Word: ayatullah
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...miles north of Baghdad, is the base for the controversial People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, also known as the MEK. A formerly-armed group that critics say resembles a cult, the MEK helped overturn the Shah in 1979, but in the '80s clashed with former Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini and fled Iran. Saddam Hussein let the exiles set up bases in Iraq - Camp Ashraf is the last standing - and gave the group arms and training to help him fight his war with Iran...
...Though pressure from the rape and torture charges sparked a promise by Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei to bring any abusers to justice, the government is now, evidently, pushing back. A parliamentary committee that heard the evidence of abuse collected by the opposition summarily dismissed the charges last week, but two men who jointly presented the claims on behalf of the opposition - top Karroubi aid Morteza Alviri and top Mousavi aid Ali Reza Behesti - were arrested in the raids on Tuesday. The editor of Karroubi's website, which has also showcased the abuse allegations, was also arrested. The day before...
...considerable coverage by newspapers and television stations throughout the United States and Europe. A year later, many of these same outlets would, without irony, breathlessly cover the story of young people in Iran struggling bravely for democracy against an ideologically rigid regime. (See pictures of the long shadow of Ayatullah Khomeini...
...universities will not open their doors for the fall semester out of concern that students will extend the allegedly Western-inspired protest movement to Iran's many campuses. The reality is that the Islamic Republic has no one to blame but itself. There is a quote by the late Ayatullah Khomeini that greets kids at the beginning of each elementary school textbook: "Omid e man ba shoma dabistani hast" (My hope lies with you). Iran's latest social upheaval is not yet a revolution. If it does become one, it will do so because the students are once again ahead...
...initial government response to these allegations - deny and dismiss - backfired once Karroubi began to produce eyewitness testimonies in the newspaper he owns. Now the regime is reversing strategy and trying to placate growing indignation among the populace and political hierarchy. Last week, Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei vowed that "no crime or atrocity will go unpunished." On Aug. 31, the semi-official Mehrs News Agency said the government admitted that Ruholamini had died in prison. The chief youth organizer of Mousavi's campaign was also released after two months in jail...