Videos of events in Iran — 31 December

Below are a number of videos from 31 December, 2009. These show riot security forces in key streets and squares. Word is that regular security and Basij paramilitary are on guard in the capital city, Tehran.

This video is dated 31 December and claims to show pro-government demonstrations in the city of Karaj. The voice over observes that the demonstration is quite small despite receiving government support.

Calico textile printing

Calico involves a process of printing design onto cloth by impressing four or five colours onto it. The initial colour to be applied is black, and all of them are applied using hand-carved wooden molds. Below is a documentary of this process, for which the Iranian city of Isfahan is famous for. The video is in Farsi.

Operation Ajax: The CIA/MI6 coup that overthrew Iran’s democratic government

Below is a short documentary on the overthrow of Iran’s short-lived democratic government in the 1950s. This government was headed by Mohammad Mosaddeq and his National Front party, bringing together a wide coalition of peoples and parties. This new government sought to establish Iran’s independent sovereignty in the face of foreign (at the time British and Russian) interference. It was overthrown in a coup plotted by the CIA and the British Intelligence Service, reinstating the Shah, and, in time helping him dominate the national scene as an autocratic monarch through the liberal use of such tools as the secret police, SAVAK.

This short documentary claims that, “by 1950, 40% of the West’s oil was being produced in Iran, and 75% of Europe’s. This reliance on Iranian oil had caused the British to become deeply entrenched in Iran’s politics.”

I’m not certain about the accuracy of these statistics. (Does someone have historical statistics on the distribution of oil imports?). In 2008, Iran was the second largest producer of crude oil among OPEC members, following Saudi Arabia.

To learn more about the events surrounding the Mosaddeq government, I highly recommend reading the book, Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. On the whole, the documentary clip summarizes a good share of this book.

Part 1:

Part 2:

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran

You can here read the unofficial English version of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a PDF. I believe that this version is the translation provided by the University of Bern, Switzerland. It contains the preamble, and the articles begin on page 7.

The Iranian embassy in Ottawa, Canada, also has an English version.

A book on Iran’s Shia twelver institutions — history, culture, and structures

An excellent book on the history, genealogy, and current framework of Iran’s religious instiutions and schools has been written by Michael M. J. Fischer. It is called Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution.

Maps of Iran

I’ve gathered a collection of maps on Iran here. You can find more at the University of Texas Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection. Click on each map for a closer view.

Map - Iran political map 2001

Iran Population Density 2004

Iran demographics 2004

Iran shaded relief 2001

Iran Key Pretroleum Facilities 2004

Iran Southern Caspian Energy Prospects 2004

Iran Strait of Hormuz 2004

Iran Industry and Mining 1978 CIA Source

Iran Light Industry and Agriculture 1973 CIA Source

Iran and Ashura: protests expand and grievances deepen

Al Jazeera English briefly reviews the events of Iran’s opposition protests during Sunday’s Ashura. The program, Inside Story, interviews Trita Parsi from the National Iranian American Council, and Gary Sick from Columbia University.

Both guests note that the protests have been sustained since the 12 June presidential election, and Sick comments that the existing government’s refusal to compromise and its increasing use of coercion to control a large and popular opposition has resulted in the opposition’s radicalization. They have moved from early demands of poll recount to what may be a general will for deeper changes to the governing structure or leadership.

Though the popular rebellions have been effective in putting pressure on the government, it is not certain how it might organize, articulate, and even seek to execute an alternative policy or governance model, or if it is even capable of doing so considering that the visible and surrogate political leadership (Mousavi, Rafsanjani, etc.) is itself part of the state structure.