A Year Later:

Suppression Continues in Iran

Iran Human Rights Documentation

Center

June 12, 2010

 Contents

Preface 1

A Year Later: Suppression Continues in Iran 3

Suppression of Demonstrations 4

Arrests and Detentions 12

Responsible Leaders 17
 Preface 1

Preface

Last July, on the symbolically important 40th day of mourning for the murdered Neda Agha-Soltan, Maryam
Sabri was arrested in Tehran. The 21-year-old girl had been chanting slogans with other peaceful protestors
when she and her friends were attacked by dozens of plainclothes Revolutionary Guardsmen and Basij
irregulars.

Maryam, an employee at a boating company, was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken by van with five or six
others to an unknown detention center. There, she was left by herself in a dark closet-like cell, where she
had just enough room to sit with her legs stretched out.

Maryam was periodically interrogated and beaten by ski-mask-wearing guards. The first three times she
was interrogated, she faced cursing and beatings, but she refused to cooperate fully with the interrogators.

During the fourth interrogation session, Maryam was raped.

She was raped again during the next session, but by a different interrogator. The third time she was raped,
she refused to scream or beg.

The fourth time Maryam was raped, her interrogator took off her blindfold so she could see his face.

On August 14, more than two weeks after her abduction, Maryams captors dropped her off around
dusk near a park. She was instructed to infiltrate and inform on other demonstrators, and later received
threatening phone calls urging her to cooperate. Unwilling to endure any more trauma at the hands of her
own government, she fled over the border to Turkey.

Maryams experience is one of dozens recounted in Iran Human Rights documentation Centers report on
the Iranian regimes human rights violations following the June 12, 2009 presidential election. The report,
Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran, was published in February.
However, even now, a year after the disputed election, the Islamic Republics suppression of dissent
continues unabated.

The fundamental human rights of Iranians to freedoms of expression and association, and to be free from
arbitrary arrest and detention as well as torture - continue to be violated with impunity. At least 10 Iranians
have been executed for political reasons, countless remain in prison, and hundreds have been forced to flee
the country out of fear for their lives and/or indefinite detention, interrogation and torture.

The responsibility for this brutal crackdown begins at the top of the Iranian regime and flows down through
the ranks of the police, the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij, the prison system and the Judiciary. While it is
impossible at this point to identify all those responsible, the list includes the following leaders:

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari
Ayatollah Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani
Mahmoud Ahmedinajad
Saeed Mortazavi
2 Preface

Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi
Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb
Mohammad Reza Naqdi
Hojjatoleslam Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei
Hojjatoleslam Heydar Moslehi
Sadeq Mahsouli
Mostafa Mohammad Najjar
Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam
Brigadier General Azizollah Rajabzadeh
Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Radan
Hossein Shariatmadari
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati

In commemoration of the one year anniversary of this ongoing human rights crisis, IHRDC issues this short
report on the suppression of dissent in the days, weeks and months following the election, including short
biographies of eighteen Iranian leaders responsible for the suppression of dissent in violation of Iranian and
international law.
 A Year Later: Suppression Continues in Iran 3

A Year Later: Suppression Continues in Iran

One year ago, on June 13, 2009, demonstrations erupted in cities across the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Demonstrators protested what they viewed as widespread fraud in the presidential election held the previous
day. Calls of Where is my vote? predominated.

The Guardian Council had permitted only four men to campaign: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent;
Mohsen Rezai, a former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah), considered a conservative;
Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister of Iran during the war with Iraq, considered a reformist; and
Mehdi Karroubi, a reformist former speaker of the Majlis, the Iranian parliament.

Mousavi declared himself the winner late on Election Day. Irans Election Commission Chief, Kamran
Daneshjoo, immediately announced that Ahmadinejad had won 62% of the vote. The regime also
responded by cutting off electronic communication avenues within Iran and with the outside world. As the
week progressed, cell phone and internet services were regularly shut down and slowed. On June 16, the
authorities announced that foreign journalists were forbidden from reporting from the streets, and that their
visas would not be renewed. Hundreds of domestic journalists and members of the press were arrested and
intimidated.

Despite these efforts at shutting down communication, demonstrations continued throughout the country
on an almost daily basis through June. In response, the government confirmed that Ahmadinejad had won
and unleashed the Sepah and the Basij upon the crowds. As the crowds became larger and persisted in
exercising their right to peaceful assembly, the security forces became increasingly violent. Demonstrators
were attacked, beaten and shot in the streets. Many were killed. Thousands were arbitrarily arrested the
Judiciary reported that 4,000 people were arrested in the initial weeks.

Throughout the summer and continuing into the winter, demonstrators flooded the streets on remembrance
days, and the security forces continued to brutally suppress all expressions of dissent. Objection to an
allegedly fraudulent election gradually developed into broader expressions of dissatisfaction with the
government. Over the course of a few months, the protests became less focused on the election and more
on the general repressive nature of the regime.

In the months after the election, the Iranian regime also arrested people who were not demonstrating
but whom the government charged with fomenting a velvet revolution. The exact number of arrests
remains unknown, but circumstantial evidence indicates that hundreds were arrested and detained merely
for exercising their rights of speech and association. The arrests captured broad segments of civil society,
including leaders and members of political opposition and minority groups, members of the political
establishment, lawyers, students and academics. The arrests continue.

Many arrestees were threatened but released after a few days. However, many others faced torture, rape
and even death while in custody. Detainees were, and continue to be, subject to solitary confinement,
lengthy interrogations, beatings, rape and other forms of torture. Many were not permitted contact with
their families or lawyers, and many were coerced into providing public confessions.
4 Suppression of Demonstrations

Suppression of Demonstrations
An estimated 10,000 protesters thronged the streets of Tehran on June 13. The rallies attracted men and
women of all ages, from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, calling for nullification or a recount.
The protests in Tehran reportedly began in Vanak Square, but groups of demonstrators took different routes
through the city. Demonstrators chanted death to the dictator, death to the coup dtat, called for a new
election, and demanded that Ahmadinejad resign.

Many demonstrators took to the streets to defend their votes. The precarious state of the economy, the high
voter turnout, and suspicions of fraud made Ahmadinejads winand especially his margin of victory
very suspect.

Both Mousavi and Karroubi published statements demanding nullification of the election, and urged the
population to remain calm. They did not attend the demonstrations on June 13. The Interior Minister, Sadeq
Mahsouli, announced that the spontaneous demonstrations were illegal, thereby justifying the arrest and
prosecution of protestors.

The Iranian authorities responded by sending in Basij and other security forces to break up the demonstrations.
By nightfall, protestors had set fire to trash cans, motorcycles and even buses while members of the Basij
attacked the crowds with belts, batons, cables and rubber hoses. Clad in black body armor and riding
motorcycles, the Basij randomly damaged private property and stole from demonstrators. There are reports
that they confiscated cell phones and photographic equipment, and at least one Basij stole sunglasses from
demonstrators.

On the night of June 13, people began shouting God is great from their rooftops at night, a strategy used
during the 1979 revolution against the Shah.

The demonstrations continued into June 14 in many of Irans larger cities. The stepped-up security during the
day on June 14 substantially reduced the number of protestors on the streets. However, by nightfall people
converged on Vanak Square in Tehran and again faced Basij that inflicted bloody wounds and whipped
protestors with chains. Security forces chased protestors into homes and followed student demonstrators
into the university dormitories.

Many students were beaten and arrested outside of the main gate to the University of Tehran. Those in
the dorms believed that the university campus provided a sanctuary because after a violent crackdown on
student riots in 1999, Irans Supreme National Security Council had decreed that security forces were only
allowed to enter campus after receiving permission from the universitys board of trustees and dean.

On the night of June 14, security forces broke open gates and doors on the campus. Witnesses describe
vicious attacks by forces in riot gear who did not distinguish between students who had protested and those
who had not.

