You Are Winning

Once again, this is another open letter to any of the brave Iranian protesters who may be reading.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I hope you are doing well. I hope you are all safe. I am sure there are still many of you feeling afraid or pessimistic about the current situation. While I certainly hope this is not the case, I feel I must say a few words in case you do have such feelings.

First and foremost, I must say this: You are winning. Now, I’m sure many people might feel I may be exaggerating or just plain naïve, but I am not. I have seen all that has happened in the past two weeks. I might not be right there with you, as I am halfway across the world, but I have seen the events as they have played out since the very beginning.

In the past two weeks, the firm hold the regime had upon its people has been shattered, destroyed as a result of their own unwillingness to listen to the voice of their people and their own acts of injustice. Their efforts to suppress the voice of the people have been cruel, inhumane in many cases, but they have not had the effect the regime wanted.

The regime wanted to silence those who disagreed with their decisions, but it has instead made even more people speak out against their numerous violations of human rights. Even many high profile clerics are speaking out against the Supreme Leader’s crackdown now. A prime example is the recent speech by Ayatollah Mousavi Ardabeli. Many other politicians and clerics have spoken out as well, some even joining the protesters in the streets, but still the regime continues with crackdowns. The more they continue, the more people are appalled, and the more people speak out. A rift has formed within the government that stretches to its very foundations.

All of this after just a two week period of time! Making such a huge impact in such a small amount of time is not easy (in fact, I’d say it’s downright unheard of) but you have done that, my friends. You are winning. It’s easy to think otherwise, seeing all the cruelty at the hands of Besij thugs and being fed demoralizing misinformation and lies from State TV…but the fact remains: You are winning.

The supporters of the crackdown are now cornered cats, clawing wildly in every direction. They are afraid. They are doing everything they can to stop you and it is simply not working. They are doing whatever they can to demoralize and depress you, but I know you will not give in. The world may seem dark at times, but at dawn, the sun will always rise. You are that sun, my friends. You and your hope for a better future will be the dawn.

Still, I’m sure many of you do not feel that way. Many of you have lost a lot over the course of the past few weeks. Many of you have had to endure heartache that no person should ever have to go through. Many of you probably feel that, in the end, this is a lost cause. While I can understand that feeling, I feel I have to tell you that you can win and, as I’ve said, you’ve already accomplished much.

I know sometimes it can seem that winning is impossible. It’s hard to see the people who have died, the people who are suffering, and not feel despair. It’s hard not to feel afraid all the time, to feel cold and empty as if your soul has left you. It is a terrible feeling, one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I am sorry you have to feel such feelings and I wish I could do more to take that pain away…but I’m telling you, even though sometimes you may feel like things are hopeless and can never get better, look at what’s happening. More people are speaking out against the crackdown and supporting the protesters.

The majority of the people within the country, including many citizens who previously supported president Ahmadinejad, are now disapproving of the unjust acts the regime is inflicting upon their own people. More of the hardliners within the regime are beginning to become nervous, making ridiculous claims that other countries such as Britain are behind the protest and overall simply refusing to accept that their time is coming to an end. The State TV and those supporting the crackdowns are unable to keep their own lies straight, blaming at least four completely different sources for Neda’s death, none of which are even close to being remotely believable. You have shaken the very core of the regime. You are winning. So please, please, never feel that things are hopeless. That is simply what the regime wants you to believe, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. You are not alone. You cannot be silenced. And you will win.

The Sea of Green is moving ever stronger. It’s gone beyond an election, beyond all of us. The Sea of Green now stands for all that is right, even in a world that can sometimes seem so wrong. Your voices all shout for justice, for a country where such cruelty cannot be committed against its own people, for a better future for you, your children, and your children’s children. Your voices are getting louder each day (the rally yesterday and the deafening chants in the night should be proof enough of that). You will never be silenced, no matter how much the current regime tries.

I hope this has been at least a little helpful to some of you. Please do not feel despair when you have already accomplished so much. I hope you and all those close to you will be safe. Never allow yourself to be silenced and never doubt yourselves. Take care.

Yours Faithfully,

Corey

Green Brief #3

(Reposted from the original site)

Hi,

I'm Josh Shahryar AKA NiteOwl and I've been immersed in tweets from Iran for the past several hours. I have tried to be extremely careful in choosing my tweet sources and have tried maximally to avoid listening to media banter. What I have compiled below is what I can confirm through my tweets to have happened in the past day and in the past week in Iran. Remember, this is all from tweets. There is NOTHING included here that is not from a reliable tweet. No news media outlets have been used in the compilation of this short brief as I would like to call it.

These are some of the happenings that I can positively confirm from Friday, June 19 and early Saturday, June 20 in Iran.

1. Khamanei – the Supreme Leader of Iran – today at the Friday prayers announced that the protests were unacceptable and were a direct result of meddling in Iran’s affairs by Zionists, the evil UK and the US. He said that unless the protests stop, they will result in bloodshed. He called upon the protesters to stop protesting because elections have winners and losers. According to him, if there were any complaints, they were going to be heard through legal channels and that these protests were results of plans from foreign countries that’d been waiting for a chance for years. He said that if the protests did not stop, protesters and their leaders must ready themselves for the consequences.

