moussavi-Khoeini is a former member of the Iranian parliament and a senior figure in the opposition Green Movement. As member of the parliament, Moussavi led an investigation into secret prisons and safe houses run by the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence. He spoke to Arash Aramesh of InsideIRAN about the recent arrests of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi. more»
Ashkan Parsa
Editor’s Note: The following report is base upon eyewitness accounts insideIran.
Senior opposition leaders in Iran are under house arrest. Therefore, their supporters are experimenting with new methods to fight the government. The Feb. 20 demonstration – the second to inspire tens of thousands of Iranians back to the streets in more than a year — was a rare act of disobedience by the opposition movement without the leadership from 2009. Communications with Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi was impossible. more»