By the early morning of June 15, the authorities had arrested over 100 students under a cloud of tear gas
while beating and shooting them with pellet guns. A video reportedly taken by Iranian police and released
by the BBC in February 2010 supports these claims. The assailants were equipped with riot gear, including
shields and batons, and witnesses identified them as members of the Basij. Fatemeh Barati, Mobina
Ehterami, Mohsen Imani, Kasra Sharafi and Kambiz Shoai were reportedly beaten to death with batons
and electric shock prods. Their names were confirmed by Tahkim-e Vahdat, a politically active student and
alumni organization. Members of the organization were arrested before and after the election.
 Suppression of Demonstrations 5

In addition, Iman Namazi was shot that night during the raid on the dormitories in Tehran. Some bodies
of students who had been killed were reportedly buried by the night of June 15 without notification to
their families. Most of those students are thought to have died very early on the morning of June 15.
When families inquired as to the whereabouts of their loved ones remains, the police and other institutions
harassed and threatened them. Twenty days later, five students were still in the hospital.

Gunshots were heard in several other parts of Tehran as well. One witness recounted how security forces
riding motorcycles fired on demonstrators with high-caliber weapons: It wasnt like the films where there
is just a small holethe shooting was blowing off hands, limbs. It was terrible, terrible.

Attacks on universities were also reported from around the country. There were reports of security forces
and conservative militias, including the Basij and Ansari Hizbollah, storming universities and dorms, and
beating and arresting students in Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Babol, Mashhad and Zahedan. Security forces
stormed a library in Shiraz University, firing tear gas and beating students. A hundred students were arrested
and a staff member was assaulted. Tahkim-e Vahdat reported the deaths of two students in Shiraz. The
attack in Shiraz was so vicious that the next day the chancellor of the university, Mohammad Hadi Sadeqi,
resigned in protest. Killings at universities in Isfahan were also reported but remain unconfirmed.

The similarity of the attacks on the universities and their proximity in time appears to indicate that they
were planned and coordinated at a high level.

Mousavi and Karroubi applied for a permit for a rally at Azadi Square on June 15, and asked people to
stay calm. Their application was denied and the rally was officially canceled, but as the day progressed,
significant numbers of demonstrators filled the streets of Tehran and other larger Iranian cities. In Tehran,
protestors marched silently from Enqelab Square (Revolution Square) to Azadi Square (Freedom Square),
where an estimated hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of protestors demanded nullification of
the election and a recount.

Mousavi and Karroubi joined the demonstrators at Azadi Square. Mousavi, in his first public appearance
since the election, gave a speech demanding respect for the peoples votes.

During most of the day, the response of the security forces to the large number of street protestors appeared
to have been generally mild. In spite of an official ban on demonstrations, security forces were ordered to
observe the events and not attack demonstrators.

Protests were met with much greater resistance in other cities. In Ahvaz, a crowd of 2,000 demonstrators
was attacked by baton-wielding police officers. In Shiraz, security forces fired into the air and Fars Province
Police General Ali Moayeri authorized his officers to shoot at protestors and warned: From now on, we
will respond harshly.

Violence also broke out in Tehran as the sun began to set and the crowds thinned. The Sepah and the Basij
clashed with young demonstrators who refused to disperse. Witnesses report that the Basij forces tried to
provoke demonstrators, sometimes successfully, into taking violent action.

In one of the most publicized clashes, a security officer opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators outside
the Basij compound near Azadi Square. Video footage shows young men throwing rocks and a fire set
by protestors. However, the chaos and fear experienced by the demonstrators is palpable in the several
available videos of the incident. There is no evidence of systematic or coordinated action on the part of the
demonstrators, and, although some demonstrators are holding rocks, none are armed. Whether this incident
6 Suppression of Demonstrations

sparked the violence that night, or was simply one of the earliest and best documented, remains unclear. It
is clear, however, that shooting into crowds was considered acceptable by the security forces from the night
of June 15 onward.

At least eight people were killed in demonstrations in Tehran on June 15. Some were shot in streets close
to Azadi Square. Others died from head injuries suffered from beatings by baton-wielding security forces.

Basij were captured on video shooting into the crowds on the night of June 15. Naser Amirnejad was one
of the protestors shot by the Basij. Close by, Mehdi Karami and Massoud Khosravi were also shot to death.
Davoud Sadri was shot outside the Meqdad Basij station near Azadi Square. The 25-year-old electrician
was transferred to Rasoul Akram hospital, but died that day from injuries to his heart and spleen. His
death was not confirmed for weeks, during which time his family was given conflicting information from
authorities about how he died, who was responsible, and where his body was located.

Kianoosh Asa, a masters student in petroleum chemistry at the Iran University of Science and Technology,
is believed to have been shot on June 15. He disappeared that day and his whereabouts remained unknown
until June 24, when his family found his body at the medical examiners morgue. Months later, on National
Student Day (December 7), Asas brother, Kamran, was arrested as he tried to place a wreath and his
brothers picture on the university grounds where he had studied. He was released two months later but
again arrested on May 31, 2010. He is currently being held at an undisclosed location.

Confirmed deaths were also reported in Isfahan, Mashhad and Kermanshah. Near Shiraz Gate in Isfahan,
Hossein Akhtarzand suffered a terrible death at the hands of plainclothes security agents who chased him
and other protestors into a building complex filled with doctors offices. Akhtarzand climbed to the third
floor, where he was beaten. Eyewitnesses report that he was thrown from the third floor rooftop. Reportedly,
when representatives of the Intelligence Ministry delivered his body to his family, they claimed that he had
slipped and fallen during the arrest.

On June 16, the Guardian Council announced that the vote would be partially recounted. Mousavi urged
restraint in light of threats by the countrys police chief, General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, to quell any
unrest. Yet the demonstrations continued throughout the week.

On June 17, thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of Tehran for a fifth straight day. The next day,
demonstrators gathered in Imam Khomeini Square in Tehran in the late afternoon. Their numbers reached
into the hundreds of thousands, and covered the whole square and the surrounding streets. Dressed in green
or black, bearing black candles or black ribbons, demonstrators heeded the call of mourning for the dead,
but anticipated further clashes with the authorities.

Anticipating both the impact of the upcoming Friday Prayer and an extraordinary session called by the
Guardian Council for June 20 to consider allegations of vote rigging, the Association of Combatant Clerics
asked for a permit to hold a pro-Mousavi rally on June 20. Karroubis party, Etemad Melli, made a similar
request that day even though the editor of its news outlet, Mohammad Qoochani, had been arrested by
Intelligence Ministry agents.

On June 19, Morteza Tamaddon, Tehrans governor general, made it clear that no permission for opposition
rallies would be granted. In a sign of disrespect, neither Mousavi nor Karroubi attended the Friday Prayer
sermon by the Supreme Leader on June 19, or sent representatives to the Guardian Councils session on
June 20. Khameneis Friday Prayer sermon, delivered to tens of thousands of conservative supporters,
was a hardline message that was well received by the crowd but stunned much of the Iranian population.
Receiving what amounted to a green light from the Supreme Leader, security forces unleashed ferocious
 Suppression of Demonstrations 7

assaults on the demonstrating public the following day.

Thousands of protestors refused to remain home, and attended rallies in Tehran and around the country on
June 20. In Tehran, demonstrators tried to congregate in Enqelab Square and Azadi Square, but thousands
of police, Basij, militia and plainclothed officers blocked access to the squares and to the streets leading to
the squares.

About 3,000 protestors managed to gather inside Enqelab Square where they chanted Death to the
Dictator and Death to dictatorship. Outside, the Basij purposefully limited the flow of people and were
seen creating chaos.

Secret police and plainclothes agents slashed people in the crowd with knives and razors. Over 20 people
were fatally shot in Tehran, including bystanders who were shot by security forces opening fire on the
demonstrators. Video footage shows militia members firing from rooftops and windows into crowds of
protestors chanting Allahu akbar (God is great) and Do not fear. Do not fear. We are all together here.

Twenty-year-old Ashkan Sohrabi was shot three times in the chest. Kaveh Alipour was killed while
reportedly walking home from acting class on Saturday. Standing at an intersection in downtown Tehran,
the 19-year-old was shot in the head. He was reportedly alone. Masoud Hashemzadeh was shot in the
chest; the bullet punctured his heart and lung before exiting out of his back. He suffered extensive internal
bleeding and general blood loss.

Some of the most disturbing and dramatic video footage captured the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was
shot in the chest on a side-street in Tehran. Agha-Soltan became an international symbol of the brutality of
the Iranian regime. Video of her death was seen by millions on the Internet. As a result of the attention her
murder received, her family suffered at the hands of the authorities, who attempted to deny the veracity of
the facts surrounding Agha-Soltans death.