2. He candidly hinted that he had been an Ahmadinejad supporter before the election, but the people shouldn’t had been influenced by his decision, thus, he didn’t publicly declare his support. He blamed the youth of being fooled by foreign spies and turning into thugs. Yet he claimed that by going back to spirituality, the nation’s problems could be solved. For a transcript of Khamenei’s speech please check this link: Khamenei's Speech in English - Why We Protest - IRAN

3. It is to be noted that neither Mousavi nor Karoubi joined Friday prayers under Mr. Khamanei, according to our reliable sources. But they had already decided not to hold a protest on Friday. It has also been confirmed that a large number of people were brought from the more religiously conservative rural areas of central Iran in order to fill the mosque and give the country a false sense of unity. Our sources also confirmed that many reform activists who had decided not to go were promptly arrested even as the Friday prayers were being held. The number of these people soared after the end of the prayers.

4. Reports of Mousavi being in danger have been refuted. His office was not burned or trashed as reported on main-stream media. According to my sources, he was been threatened to not say a word to his supporters, but he was not arrested by the IRG (Iranian Revolutionary Guard). He is safe and free and is preparing for tomorrow’s protest. Saturday’s rally that was planned in Tehran will take place at 4 PM near Enghelab Field. This is at a time when the government has officially denied Mousavi and Karoubi’s request to hold a rally on that day. Sources, though, claim that he has given the go ahead for the protest to be held on Saturday and urged all his supporters to participate in the similar fashion as before.

5. SMS is now working inside Iran, though, foreign news outlets; social networking websites and messengers still don’t work. Though sources have indicated that most twitter users have said that this is a potential trap so that the government could more easily be able to find out what their identities are and arrest them.

6. Large numbers of Basij and IRG troopers have been stationed within the city. There have been reports of attacks on the Basijis by armed Iranians. Sources claim that Basijis are being arrested by these men who seem to have some level of support by the police. Although confirmed by several sources that the young men are getting organized and call themselves the National Iranian Resistance, this Brief will not go so far as to confirm it entirely. Please wait for confirmation by either us or MSM.

7. Sources have also confirmed that several high-ranking IRG members have been arrested today. They join several other members who were arrested in the past two days. At the same time, it is being reported that a few members of the IRG were seen laying down their arms around isolated pockets of protesters, telling them they won’t fight fellow Iranians and had gone home. Sources also claim that the military is currently the only body that has not taken part in arrests, violence or other abuses. But according to them, Ahmadinejad has the support of the IRG and the Basji at this point.

8. It has been also reported that the IRG has been given full authorization to suppress the protests. Even though confirmed by twitter sources, again, this is too important a piece of information to be taken lightly. Coupled with Khamenei’s statements today, it potentially sets up a violent crackdown on any protests that will take place on Saturday.

9. Negotiations are ongoing within Qom between leading clerics to determine what they should do in case protests continue. Sources have not confirmed anything beyond this, though in the past, multiple high-ranking clerics, including Ayatollah Montazeri and Ayatollah Sanei had called on the government to negotiate with protesters. This seems to put Khamenei in a position where he lacks support from two very revered clerics.

10. Reformist activists are still being arrested in large numbers. The number of people being arrested now stands upwards of 5,000. Sources indicate that some key reformists have been tortured and are being forced to sign confessions stating they were guilty of inciting violence.

11. Twitter sources that have been able to tweet have told us that they will be most definitely joining the protest tomorrow even though it is very possible that they might be injured or killed. Some have even indicated that they are fully prepared to die as they are simply too tired of living under a repressive regime with little to no rights that they desire.

12. Protests are planned for many other major cities in Iran, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Mashhad and Qom. After the call by Mousavi, other protests are currently planned around the world to show solidarity with Iranians.

Finally, a bit of inside journalism from myself…

13. Anonymous and the Pirate Bay are working as hard as they can to provide proxies to people so they can at least use twitter to get us what is happening. At the time of the writing of this brief, the majority of helpers involved in helping Iranian voices to be heard have not slept for days or very little. One helper confirmed that he hadn’t had warm food until today since the protests began on Saturday (Although he’s a n00b and we don’t care about him much, j/k ). But still, fully half of the sources who were used in compiling the past two Green Briefs and this Brief have gone quiet, left Tehran or have been arrested as their identities are being found by the government. The paramedic who made people cry by his distress about his missing daughter that he found has left Tehran and is in a safe place now. Our hearts and thoughts go to all those who are bravely going to participate in tomorrow’s protests.


Finally a few words to those who are reading this:

Iranians who are trying to connect to twitter or other sites and need a way to connect please visit this website: Why We Protest - IRAN - View Single Post - Using Tor in Order to Surf Anonymously

Images and vids and instructions on how to send them to us: https://trancy.net/iran/

For my announcements, see @iran_translator

People Outside Iran: This is as clear and concise as I can be. I have not included ANYTHING that I have sensed to be remotely fishy, but human error will always manifests itself in even the most flawless of non-mathematical things. However, this includes nothing from the Western media, including the BBC which I have been generously using to inform people and I laud them for their courageous journalism.

People Inside Iran: Don't believe a WORD of what I am telling you. Do what you think is best, keeping everything in mind. I know LITTLE of what you know so make your decisions based on your OWN judgment.

People Who Want to Send Me Tweet Links: You don't need to find me, I will find you. Don't hassle yourself. Your voice will be heard through millions of others like me.

People Who Want to Hunt Me Down: I'm an Afghan. If you ever tried to attack me, you'll see my back only after your back has met the ground.

P.S. Please post this around and tweet and retweet. I promise to make the next one faster than this one. I had to wait to make sure everything was as accurate as humanly possible.