Iran
Joined: Aug 2009
Aviation Qualifications: Military
Posts: 9,328
Likes: 2,175
From: Texas
Joined: Aug 2009
Aviation Qualifications: Military
Posts: 9,328
Likes: 2,175
From: Texas
In Iran, the Big Winner Is None of the Above
Since the death in May of President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran has been in the throes of a surprise electoral contest. Not for the first time, one of the loudest campaigns has belonged not to any of the candidates, but to opponents of the regime who advocate boycotting the vote. Among those who refused to vote on June 28 were the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Shirin Ebadi and Narges Mohammadi, the labor leader Esmayil Bakhshi, former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi (under house arrest since 2011 for leading the Green Movement protests), and Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent reformist turned critic who is in prison.
Now the first-round results are in, and they suggest a grand victory for the boycotters. On election day, so few Iranians came out to vote by 6 p.m., when the polls were due to close, that the regime extended voting hours all the way to midnight (the legal maximum). And yet, even if the interior ministry’s numbers are to be believed, turnout climbed no higher than 39.9 percent, by far the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic.
The previous presidential election, in 2021, was much less competitive—effectively a coronation for Raisi—and turnout was 49.9 percent. This time around, not even the inclusion of a reformist candidate, Masud Pezeshkian, who had the full support of once-popular former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, brought voters to the polls. Nor did the tireless campaigning of former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. The Iranian regime urges its supporters to vote as an act of fealty to the Islamic Republic, so refusing to vote is traditionally understood as an expression of dissent against the regime and its policies. And the message this year is clear: In the first presidential election since the Women, Life, Freedom protests of 2022–23, the majority of Iranians are making clear with their voting behavior, just as they did in the streets, that they reject the Islamic Republic.
Now the first-round results are in, and they suggest a grand victory for the boycotters. On election day, so few Iranians came out to vote by 6 p.m., when the polls were due to close, that the regime extended voting hours all the way to midnight (the legal maximum). And yet, even if the interior ministry’s numbers are to be believed, turnout climbed no higher than 39.9 percent, by far the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic.
The previous presidential election, in 2021, was much less competitive—effectively a coronation for Raisi—and turnout was 49.9 percent. This time around, not even the inclusion of a reformist candidate, Masud Pezeshkian, who had the full support of once-popular former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, brought voters to the polls. Nor did the tireless campaigning of former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. The Iranian regime urges its supporters to vote as an act of fealty to the Islamic Republic, so refusing to vote is traditionally understood as an expression of dissent against the regime and its policies. And the message this year is clear: In the first presidential election since the Women, Life, Freedom protests of 2022–23, the majority of Iranians are making clear with their voting behavior, just as they did in the streets, that they reject the Islamic Republic.
Thread Starter
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Joined: Jul 2000
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 24,509
Likes: 7,254
From: Peripatetic
Iranian frigate IRIS Sahand appears to have had "an incident", and yes, frigates only do this when they're distressed.
It'd recently gained a lot of top weight in refit - it's possible gravity has resolved any debates about the wisdom of doing so in the traditional manner.
It'd recently gained a lot of top weight in refit - it's possible gravity has resolved any debates about the wisdom of doing so in the traditional manner.
Last edited by ORAC; 7th July 2024 at 17:12.
Thread Starter
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Joined: Jul 2000
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 24,509
Likes: 7,254
From: Peripatetic
Salvage effort to recover 🇮🇷Iranian frigate IRIS Sahand frigate that capsized in the port of Bandar Abbas has failed.
Ship was lifted and moved to another area but cables holding the ship broke and it capsized again, now fully submerged in deeper water.
The conventional Iranian navy is mainly a danger to itself...
Frigate IRIS Talayieh, rolled over in a dry dock in Bandar Abbas, Dec 2021.
Naval Auxiliary tanker IRIS Kharg, caught fire and sank in Gulf of Oman, Jun 2021.
Support ship Konarak hit by a 'friendly' missile fired by IRIS Jamarn killing 19 sailors, May 2020.
Frigate IRIS Damavand sank after running aground, Jan 2018.
Ship was lifted and moved to another area but cables holding the ship broke and it capsized again, now fully submerged in deeper water.
The conventional Iranian navy is mainly a danger to itself...
Frigate IRIS Talayieh, rolled over in a dry dock in Bandar Abbas, Dec 2021.
Naval Auxiliary tanker IRIS Kharg, caught fire and sank in Gulf of Oman, Jun 2021.
Support ship Konarak hit by a 'friendly' missile fired by IRIS Jamarn killing 19 sailors, May 2020.
Frigate IRIS Damavand sank after running aground, Jan 2018.
Thread Starter
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Joined: Jul 2000
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 24,509
Likes: 7,254
From: Peripatetic
🇮🇷Iranian frigate IRIS Sahand that capsized in Bandar Abbas on 9 July being salvaged.
Via @mhmiranusa
Via @mhmiranusa
Joined: Dec 2020
Aviation Qualifications: Non-Aircrew
Posts: 1,568
Likes: 1,379
From: Over the rainbow
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 216
Likes: 54
From: Somerset
N
Joined: Jan 2019
Aviation Qualifications: LAME
Posts: 803
Likes: 642
From: Cumbria
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 5,655
Likes: 500
From: Canada
This is how wars start. The missile hit on the soccer field was almost certainly not deliberate. The missile was either missed programmed or malfunctioned but after it killed all those children, Israel had to respond.
Now an escalatory ladder has started that is going to be hard to stop.
Now an escalatory ladder has started that is going to be hard to stop.
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,616
Likes: 205
From: aus
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,515
Likes: 151
From: A better place.
Eyewitnesses who were with him at the time claiming it was a `small missile' that struck the room he was in.
Damage to some windows doors and walls.
Elbit systems has developed a micro-drone that can be launched from a quadcopter - technology certainly exists.
From The Telegraph:
“It was a missile,” Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told reporters in Tehran.
“The missile targeted the room where Ismail Haniyeh was present. The impact of the missile caused the windows to shatter and the walls to collapse. Investigation by our Iranian brothers is ongoing.”
Damage to some windows doors and walls.
Elbit systems has developed a micro-drone that can be launched from a quadcopter - technology certainly exists.
From The Telegraph:
Deep, perhaps unprecedented, Mossad infiltration
Whether the munition was delivered by drone or a different kind of projectile, a launch from inside Iran would suggest deep, perhaps unprecedented, infiltration by Mossad.“It was a missile,” Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told reporters in Tehran.
“The missile targeted the room where Ismail Haniyeh was present. The impact of the missile caused the windows to shatter and the walls to collapse. Investigation by our Iranian brothers is ongoing.”
Last edited by tartare; 1st August 2024 at 01:20.