By the end of Saturday, June 20, the streets leading to Enqelab Square in Tehran were covered in blood and
rocks thrown by protestors. State media initially glossed over the level of violence, reporting that police
used batons and water canons to disperse protestors. Later, it acknowledged that a number of people had
been killed, but blamed terrorist elements who had infiltrated the rallies.

Many protestors who witnessed the brutality on June 20 believed that the demonstrations were over and
would not be revived. Indeed, for the next week, the streets remained mostly calm. There was a suffocating
security presence. Throughout the rest of the summer and into the winter, demonstrations became more
sporadic. They occurred mostly on religious days of mourning for the victims of the violence or on official
national days of significance.

July 9 was the 10th anniversary of the 1999 attack on Tehran Universitys dormitory by the Basij. Although
warned by Ahmadi-Moqaddam, the chief of police, that any gathering would be strongly confronted, a few
hundred people assembled and protested. Protestors once again resisted the authorities dispersal efforts by
chanting and throwing rocks. Access to important sites was blocked, and protestors clashed with riot police
who worked to prevent them from assembling and dispersed those who managed to congregate.

Authorities severely beat demonstrators with batons and used electric shock prods before arresting them. A
subsequent military investigation revealed that more than 45 of these and other demonstrators were taken
to the Kahrizak detention facility the next day. The beatings suffered on the streets and the conditions at
Kahrizak led to the deaths of at least three of the demonstrators arrested on July 9. Yet on July 10, in one
of his first statements regarding the victims of the July 9 demonstrations, Ahmadi-Moqaddam claimed that
8 Suppression of Demonstrations

NAJA (the national police force) no longer held anyone in custody in relation to the street protests.

A week later, on July 17, former president Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, a senior cleric and regular
leader of Tehrans Friday Prayer, gave his only post-election sermon. Rafsanjanis sermon drew hundreds of
thousands of attendees. Emphasizing unity, he urged the authorities to refrain from arresting and imprisoning
citizens and from censoring the media.

Although both Mousavi and Karroubi attended Rafsanjanis sermon, Tehran Universitys Prayer Hall, the
setting of all Friday Prayers, was filled with supporters of the government. Outside, however, a multitude
of demonstrators used the opportunity to continue their protests. Clashes erupted after the sermon, and the
security forces used tear gas and beatings to disperse crowds as they gathered in several areas in Tehran.
Once again, the authorities declared all assemblies except those sponsored by the government to be illegal,
and protestors were arrested for allegedly staging illegal demonstrations and starting riots.

Outbursts of protests and violence continued through July. July 30 marked the last significant day of
mourning for Neda Agha-Soltan and others who had died on June 20. Mousavi and Karroubi requested
a permit to hold a memorial service at the Mossallah Mosque in Tehran. Their joint letter noted that no
speeches would be made and that participants would be required to mourn in silence. The Interior Ministry
denied their request.

Thus, the thousands of mourners who attended the memorial service were deemed guilty of illegal
demonstrations and subject to attacks by security forces. These forces cordoned off Agha-Soltans grave and
limited access to the cemetery. While Karroubi managed to attend the ceremony, Mousavi was prevented
from exiting his vehicle when he arrived to pay his respects. Riot police used tear gas, beat demonstrators,
broke windshields of passing cars and dispersed the crowds. Some people were injured after falling in
freshly dug graves. Official sources put the overall number of those arrested at 50.

Fearing that demonstrators would co-opt national events and celebrations, the government cancelled several
such events in the following weeks. For example, in early September, it cancelled the religious ceremony
of Ehya at the Imam Khomeini Shrine. So, too, was the anniversary of the remembrance of Ayatollah
Taleghanis death, and later the Eid-e Fetr prayer at the Mossallah Mosque and the anniversary of Ayatollah
Ashrafi Isfahanis martyrdom.

However, on September 18, the government proceeded with public observance of International al Quds
Day. This annual event is a government-sponsored expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people
and a protest against Israeli occupation of Jerusalem (al Quds in Arabic) that was mandated by the Islamic
Republics founding leader, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini.

No permit was requested by any of the reformist candidates or parties. However, tens of thousands of
opposition demonstrators used the government-sponsored demonstrations to express their continued
displeasure with the regime. Although they were reportedly a minority in comparison to the hundreds of
thousands of demonstrators rallied by the government to attend the traditional protest, chants of Death to
the Dictator were heard.

Before the demonstrations, the opposition was warned by both the Supreme Leader and the Sepah that any
division or deviation from the official purpose of the demonstrations would be met with force. Security
forces armed with tear gas and batons clashed with demonstrators in Tehran as well as in other cities
including Shiraz and Rasht. In Tehran, hardliners attacked Mousavis vehicle and managed to shove and
harass former president Mohammad Khatami before supporters surrounded him. Yet the next day, the police
announced that only demonstrators who were attempting to cause damage to public property were arrested
 Suppression of Demonstrations 9

and that police did not engage the opposition protestors.

Smaller demonstrations continued through the end of September as students returned to the universities.
Again, authorities responded by arresting student leaders of Tahkim-e Vahdat. However, the opposition set
November 4 (the 13th of Aban in the Persian calendar) as the next major planned demonstration. This date
has traditionally been used by the Islamic Republic to mark the 1979 student takeover of the American
embassy in Tehran.

On October 16, nearly three weeks before the demonstration, the head of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah
Ahmad Jannati, warned opposition protesters not to attempt to hijack another event. Jannati, a longtime
supporter of Ahmadinejad, issued his warning during his nationally televised Friday Prayer sermon. He also
encouraged security forces to show no mercy when dealing with arrested protestors.

His warnings were echoed by the police, the Basij and the Judiciary. Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Radan,
the deputy chief of police, stressed that it was the duty of the police to prevent any disturbance of order in
society. In its announcement setting the location for the anti-American rally, the police emphasized that any
other demonstration was illegal. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of the Basij, also emphasized the crucial
role of his forces in protecting the revolution and the Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurisprudent).
Tehrans newly-appointed Prosecutor-General, Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, promised that those who try to
disrupt the anti-American rallies on Wednesday will be confronted.

On November 4, thousands of opposition protestors unsuccessfully attempted to assemble in Tehran and

join the demonstrators bused in by the government to demonstrate in front of the former American embassy
building. The security forces did not allow opposition demonstrations anywhere in Tehran. Nevertheless,
hundreds of protestors gathered in streets and alleys, and chanted anti-government slogans. They were
dispersed by security forces shooting tear gas and wielding batons. Some demonstrators ran into buildings
to escape the attacks, but security forces often stormed after them. The security forces arrested many people.

Karroubi was reportedly attacked by government forces after he exited his car because of a traffic tie-up.
His entourage was stormed by plainclothes and NAJA officers, and one of his bodyguards was hit by a tear
gas canister that split his head open and sent him to the hospital. Forces attacked and damaged Karroubis
car as he drove to safety. Mousavi was not even allowed to leave his offices at the Cultural Center. His
offices were surrounded by plainclothes forces on motorcycles, whom he reportedly confronted.

Security forces arrested dozens of demonstrators and activists. The next day, families of these individuals
gathered outside of the Vozara detention center for news about the detained. They, too, were beaten and
dispersed.

On December 5, in a preemptive strike, security forces dispersed and arrested 10 members of the Mourning
Mothers, a group formed after the death of Neda Agha-Soltan that held protest gatherings on Saturdays at
Laleh Park in central Tehran. They protested the arrests and detentions of their children.

December 7, National Student Day, presented opposition demonstrators with another opportunity to stage
demonstrations. In the weeks preceding December 7, the government intensified its efforts to arrest student
leaders. Tahkim-e Vahdat issued statements protesting the arrests of most of its leadership and noted that
civil society groups were not allowed to hold even the smallest meetings. Authorities arrested or summoned
several members of the central council of Tahkim-e Vahdat, including Milad Asadi, Bahareh Hedayat,
Mehdi Arabshahi and Farid Hashemi, just a week before Student Day.

On Student Day, campuses in Tehran, Kerman, Mashhad, Isfahan, Hamadan and Sanandaj were the scenes
10 Suppression of Demonstrations

of large demonstrations. The security forces, generally prohibited from entering campuses, sealed the
universities in an effort to prevent demonstrations from spilling into the streets. Still, in several squares
around Tehran and in the streets of Shiraz, protestors could not be contained and clashes with security
forces were as violent as those immediately following the election.

