Key witness disputes Hejazi account of Neda death: Via PressTV.ir .

Editor: Days after her killing, Mr. Panahi spoke to The Los Angeles Times in a much more defiant mood, after the Iranian government had denied her family permission to bury or mourn her in accordance with Shiite tradition:

More than a month after Neda Aqa-Soltan was killed in the post-election frenzy in Iran, a key witness to the incident moves to set the record straight.

Neda, 26, was shot dead on June 20 in an alley away from the scene of clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Tehran.

She immediately became an international icon after graphic videos of her bleeding to death in a matter of seconds, grabbed the attention of world media outlets.
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Iran and dissent: where it counts is at the Ayatollah level: Via Examiner NY.

Now, it's serious.  Not that it had not been serious before, as Iranians were appalled by the results of the recent presidential election and took to the streets and protested, set vehicles and trash cans on fire, were arrested and beaten by police, - and who could forget  beautiful Neda, so brutally shot by thugs, and rising above the violence to represent the voice of the people? But it didn't seem to matter. Five hundred people were imprisoned; Moussavi himself was under threat of arrest for 'disobeying direct orders' from Ayatollah Khameini that Iran had to accept the 'legitimate' results of the election.  That was the turning point of 'serious'.

Though Ahmadinejad was Khameini's little darling, it was perhaps a fatal mistake for the aging ayatollah to align himself with a specific candidate. He lost credibility, prestige, and as reported today, the word on the street in Iran is that people no longer fear him as the voice of ultimate authority. He's just a man. And he's being challenged by one of the most influential and wealthy men in Iran: Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
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VOA News - Former Iranian President Criticizes Hard-Liners in Sermon: Via Voice of America.

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a blistering Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University, before a crowd of thousands, warning those in high places to abide by the will of the people and to heal the wounds of the recent crisis.

Thousands of people chanted as they listened to former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani deliver his much-anticipated Friday prayer sermon, and key figures of the opposition movement, including defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammed Khatami, attended in a calculated show of force.

Former President Rafsanjani delivered a scathing attack against those in power, arguing that "if the people are not content with the government, it loses its legitimacy." He said this was the "way of the Imam, [Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini]" and also the "way of the Prophet [Mohammed]."
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Iran's One-Two Punch to Reset Reality: Via World Watch - CBS News.

ran's state-controlled media are waging an all-out propaganda assault to cast post-election unrest in the Islamic Republic as a futile attempt by "the West" to interfere.

From news stories alleging a British Embassy staffer was a ring-leader of the dramatic street protests, to editorial columns deriding a "West that imagined that supporting chaos in Iran would reduce the Islamic Republic's power," the message is clear.

Iran's Fars news agency reported Wednesday, citing unnamed officials, that one of three U.K. Embassy staffers (eight were arrested, five have been freed, all were Iranian nationals) still in detention, "had a remarkable role during the recent unrest in managing it behind the scenes."
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How Iran's Disputed Election is Playing in Iraq: Via Newsweek International | Newsweek.com .

Iraq's leaders are trying to say as little as possible about Iran's post-election problems—in public, anyway.

It's been hard not to laugh at some Iraqi officials' poses of complete indifference to the upheaval in Tehran. They're trying their best to pretend they don't know or care what's happening there, unwilling to commit themselves until they know which side will prevail—but the act isn't very convincing. "Nothing is going on in Iran," says Sheik Jalal al-Deen al-Sagheer, a senior parliamentarian from Iraq's ruling Shiite coalition, the Unified Iraqi Alliance. And he says it with almost perfect seriousness. Some officials do admit when pushed hard enough that "nothing" may not be the precise term for street riots in Tehran, deaths, arrests, and signs of revolt among Iran's senior clergy. But beyond that, they don't want to say anything too specific. "The Iranian election is an internal issue," the Iraqi prime minister told local journalists a few days ago. "Any confusion that happens in it will affect Iraq because it is a neighboring country and its stability matters to us."

No matter what Iraq's leaders may think of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they don't want to antagonize Iran's Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the man who makes the big decisions, and after six years of war and insurgency, Iraq is in no condition to challenge him and his armed forces.
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