Tuesday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 7.19.2005:

Iranian opposition tracking, killing senior military officers

The World Tribune:

Iran's opposition is targeting senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iranian opposition sources said several senior officers of the IRGC have been tracked in major cities, including Teheran. The sources reported the killing of several officers of the IRGC and the Basij militia.

On July 14, an IRGC colonel was stabbed to death in Teheran, Iran's media said, according to Middle East Newsline. The sources said Col. Morteza Moinfar, commander of the Quds Force, was killed by several unidentified assailants.

The Quds Force has been regarded as the foreign intelligence service of the IRGC. The unit has been responsible for aiding Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah as well as other insurgency groups in the Middle East, Asia and South America. READ MORE

There are reports that this was a "signature murder" similar to the execution of other famous dissidents. Thus leading us to speculate that this murder was ordered by Rafsanjani or rogue elements associated with him. If so, it would be further evidence of a power struggle within the regime.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Eli Lake, The NY Sun reported that officials at Iran's Evin prison sent political prisoner Akbar Ganji to Tehran's Milad hospital.
• The Wall Street Journal said, right now the task that confronts people who care about freedom is not to admire Mr. Ganji's prose but to save his life.
• There are several new blogs discussing the plight of Akbar Ganji: Ganji Resistance and Human Rights News on Iran.
• The United Nations released a statement on Akbar Ganji calling for medical treatment.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Majlis Speaker Gholam ali Haddad Adel said, Ganji's case is unlikely to turn into a plight and reach the point that satellite networks, databases and Mr Bush are talking about. A response.
• Tehran Times reported that Iran will restart activities at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility in the near future.
• Monday Morning reported that Police in Tehran are preparing a fresh crackdown targeting “open examples of corruption in tourist and recreation resorts” around the Iranian capital.
• Yahoo News reported that Britain protested furiously to Iran over comments by a leading Iranian politician that the London bombings might have been deliberately carried out by the British government.
• Radioblogger released an interview with Victor Davis Hanson on fighting the war on terror.
• Iranian.ws reported that the man linked to murder of Canadian journalist is touted as Iran's new minister of justice.
• The Peninsula reported that Iran demanded that ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein be tried over the 1980-88 war.
• And finally, Tehran Times reported that Iran's Supreme Leader spoke out about the Iraqi insurgency saying that, The Zionists are probably involved in planning these events. A response.