University students affiliated with the Basij confronted and arrested other students on campuses. They
reportedly threw two opposition members from a balcony in Hamedan. In Tehran, they arrested student
activist Majid Tavakoli after he spoke at Tehran Polytechnic. The police reported the arrest of over 200
protestors, including 39 women, who were detained for resisting security forces and chanting slogans.

State television showed images of unknown individuals tearing up a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini. This
prompted Mousavi and Karroubi, both of whom claim to represent the real ideals of the revolution and of
Khomeini, to ask for permits to hold rallies for the first time in months. These rallies were meant to protest
the actions of those who tore the picture of the founder of the Islamic Republic. The requests were denied.

On December 20, Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri died in his sleep at his home in the holy city of
Qom. Esteemed in Shia clerical circles, Montazeri was one of the founders of the Islamic Republic but later
became its most vocal clerical critic. He was considered the spiritual guide of the opposition movement in
Iran. His death and funeral resulted in massive processions in Qom, and demonstrations in Tehran, Isfahan
and Najafabad, his city of birth.

Montazeri was laid to rest the day after his death, and thousands of people traveled to Qom for the funeral
procession. Some were stopped en route and arrested. Photos show at least tens of thousands of mourners
flooding Qom, the conservative city where most Shia clergy are educated. Basij laid siege to Montazeris
house, and committed other acts considered insulting by the mourners. The provocations resulted in
opposition chants and clashes with the Basij, which were reportedly mediated by the police in Qom.

On December 23, the former Friday Prayer imam of Isfahan, Ayatollah Seyyed Jalaleddin Taheri, organized
a ceremony at the Seyyed Mosque marking the third day of mourning for Montazeri. The ceremony began at
9 a.m., but after a few minutes during which attendants read the Quran, plainclothes forces closed the doors
of the mosque. They deployed tear gas and pepper spray, and aggressively beat the assembled congregants.
The lecturing cleric, several journalists and 50 others were beaten and arrested. Taheri was prevented from
attending the ceremony. His supporters held at bay several plainclothes men who surrounded his house but
his son, Mohammad Taheri, was arrested five days later.

Montazeris seventh day of mourning, another traditionally important day in the 40-day mourning period,
fell on December 27, which was also the date on which Ashura, perhaps the most important religious day
for Iranian Shias, was observed. The 10th day in the Islamic month of Moharram, Ashura marks the death
of Imam Hossein, who was killed in his struggle against the tyrannical Caliph Yazid. Each year, Iranians
commemorate the death of Hossein with street processions, self-flagellation and passion plays known as
Taziyih in which Imam Hossein, dressed in green, is martyred.

The convergence of these symbolic events and the continued suppression of dissent resulted in what became
the most significant and violent demonstrations since June. Although combatants traditionally set aside
hostilities during the Islamic month of Moharram and especially so on Ashura, the regime continued to
violently confront demonstrators in the streets and used lethal force to deal with the massive crowds.

On Tasua, the day before Ashura, about 50 members of the Basij and/or other vigilantes group entered
Jamaran Mosque in Tehran and interrupted a sermon by Khatami about Ashura. The violence continued on
Ashura as hundreds of thousands flooded the streets in cities throughout Iran. Protests and clashes occurred
 Suppression of Demonstrations 11

in Mashhad, Tabriz, Arak, Babol, Najafabad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Ardebil and Orumieh.

Video footage from Tehran and other cities show demonstrators clashing violently with security forces.
They capture scenes showing demonstrators resisting arrest, being beaten by Basij and riot police, and
being shot and run over by security forces.

Hundreds were arrested around the nation. In Isfahan, during a clash at Hossein Abad Street, over 400
demonstrators were arrested and transferred to Isfahan prison. In Tehran, 1,100 people were reportedly
arrested and transferred by bus to Evin prison and other detention centers. In Najafabad, officials reportedly
declared martial law.

Ali Habibi-Mousavi, Mir-Hossein Mousavis nephew, was shot that day in Tehran by a .45 caliber bullet
that entered his chest and exited his body. Reports indicate that his killing was targeted and that the 43-year-
old father of two was not participating in the demonstrations. His body and those of four others who
died on Ashura were taken by security forces for autopsy. State media suggested a variety of different
theories regarding the mysterious murder. Hossein Shariatmadari, editor in chief of the hardline Kayhan
newspaper, accused Mir-Hossein Mousavi of having assassinated his own nephew.

Images of deaths and severe injuries were captured on cell phones and quickly spread over the Internet. One
video that received substantial attention shows a police vehicle running over protestors. Witnesses who saw
law enforcement trucks run over protestors have reportedly been arrested. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, the
National Chief of Police, claimed that the truck that ran over civilians had been stolen from NAJA, and that
the thief was being pursued. The families of those arrested have been pressured not to speak of the reasons
for the arrests.

The number of victims on Ashura is difficult to establish. The official Islamic Republic News Agency
announced that 37 people were killed that day. Four deaths were reported in Tabriz, and by the end of the
day in Tehran, five deaths were confirmed by the opposition, including that of Mousavis nephew.

Ahmad-Reza Radan, the Deputy Chief of the National Police, claimed that the police and security forces
did not use lethal force on Ashura. However, state television initially claimed that 10 members of anti-
revolutionary terrorist groups were killed and that these groups also killed five others. The police then
claimed eight deaths in Tehran, and then changed that number to seven after determining that one victim
was allegedly a drug addict with no link to the demonstrations. Jafari-Dolatabadi, Tehrans prosecutor
general, confirmed the seven deaths and claimed to have launched investigations.

The bodies of those who died were returned to their families for burial under the condition that they not
publicize the death or the cause of death. Family members of the victims were reportedly pressured to
declare that the deaths of their loved ones were accidents.

As was the case in earlier demonstrations, authorities insisted that foreigners and terrorists were to blame.
Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi blamed foreigners for backing the chaos during Ashura and
claimed that some of them had been arrested. Qolam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the prosecutor general of Iran,
stated that three of those arrested on Ashura would be tried for muharibih (waging war against God) and
executed promptly.
12 Arrests and Detentions

Arrests and Detentions

Many demonstrators who were arrested in the summer of 2009 were taken to Kahrizak Detention Center.
Located in southeastern Tehran, Kahrizak was designed to house thugs and criminals. The facility was
cited as sub-standard in 2007 by inspectors but Kahrizak was only shut down after detainees arrested during
the July 9 demonstrations died.

Accounts from survivors detail rampant abuses at Kahrizak. The brutality of the security personnel and
the filthy conditions of the cells were horrific even by the standards of Tehrans notorious Evin Prison.
One survivor told of being crowded into a jail cell and then beaten in complete darkness. Another account
describes methods of intimidation, including torture and sexual abuse.

At least three of the demonstrators brought to Kahrizak on July 9 died during their time in the facility or
immediately thereafter.

Amir Javadifar suffered mortal wounds at the facility. Medical reports reportedly show that he had several
broken bones and missing toenails. The Majlis Committee appointed to investigate post-election abuse
concluded that he was beaten when arrested and that he did not have the strength to withstand the physical
and psychological damages of his four-day incarceration at Kahrizak. His condition became critical while
on the bus to Evin Prison and he died outside the bus. His family first received news of his death when
they were told to pick up his body on July 26.

Mohammad Kamrani also died from the injuries and lack of medical care he suffered in Kahrizak. His
family has insisted that Kamrani was simply a pedestrian in the area of the demonstrations and not a
participant. In any case, the 18-year-old was arrested and eventually taken to Kahrizak for some time before
being transferred to Evin. His family was eventually told that he would be released from Evin on July 15.
On that day, they arrived to take him home but were told that he had been transferred to Loqman Hospital.
The Majlis investigative committee found that he did not receive proper care and that his family was not
informed of his critical condition until 30 hours after his transfer. At the hospital, his family found him
secured to the hospital bed, under the supervision of guards, and near death. They succeeded in transferring
him to Mehr Hospital to receive better care, but he died a few hours after his arrival on July 16.

Mohsen Ruholamini was arrested during the July 9 protests and initially taken to NAJAs Greater Tehran
office in Kargar Street, close to Enqelab Square. The day after his arrest, security forces put Ruholamini on
a bus to Kahrizak. The Majlis Committee reported that he was later put on a bus to Evin.

