News

This was an obvious Hoax.

Despite the wishful thinking of a number of political pundits, the regime at the very highest end, namely Khamenei, Ahmadinezhad, rafsanjani are very much united on matters of long term strategy and policy  and on single point of saving the islamic republic at any cost whatsoever. 

This "wait till regime implodes" doctrine is a nonsense spread I suspect by regime itself

The future popular uprising against the regime should rely first on paralyzing the regime through widespread industrial strikes and acts of civil disobedience, and at the later, final stage on the military front it should relay on army soldiers and officers who will abnadon the regime and join the people's ranks, against the armed forces of the regime (bassij/ sepah).   

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

how could his stinky

son be involved??

doesn't sound right to me.....

althought I'm hopeful he will be sent to hell to join khomeini soon :) 

A Clever "Visibility Only" Form of Election Day Protest

1)  WEAR GREEN ALL DAY AND TURN OUT IN THE MILLIONS.  Purpose: To send fellow Iranians and the world a much needed message. 

2) BE VISIBLE.  Stay outside as long as polls remain open but avoid
polling places (so you won't be counted as "turnout." Avoid marches,
demonstrations or crowds that will draw Klamenei's club-wielding thugs. 

3) DO NOT VOTE.  Your vote will be stolen as usual.  This time it will
be  "reassigned" to the hopeless mullah faction for reasons given
below.  (Exception: If Khoumeini's grandson were to run on a new
constitution platform in 2013. Let 'em try stealing that one)

4) DON'T BE CONNED BY THE SAME OLD TRICKS ONCE AGAIN.As elections
approach the regime may offer last minute concessions on free speech and
press, released prisoners, smiley faced social police taking it easy.
Such rights are ALWAYS snatched away once your usefulness has been
exploited. 

PRE-ELECTION DEVELOPMENTS:

--All three top reform leaders have recently been approached by
Khamenei's thugs trying to sucker human rights supporters into voting in a phony election.  A low turnout isn't all the mullahs fear as we see next.

--If reformers stay home, Ahmadinejad's well
organized and well-bribed faction wins handily. Massive cheating or pre-election vetting is the only way the Mullahs can win this time, they are so intensely unpopular.  That will likely set off the final explosion.  No one will cry for the detested mullahs in that case--especially those who want personal and political freedoms possible only with real democracy.

LATEST PRE-ELECTION DEVELOPMENTS(source: Enduring America)

Ali Mohammad Gharibani, the head of the Coordination Council of the Reformist Front, has said that, that in the “absence of any possibility for the reformists to inform and campaign,” the reformists will not present a list of candidates or endorse any candidates in March's Parliamentary elections.

The council's announcement asserted, "After months of anticipation
and struggle to open the political arena to fair elections and to
provide a transparent election process, the situation is in effect
becoming more and more restrictive.”

In addition to the standard vetting of candidates by the Guardian
Council, the regime has suspended and suppressed major reformist groups
such as the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the Mojahedin of the
Islamic Revolution, and Etemade Melli.

Huge news of the day

I don't know whether any major news organization reported this but my American friend was asking me about this. Thanks for posting.

A Clever "Visibility Only" Form of Election Day Protest

1)  WEAR GREEN ALL DAY AND TURN OUT IN THE MILLIONS.  Purpose: To send fellow Iranians and the world a much needed message. 

2) BE VISIBLE.  Stay outside as long as polls remain open but avoid
polling places (so you won't be counted as "turnout." Avoid marches,
demonstrations or crowds that will draw Klamenei's club-wielding thugs. 

3) DO NOT VOTE.  Your vote will be stolen as usual.  This time it will
be  "reassigned" to the hopeless mullah faction for reasons given
below.  (Exception: If Khoumeini's grandson were to run on a new
constitution platform in 2013. Let 'em try stealing that one)

4) DON'T BE CONNED BY THE SAME OLD TRICKS ONCE AGAIN.As elections
approach the regime may offer last minute concessions on free speech and
press, released prisoners, smiley faced social police taking it easy.
Such rights are ALWAYS snatched away once your usefulness has been
exploited. 

PRE-ELECTION DEVELOPMENTS:

--All three top reform leaders have recently been approached by
Khamenei's thugs trying to sucker human rights supporters into voting in a phony election.  A low turnout isn't all the mullahs fear as we see next.

--If reformers stay home, Ahmadinejad's well
organized and well-bribed faction wins handily. Massive cheating or pre-election vetting is the only way the Mullahs can win this time, they are so intensely unpopular.  That will likely set off the final explosion.  No one will cry for the detested mullahs in that case--especially those who want personal and political freedoms possible only with real democracy.

LATEST PRE-ELECTION DEVELOPMENTS(source: Enduring America)

Ali Mohammad Gharibani, the head of the Coordination Council of the Reformist Front, has said that, that in the “absence of any possibility for the reformists to inform and campaign,” the reformists will not present a list of candidates or endorse any candidates in March's Parliamentary elections.

The council's announcement asserted, "After months of anticipation
and struggle to open the political arena to fair elections and to
provide a transparent election process, the situation is in effect
becoming more and more restrictive.”

In addition to the standard vetting of candidates by the Guardian
Council, the regime has suspended and suppressed major reformist groups
such as the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the Mojahedin of the
Islamic Revolution, and Etemade Melli.

......

Wow! It sounds like a mutiny!

Thank you for posting!

Did the Jerusalem Post lie about Al-Arabiya?

I've been checking Al-Arabiya's site.   It's not among the first page headlines.   So was the story withdrawn or did it never appear? 

I've contacted the Washington Post to look into the claim

I hope they do.  So far as I'm aware, no major newspaper had carried the story or attempted to rebut it as rumor at present. 

Post investigators can be quite good.  They helped being down Nixon in the Watergate scandal.

Al Arabiya's source

The original story refers to an unidentified source.    I suspect Al Arabioya isn't crazy enough to make such a story up out of thin air.  Hence there probably was a source, reliable or not? 

Al-Arabiya, whose reporting can be suspect at times, would rely on no source at all in claiming to break such a sensational story.  Would they trust just anyone?  Or were they lied to? 

I suspect the source was real and Al Arabiya apparently believes the source.  In any case prominent arrests of this sort would have had to be made very, very recently otherwise, they couldn't easily be concealed for long.  The investigation of the explosion would have taken some time and, once such conclusions were reached, so would subsequent arrests.  

One thing I do recall is the original oddball explanations for the explosion which suggests something special to cover up, such as nuclear-related targets.  Now if it can be confirmed that a visit by the SL was scheduled....?  He does make occasional tours.

One other possibility

re: The regime's enemies put out the story to increase divisions and suspicions.

Should no arrests occur, especially in Mojtaba's case, I asked what would be the value of spreading such a rumor?

Rethinking that, just putting the regime in a position where it must deny the report aggravates existing divisions.   If only some arrests are actually made and Mojtaba is not included (arrests for negligence in allowing the explosion) the regime's denials--even if true--lose a bit of potency in a country where conspiracy theories are the big thing.

Relatives turning on relatives isn't unusual in the Islamic Republic.  One of Ahmadinejad's fiercest critics is his own brother.   Khamenei has a brother who supposedly disagrees with the rigged election and subsequent crackdown.  During an earlier period of mass elections many parents accused their children and turned them in to the regime for execution.