Iran Arrests Children of Dissident Clerics

[steven johnson]

Source: NY Times

September 16, 2009
TORONTO - Authorities in Iran have arrested at least seven children and grandchildren of senior clerics in the religious city of Qum and threatened to arrest the son of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the powerful cleric and a former president, in what appeared to be fresh pressure on religious leaders who sympathize with the opposition.
Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say on state matters and has issued fierce warnings against Iranians who have challenged the June 12 election, which the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, officially won by a landslide.
The opposition, which includes Mr. Ahmadinejad's two main challengers in the election, Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hussein Moussavi, has called the election a fraud and has sharply criticized the government's violent suppression of postelection protests.
The latest arrests appeared to be part of efforts to intimidate senior clerics and silence the younger generation in Qum who have been instrumental in reporting the use of violence in the capital, Tehran, and other large cities to traditional clerics. Such clerics ordinarily pay little attention to the news and some were unaware of the events.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/world/middleeast/16iran.html

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Nice to know Stalinist tactics aren't dead.

[WCGreen]

1. And there are people in this country that would love to have

Clerics in charge here....

[rpannier]

2. Not sure why someone unrecommednded this story

It is important

But, sadly there are apologists for Ahmadinejad at DU

[rhett o rick]

4. No, it's a power thing. nt

[rpannier]

5. A later thought I had (and I hope I'm correct)

They hit unrec by mistake
I've done that a few times, but I acknowledge it in a post and apologise

Unfortunately, you may be correct

[Tempest]

6. Where do you think Iran got the idea?

From the good 'ole US of A.

[rpannier]

7. Even though that's not really true

For centuries threatening the welfare of someone's family was common:

In China they executed members of the family for political activities they had been involved in

In North Korea they have (since the mid 80's) sent three generations of a family to prison for subversive political activity.

They've done it in Russia during the 20th Century.
The Kuwaiti Royal family did it to political opponents

This behavior is at least 2 millennium old

on edit:
Even if it were true, that does not diminish the importance of the story

[rpannier]

8. Self delete

[rhett o rick]

3. They stole that idea from Dick-head Cheney. Torture the children. nt