His father, Abdulhossein Ruholamini, a well-known adviser to conservative presidential candidate Mohsen
Rezai, spent two weeks looking for him but was unable to find any trace of him until July 20, when he
confronted the Minister of Intelligence. Like other family members of victims, Ruholamini was forced to
sign documents releasing the authorities from any blame for his sons death and relinquishing the right to
give his son a proper burial.

On July 27, the Supreme Leader ordered that Kahrizak be closed, and prisoners were transferred to other
facilities. Authorities in Evin Prison, one of the most notorious prisons in the Middle East, found the
condition of the prisoners shocking. They refused to take responsibility for the Kahrizak prisoners and
transferred them to nearby hospitals.

Police Chief Ahmadi-Moqaddam was forced to admit that conditions had been grave at Kahrizak.
However, he continued to insist that the issue was the overcrowding of the facility, that only two guards
 Arrests and Detentions 13

had beaten prisoners, and that the number of victims was only three, none of them among those who died.
Instead, he insisted that there is indisputable evidence that proves the deceased inmates died of a deadly
virus infection.

Investigations were launched by both the Majlis and the military. In addition, it was announced that 10 staff
members had been interrogated and eight had been arrested, including the head of Kahrizak. Three judicial
officers were also reportedly suspended due to their involvement with Kahrizak. Still, even after other
members of the government acknowledged the terrible conditions and violent interrogation of the detainees
at Kahrizak, General Radan, the deputy police chief, continued to portray the episode as a minor mistake.

As the investigations began to implicate Saeed Mortazavi, then-prosecutorgeneral of Tehran, he defended

the compound. He claimed that there was no detainee abuse or lack of proper sanitation at Kahrizak.
Mortazavi did not deny the deaths of Mohsen Ruholamini, Amir Javadifar and Mohammad Kamrani, but
claimed that the deaths were the result of a flood of prisoners. On August 29, 2009, Mortazavi removed as
Prosecutor-General of Tehran and appointed Irans Deputy Prosecutor-General.

Two days later, on August 31, 2009, a medical report was issued that rejected meningitis as the cause of
Ruholaminis death. Instead it cited physical stress, substandard detention conditions, and repeated blows to
the head and body with a blunt object. His doctor, Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani, told an investigating committee:

[Ruholamini] was brought to me after being physically and severely tortured. He was in a grave
physical condition and I had limited medical supplies, but I did my best to save him. It was then that
I was threatened by the authorities of Kahrizak that if I disclose the cause of death and injuries of
the detainees, I will cease to live.

Dr. Pourandarjani died on November 10 under mysterious circumstances following his testimony. Only
26 years old, he had been fulfilling his military service as a doctor at the detention facility. His death was
initially reported as a heart attack by officials who claimed he died in his sleep. A week later, Police Chief
Ahmadi-Moqaddam announced that Dr. Pourandarjani had committed suicide after he had been summoned
to court and threatened with a five-year prison term.

Finally, Mortazavis successor as Tehrans prosecutor general, Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, announced that
Dr. Pourandarjani had died by ingesting a variety of heart and blood-pressure medications in his salad.
The prosecutor-general left open the question as to whether the death was a suicide or murder. However,
Pourandarjanis father and others reported that he was communicative and in good spirits the night before
his death.

In addition to arresting demonstrators, the Iranian authorities arrested, and continue to arrest, non-
demonstrators in their homes, offices and on the street. The scope of the arrests goes far beyond individuals
associated with the reformist movement. It appears that the regime is targeting anyone who might be
a potential leader in opposing government policies. The list includes leaders and members of political
opposition and student groups, womens rights activists, professors, lawyers, and journalists. It also
includes former high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic, icons of the 1979 revolution, and their
family members. Several dual-nationals and foreign citizens were arrested. Many remain in prison.

In addition to the scale and scope of these arrests, the immediacy with which security forces began targeting
groups and individuals suggests that the arrests were premeditated and not merely a response to the post-
election demonstrations. Prominent detainees later made public confessions, undoubtedly coerced, that
echoed concerns regarding a velvet revolution that have been expressed by officers of the security
apparatus over the last several years.
14 Arrests and Detentions

The authorities began raiding opposition campaign offices and newspapers, including Mousavis main
office, and arresting campaign volunteers and leaders on Election Day. Warrants were rarely presented at
the time of arrest, but a few detainees managed to see their warrants at some point during the process. At
least some of them were issued before the election.

Journalists and activists were dragged away on the night of June 12 and very early on the morning of June
13. Somayyeh Tohidloo, a blogger, political activist and Mousavi supporter, was arrested at her parents
home at 3 a.m. without a warrant or an explanation. Two months later, Judge Hossein Haddad acknowledged
that Tohidloo should already have been released, but he explained that Mortazavi had personally intervened
to halt her release. Two days after this public acknowledgement, she was finally released on bail.

Blogger and human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari was not home at 1 a.m. on June 14 when her residence
was raided and belongings confiscated. The authorities arrested her the next day at her office. Ahari was
released on bail from Evin on September 23 after posting a high bail of 200 million Tomans [US$200,000].

Another person who was not home that night when authorities came to arrest him was Masoud Bastani. In his
place, the security forces detained his wife and two of her guests. The first was Behzad Bashoo, a cartoonist
who was released on July 8, and the second was Khalil Mirashrafi, a TV producer and journalist. Only hours
later after these arrests, Bastani tried to turn himself in, so that his pregnant wife, Mahsa Amrabadi, would
be released. The authorities declined his request and held on to his wife, a journalist for Etemad Melli, for
over two months before she was released on August 23.

That night, the security forces also arrested a large number of activists, including leaders in media and
the student movement. Kayvan Samimi Behbahani, the editor of the monthly publication Naameh and a
member of the central committee of the Society for the Defense of Freedom of the Press, was arrested.
Security forces stormed Samimis house and arrested him in the middle of the night, and confiscated his
computer and other personal property.

Also arrested was Ahmad Zeidabadi, a well-known journalist and the secretary general of Advar-e Tahkim-e
Vahdat, the alumni/student organization whose members are regular targets of arrest and detention. After
the election, nearly all current and former members of this organizations leadership were taken into
custody. Abbas Hakimzadeh, the political director of Tahkim-e Vahdat, was arrested in the winter of 2009
and released on July 8, 2009. Early in the morning on November 19, security forces raided his home,
confiscated his computer and rearrested him.

Security forces also arrested politically influential and well-connected members of the political elite and
icons of the 1979 revolution. Sometimes these arrests lasted for short periods, as in the case of Mohammad
Reza Khatami, the brother of the former president of the Islamic Republic. He was reportedly arrested on
June 14, and released by the next day, although authorities tried to deny that he had been arrested at all.
Others remain in prison.

Mohsen Mirdamadi, Secretary General of the largest pro-reform party in Iran, the Islamic Iran Participation
Front was arrested on June 13. Mirdamadi was one of three student leaders who stormed the United States
Embassy in 1979 and is considered a hero of the revolution by the Islamic regime. Formerly a member
of the Majlis, the Guardian Council banned him from running for reelection in February 2008. He was
released 24 hours after his arrest; however, unlike Khatami, he was rearrested on June 20. Following his
second arrest, he was imprisoned in Evin and forbidden contact with his family for over a month.

Saeed Hajjarian, a former presidential adviser debilitated from an assassination attempt in 2000, was arrested
 Arrests and Detentions 15

on June 15. Hajjarian had served as a high-ranking member of the Intelligence Ministry, founded the Center
for Strategic Studies within the office of the president and served on Tehrans city council. Hajjarian was
imprisoned at Evin. Within a month, he had to be taken to a hospital because of his deteriorating health, but
he was returned to prison. He was released after 109 days in prison.

Public and international outrage may have helped secure the release of Ebrahim Yazdi, the leader of the
Freedom Movement of Iran. He was arrested on June 17. The 78-year-old veteran opposition leader had
previously been imprisoned by both the Shah and the Islamic Republic. Yazdi was arrested at Pars Hospital,
where he was being treated for stomach issues. He was released two days later. However, on December 28,
the day after the Ashura protests, he was arrested at 3 a.m. He was released on February 24, 2010 and taken
directly to the hospital where he had open heart surgery.

Mohammad Atrianfar, a journalist and editor of such news outlets as Shargh and Shahrvand Emrooz, was
arrested on June 16. On that same day, at 6 a.m., Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, a former head of Iranian Radio,
former vice president of the Islamic Republic and a close adviser to presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi,
was arrested by three plainclothes officials. They presented no identification, arrest warrant, reason for his
arrest or explanation as to where he was being taken.

The authorities also arrested citizens of Greece, Canada, France and the United States, and targeted Iranians
working for the British Embassy in Tehran. Those arrested were generally charged with fomenting a velvet
revolution sponsored by foreign governments.

Two days after foreign journalists were told their visas would not be extended on June 16, Iason Athanasiadis
(also known as Fowden), a Greek-American freelance journalist, was arrested at Tehran airport while
attempting to leave the country. Fowden was transferred to Evin, where for more than two weeks an unseen
interrogator accused him of espionage in a soundproof room. Fowden was eventually released, but only
after pressure from the Greek ambassador to Iran.

The authorities arrested Maziar Bahari, a Canadian-Iranian journalist, on June 21. A journalist for Newsweek
magazine and a documentary filmmaker, Bahari was picked up at his family home in Tehran. During his
more than 118 days of imprisonment, he was repeatedly beaten, interrogated and, in the end, forced to
confess to crimes he did not commit.

On June 27 security forces arrested Hossein Rassam, a senior political analyst at the British Embassy in
Tehran, along with eight of his coworkers. They were detained and accused of playing an important role
in the disturbances after the election. In late October, he was convicted by a Revolutionary Court and
sentenced to four years in prison.

Rassam was prosecuted alongside a French Embassy employee and a visiting French literature teacher,
Clotilde Reiss. An assistant professor at Isfahan University, 23-year old Reiss was arrested on July 1 at
Imam Khomeini Airport as she was leaving Iran. She was charged with collecting information and aiding
the protests, because she had taken pictures of the demonstrations on her cell phone and emailed them to a
friend. Under terms negotiated by France, Reiss was confined to the French Embassy until her departure to
France in May 2010.

On August 1, a series of mass show trials began in Tehran. The first two were broadcast on Iranian
television and showed hundreds of disheveled detainees dressed in pajama-like prison garb, looking dazed
and confused. Although a list of defendants has never been made public, many were recognizable by the
public, including former vice president Mohammad-Ali Abtahi and the secretary general of the Islamic Iran
Participation Front, Dr. Mohsen Mirdamadi.
16 Arrests and Detentions

The mass show trials bore little resemblance to criminal trials under Iranian or international law. At each,
the prosecution read a political document accusing the detainees and others outside of Iran, including
foreign governments, of fomenting a velvet revolution. The readings were followed by confessions by
select defendants.

On October 5, the government began announcing sentences. The first four were death sentences handed
down to men who had been arrested before the elections. Hundreds more have been sentenced to lengthy
prison terms, flogging, or banishment. At leave 10 people have been executed for political reasons. The
identities of many of those detained and tried remain unknown.
 Responsible Leaders 17

Responsible Leaders

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei 18

Mohammad Ali Jafari 19
Ayatollah Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani 20
President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad 21
Saeed Mortazavi 22
Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi 23
Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb 24
Mohammad Reza Naqdi 25
Hojjatoleslam Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei 26
Hojjatoleslam Heydar Moslehi 27
Sadeq Mahsouli 28
Mostafa Mohammad Najjar 29
Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam 30
Azizollah Rajabzadeh 31
Ahmad-Reza Radan 32
Hossein Shariatmadari 33
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami 34
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati 35
18 Responsible Leaders

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei

Born: 1939

Hometown: Mashhad

Position: Supreme Leader

If street protests dont stop, there will be other consequences ...
They will be held accountable for all the violence and blood and
rioting ... There will be a reaction.

A yatollah Ali Khamenei was born into a family of religious

scholars in Mashhad, and attended seminary in that city under
the direction of his father until the age of 18. He subsequently moved
to Qom to continue his studies under Allama Tabatabai, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, and Ayatollah Khomeini.
In 1962, he joined Khomeinis movement, in which he played an active part.

Following the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei joined the Islamic Revolutionary Council and the
Islamic Republican party. He subsequently served as Minister of Defense and later President of Iran from
1982-1990. He was chosen to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader in 1990.

As Supreme Leader, Khamenei controls the military, including the Revolutionary Guards, and is responsible
for resolving difficulties between the three branches of government. In his Friday sermon following the
disputed June 12, 2009 elections, he stated that further demonstrations would not be tolerated. This was
widely seen as a green-light to the military and paramilitary organizations, including the Basij militias, to
violently crack-down on protesters.
 Responsible Leaders 19

Mohammad Ali Jafari

Born: 1957

Hometown: Yazd

Position: Commander, Revolutionary Guards

Forgiving the rioters, particularly the Ashura day rioters,

is not practical, and even if some officials want to forgive
them, people will not allow them.

M ohammad Ali Jafari attended Tehran University before serving

in the Basij militia and then the Revolutionary Guards during
the Iran-Iraq War. From 1991 or 1992 through 2005, Jafari was
commander of the Revolutionary Guards land forces.

Following the July 1999 uprisings at Tehran University, Jafari wrote a letter to then-President Khatami,
warning him against pursuing further reformist policies, stating that our patience is at an end, and we do
not think it is possible to tolerate any more.

In 2007, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei appointed him overall commander of the Revolutionary
Guards, a branch of the military reporting directly to the Supreme Leader and highly influential both
politically and economically. One of Jafaris first moves was to decentralize the Guards command structure,
creating 31 local command centers, and merging the Basij militia into the command structure of the Guards,
all to deal with the internal enemy which he felt was a greater threat than the external enemy.

In late summer 2009, he boasted that the role of the Basij in the post-election events was decisive. He also
argued that the detainees who confessed to having collaborated with the enemy did so freely because, in
prison, they were free of pressures from their affiliated parties and societies.
20 Responsible Leaders

Ayatollah Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani

Born: 1960

Hometown: Najaf, Iraq

Positions: Guardian Council member and

Head of the Judiciary

Of course some offences were committed when [police tried

to quell] the post-election unrest and some offences that
took place in detention centers tarnished the image of the
state.

Ayatollah Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani is the brother of Majlis Speaker

(and former nuclear negotiator), Ali Larijani as well as the head of
the human-rights council, Mohammad Javad Larijani.

Larijani was chosen by Ayatollah Khamenei to replace Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi as head of the
Judiciary in mid-August 2009, relinquishing his seat on the Guardian Council. In his current position,
Larijani appoints the Chief Justice, the Prosecutor-General of Iran and judges, and proposes judicial
legislation. Despite the fact that the head of the Judiciary is required to be a mojtahed (competent to derive
new law from traditional sources) with significant experience, Larijani was only a middle-ranking cleric
until a few months before his appointment.

Shortly after his appointment, Larijani moved Saeed Mortazavi, who was found responsible for the deaths
of three protesters held at Kahrizak prison in July 2009 by a Majlis committee, from his position as Tehrans
Prosecutor General, to the be one of six deputies to the Prosecutor-General of Iran.

Before becoming head of the Judiciary, he was known primarily for being the youngest member of the
Guardian Council, which is charged with interpreting the Constitution, supervising elections, and approving
law and candidates in conformity with Islam. He is also known for his criticism of former-president
Muhammad Khatami and Abdol Karim Soroush.

Larijani has said that any doubts about the June 12, 2009 election are baseless and that the protests which
followed were illegal.
 Responsible Leaders 21

President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad

Born: 1956

Hometown: Garmsar, Semnan

Position: President of the Islamic Republic

Now dirt or dust creeping from the corners may do

something. But you must know that the pure river that is
the Iranian nation will not allow them to put themselves on
display.

H ailing from a poor background, Mahmud Ahmedinajad

studied at the Iran University of Science and Technology in
Tehran before serving in a number of administrative posts in West
Azerbaijan. He subsequently joined the faculty at his alma mater before being appointed mayor of Tehran
in 2003. Two years later, he won the presidential election, beating Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. As President,
he is head of the executive, carrying out domestic and international policy though ultimately subordinate
to the Supreme Leader.

Ahmedinajad has been criticized extensively both in Iran and abroad for the general degradation of human
rights under his watch. Following the June 12, 2009 election, Ahmedinajad declared his victory quickly and
called those who protested against the results sore losers and dust and dirt. He rarely speaks about the
disputed election, but when he does, he blames foreign intervention in Irans domestic politics.
22 Responsible Leaders

Saeed Mortazavi

Born: 1967

Hometown: Yazd

Positions: Prosecutor-General of Tehran and

Deputy Prosecutor-General of Iran

Special judges spared no efforts, at this time of sedition and

conspiracy by muharibs and enemies of the sacred system of the
Islamic Republic, to foil these riots.

K nown as the Butcher of the Press, Saeed Mortazavi served as a

judge before becoming Prosecutor-General of Tehran in 2003. In
that capacity he was charged with investigating crimes against the state. He is widely believed to have
been responsible for the 2003 death of Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian journalist who was arrested
while taking photographs near Evin Prison. He has also threatened family members of detainees to induce
prisoners to write false accounts of pleasant conditions while in custody.

Activists jailed after the June 12, 2009 election report that their arrest warrants were signed by Mortazavi
two days before the election. He also personally intervened to prevent the release of Somayyeh Tohidloo,
an activist who was arrested without a warrant or explanation.

In December 2009, a report of an investigation ordered by the Majlis was released, finding Mortazavi
primarily responsible for the deaths of three protesters and the maltreatment of over 100 others at the
Kahrizak prison. In July 2009, 147 people were held for four days in Kahrizak, in a 70m2 room without
proper ventilation, heating or food.

On August 31, 2009, Mortazavi was appointed Deputy Prosecutor of Iran. Since then, fifty-seven MPs have
called for his dismissal and prosecution. In January 2010, Ahmedinajad appointed Mortazavi to head Irans
Task Force Against Smuggling, ignoring widespread criticism of his decision.
 Responsible Leaders 23

Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi

Born: 1953

Position: Prosecutor-General of Tehran

I would like to advise the public to be wary of deviating

slogans and of those individuals who seek to disrupt public
order on this day. I urge security officers to confront those
persons who seek to undermine social security.

A s head of the Judiciary in Khuzestan Province, Abbas Jafari-

Dolatabadi promised severe punishment of leaders of the
opposition and those who protested following the June 12, 2009
election.

He replaced Saeed Mortazavi as Prosecutor-General of Tehran in September 2009. He issued arrest war
rants for political figures including Alireza Beheshti, Mousavis head advisor, and ordered that Mehdi
Karroubis office and the office of the Society for the Defense of Political Prisoners be sealed. In October
2009, he announced that a case had been opened in the Special Court for the Clerics to investigate Karroubi
for making accusations of sexual assault in detention centers.

Dolatabadi also falsely claimed that Dr. Pourandarjani, a physician at Kahrizak prison who reported that
suspects in custody had died from beatings and who subsequently died under mysterious circumstances
himself, had committed suicide by mixing heart and blood-pressure medications into his salad.
24 Responsible Leaders

Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb

Born: 1963/4

Hometown: Tehran

Position: Head of Basij and Head of the

Revolutionary Guard Intelligence
Unit.

If Hashemi Rafsanjani, Khatami and Mousavi were arrested,

there would be no consequences in the country.

H ojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb studied religious sciences under now-

Ayatollah Khamenei. He joined the Revolutionary Guards in 1982
or 1983 and acted as the organizations coordinator with the office of the Supreme Leader. Khamenei
appointed him as head of the Basij on July 13, 2008. The Basij is a militia of private citizens purportedly
established to provide domestic security under the command of the Revolutionary Guards. Members are
often deployed to counter student demonstrations, enforce Islamic dress codes, and maintain the separation
of the sexes.

Thousands of Basij members were used to quash the demonstrations following the June 12, 2009 elections.
They were reportedly linked to the beatings and murders of demonstrators, home invasions, destruction of
property, and rape.

Taeb has insisted that the Basij were not authorized to carry weapons during the demonstrations, despite
witness testimony and video footage showing otherwise. Taeb claimed that police arrested armed imposters
who wore Basij uniforms.
 Responsible Leaders 25

Mohammad Reza Naqdi

Born: 1953

Hometown: Najaf, Iraq

Positions: Deputy Director of Intelligence, Quds

Force of the Revolutionary Guards
and Head of Basij

Those groups that chant slogans against the revolutions values

... should know that they will be confronted by Basij.

K nown as the Tyrant of the Campus, Mohammad Reza Naqdi was

born in Najaf, Iraq but moved to Iran following the revolution in 1979.
In 1993, he became Deputy Director for intelligence of the Quds Force, a branch of the Revolutionary
Guards tasked with exporting the Islamic Revolution. During 1997 and 1998, Naqdi was allegedly involved
in the imprisonment and torture of Tehran mayor Qolam-Hossein Karbaschi as well as other prominent city
officials. He is reported to be a key figure in the organization and financing of Ansar-i-Hezbollah, a group
that was involved in the 1999 attacks on students at Tehran University.

Journalist and former Basiji, Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, claims that Naqdi was present during torture of
protesters at Kahrizak prison in the summer of 2009. On January 5, 2010, Naqdi told the hard-line daily
Kayhan [a]nyone who objects to this [Islamic] revolution or the rule of the Just Jurisprudent is making
futile efforts to bring the establishment to its knees. These people are either morally or financially corrupt
or are drug addicts, and it is rare to find someone who has objections [to the establishment and the Supreme
Leader] to have a healthy personal life. He has blamed the demonstrations following the June 12, 2009
election on the United States.
26 Responsible Leaders

Hojjatoleslam Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei

Born: c. 1956

Hometown: Ejiyeh

Positions: Minister of Intelligence and

Prosecutor-General of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran will counter any move aimed at

creating disorder in the system without hesitation.

H ojjatoleslam Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei was a student in

the Haqqani School in Qom, and reportedly holds a masters
degree in international law. He was the judge in the trial of former
Tehran mayor Qolam-Hossein Karbaschi. Considered to hail from the hard-line school of Muhammad Taqi
Mesbah-Yazdi, Ejei insisted that the British Embassy in Tehran sent agents provocateurs among the crowds
of protesters following the June 12, 2009 election.

In July 2009, he lost his position in the Ministry of Intelligence, reportedly due to political in-fighting
following the election. One month later, he was appointed by Judiciary Head Sadeq Larijani to be
Prosecutor-General of Iran, where he is now responsible for investigating crimes against the state. He has
encouraged tough action against further protests, and crushing responses to illegal rallies. During the
Ashura protests in December 2009, Ejei stated that the foreigners who were arrested would be prosecuted
as muharibih (enemies of God) and promptly executed.
 Responsible Leaders 27

Hojjatoleslam Heydar Moslehi

Born: 1956

Hometown: Isfahan

Position: Minister of Intelligence

This unrest is different from that of the past and is a

prearranged counter-revolutionary movement, designed by
agents of sedition.

H ojjatoleslam Heydar Moslehi was Supreme Leader Khameneis

representative to the Basij militia and head of the Organization of
Islamic Trusts and Charities. He was appointed Ahmedinajads advisor
for clerical affairs in 2005, but was forced to step down because of his connection to the Basij. It has
been reported that he was chosen to take over the Ministry of Intelligence in August 2009 after former
Intelligence Minister Qolam-Hussain Mohseni-Ejei denied a link between the demonstrations in the wake
of the June 12, 2009 and plans for a velvet revolution.

Moslehi has blamed several foreign nationals for pursuing propaganda and psychological warfare during
the demonstrations. He has reportedly identified 80 organizations responsible for the demonstrations,
which he claims had been planned ahead of time in Berlin and Denmark in order to alter the behavior
of government officials and the people as well as dismantle the Islamic Republic regime from within,
including [the] Peoples Mojahedin Organization, monarchists, religious and ethnic terrorists, Bahais,
homosexuals, feminist groups, nationalists and Marxists.
28 Responsible Leaders

Sadeq Mahsouli

Born: 1959

Hometown: Orumieh

Position: Minister of the Interior and Minister

of Labor

Many of the rioters were in contact with America, CIA and the
MKO and are being fed by their financial resources.

K nown as the Billionaire General for using his contacts in the

Revolutionary Guards to build a construction and oil-trading fortune,
Sadeq Mahsouli was nominated to be Minister of Oil in November 2008
before his wealth and lack of experience forced a different choice. His nomination for Interior minister was
only narrowly approved by the Majlis as he had been Ahmedinajads campaign manager and would be in
charge of overseeing future elections as Interior Minister.

His announcement that Ahmedinajad had won 24 million votes, more than anyone in the countrys history,
sparked allegations of vote-rigging and massive protests following the June 12, 2009 election. As Minister
of the Interior, Mahsouli was responsible for counting votes, the police action against protesters, as well
as the denial of permits for opposition rallies. On June 17, 2009, conservative Speaker of the Majlis Ali
Larijani blamed Mahsouli for attacks on civilians and students, stating [t]he Interior Minister is responsible
and should be accountable for the events.
 Responsible Leaders 29

Mostafa Mohammad Najjar

Born: 1956

Hometown: Tehran

Positions: Minister of Defense and Minister

of the Interior

After Ashura, anyone who takes part in riots will be

considered as muharib [waging war on God] and an
opponent of national security.

M ostafa Mohammad Najjar reportedly joined the Revolutionary

Guards in 1979 and took part in quelling Kurdish unrest in
1979 and 1980. Najjar became head of the Middle East directorate in 1982, overseeing forces in Lebanon.
He has also overseen defense-manufacturing companies, and has been linked by the European Union to the
proliferation of nuclear technologies.

According to a leaked memo, Najjar estimated the number of protesters following the June 12, 2009 election
at 350,000. On November 10, 2009, Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed Najjar Deputy Commander of
Armed Forces in charge of Police Forces in order to ensure order and security. He was in charge of the
government response to protests on Ashura, the holiest day of the year for Shia Islam. State media reported
37 dead, and hundreds arrested.

On January 3, 2010, Najjar told reporters the rioters are encouraged and supported by Britain, the US and
the Zionist regime [Israel]. The involvement of the Mojahedin-i Khalq Organization (MKO), enemies and
those who seek to take revenge on the Islamic establishment during the past 30 years is quite clear.

On May 4, 2010, the representative for the largely Kurdish district of Sanandaj in the Majlis, Amin Shaabani,
announced that he was collecting signatures to impeach Najjar. He stated that the militarization of the
Interior Ministry, the appointment of military men to key posts, disorder in the councils and not considering
competence in appointing managers are among the reasons for Najjars impeachment.
30 Responsible Leaders

Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam

Born: 1961

Hometown: Tehran

Position: Chief, National Police

The police have details about the activities of these people

who tried to question the legitimacy of the election and expose
fraud with the help of Western media and their embassies.

D uring the demonstrations following the June 12, 2009 election,

Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam promised to quell any unrest and
mobilized thousands of police officers. On July 1, 2009, he claimed that
Dr. Arash Hejazi, who was present during the shooting of Neda Agha-Sultan, was wanted by Interpol for
aiding Western media in psychological warfare against Iran. He later claimed to have been misquoted.

Ahmadi-Moqaddam initially claimed that only the most dangerous suspects were taken to Kahrizak prison,
but later admitted that at least 145 of the prisoners were low-priority and not dangerous. A doctor working
in the prison, Dr. Ramin Pourandajarani, found that the death of one suspect was the result of conditions
in the prison and beatings. The doctor subsequently died under mysterious circumstances while in police
headquarters.

During protests on Ashura (December 27, 2009), witnesses saw and at least one video shows protesters
being run over by a police vehicle. Ahmadi-Moqaddam claimed that the vehicle was stolen and that the thief
was responsible for this attack.
 Responsible Leaders 31

Azizollah Rajabzadeh

Position: Chief of Police, Tehran

After the election when illegal gatherings and rallies were

held, police officers acted with profound insight and measured
force ... when there was need for exerting force they did so, and
when there was need to show restraint they did that as well.

A zizollah Rajabzadeh became Chief of Police for the city of Tehran

in October 2008. During the demonstrations following the June
12, 2009 presidential elections, police forces under his command were
filmed assaulting the dormitories at Tehran University and beating
students with batons. Other video shows a police vehicle running over
protesters in the streets.

Rajabzadeh claimed that no one was abused or died in Kahrizak prison, despite the fact that a Majlis
investigation concluded that three young men died as the result of maltreatment while in custody in the
prison. He was later honored with a certificate of praise by the Majlis for putting out the flame of rebellion.

On February 22, 2010, he was replaced by Hossein Sajedinia, formerly deputy chief of police for police
operations.
32 Responsible Leaders

Ahmad-Reza Radan

Born: 1963

Hometown: Isfahan

Position: Deputy Chief, National Police

[The Police] will act with determination against all

illegal demonstrations and protests.

B rigadier General Ahmad-Reza Radan began a career in law

enforcement during the reign of the Shah. Following the 1979
revolution, he served as an infantry commander during the Iraq-
Iran war before returning to the police force.

He is known in Iran for his crackdown on un-Islamic hair and

dress, especially for filming alleged perpetrators being beaten and or forced to do humiliating acts.

Several individuals who were taken to Kahrizak prison after protests following the June 12, 2009 election
claimed that Radan was personally involved in their torture. Radan has warned that in the interrogation of
related rebels, we intend to find the link between the plotters and foreign media.
 Responsible Leaders 33

Hossein Shariatmadari

Position: Managing Editor, Kayhan newspaper

H ossein Shariatmadari is the appointed representative of

Supreme Leader Khamenei to the Kayhan Institute, a large and
influential publishing group. He is also Managing Editor of its hard-
line conservative daily newspaper, Kayhan. Shariatmadari is a strong
supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is reported to
have links with the intelligence services. On February 12, 2009, he
wrote an article in Kayhan suggesting that former president Khatami
might be assassinated if he ran against Ahmadinejad.

On June 28, 2009, he wrote an editorial claiming that opposition

candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi was trying to escape punishment
for murdering innocent people, holding riots, cooperating with
foreigners and acting as Americas fifth column inside the country.
He called for Mousavi and Khatami to be tried for horrible crimes
and treason.

On August 21, 2009, Mousavis aide Ali Reza Beheshti filed suit against Kayhan alleging that a story in
the paper suggested Mousavi had a lawmaker assassinated before he could issue a report on Mr. Mousavi.
Shariatmadari was ordered to court twice to represent the newspaper but did not appear, prompting Judge
Mansouri to order the paper closed. However, the Prosecutor-General of Tehran, Saeed Mortazavi, denied
that any such order had been issued.
34 Responsible Leaders

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami

Born: 1960

Hometown: Semnan

Position: Interim Friday Prayer Leader, Tehran

Anybody who fights against the Islamic system or the leader

of Islamic society, fight him until complete destruction.

A yatollah Ahmad Khatami (no relation to former president

Mohammad Khatami) was appointed to be an interim Friday
Prayer Leader by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on December
18, 2005, an important political and clerical post. Friday Prayer serves
as a show of force against enemies and to unify Muslims. The Friday
Prayer sermon (khutbih) is considered to be part of the prayer and is delivered by the Friday Payer Imam
who must be a brave, intelligent, able and eloquent man.

Khatami is also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which selects and oversees the Supreme Leader.
In June 2007, he stated that the fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini calling for the death of Salman Rushdie
following publication of his book, The Satanic Verses, was still alive.

In his August 14, 2009 sermon, Khatami claimed that young people were duped into protesting by satellite
television channels and internet websites. In July 2009, he also called for a befitting response to Mehdi
Karroubis request for an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Kahrizak prison.
 Responsible Leaders 35

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati

Born: 1927

Hometown: Isfahan

Positions: Chairman, Guardian Council

and Interim Friday Prayer
Leader, Tehran

I know you well, judiciary officials! For Gods sake, stand

firm as you already did with your quick execution of these
two convicts.

A yatollah Ahmad Jannati is the Chairman of the Guardian

Council, which is responsible for interpreting the Constitution,
supervising elections, and ensuring that laws and government
officials are in conformity with Islam. The Guardian Council has refused to ratify the Convention against
Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment despite measures for ratification
having twice passed the Majlis.

According to Ali Motahhari, a conservative member of the Majlis, Ayatollah Jannatis favoritism toward
Mahmoud Ahmedinajad made him unqualified to judge and verify the results of the June 12, 2009 election.

Jannati called for the trial of British embassy staff for fomenting riots after the election; one staff-member
of the Embassy, Hossein Rassam, was sentenced to four years. Jannati also called upon Judiciary head
Sadeq Larijani to speed up the executions of protesters.