WarSclerotic

Iran Opposition Leaders Should Be Tried And Executed, Hardline Lawmakers Say.

TEHRAN, Iran — Hardline Iranian lawmakers called on Tuesday for the country’s opposition leaders to face trial and be put to death, a day after clashes between opposition protesters and security forces left one person dead and dozens injured.

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the opposition rally Monday in solidarity with Egypt’s popular revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power. The demonstration was the first major show of strength from Iran’s beleaguered opposition in more than a year.

At an open session of parliament Tuesday, pro-government legislators demanded opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami face be held responsible for the protests.

Pumping their fists in the air, the lawmakers chanted “death to Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami.”

“We believe the people have lost their patience and demand capital punishment” for the opposition leaders, 221 lawmakers said in a statement.

Hardliners have long sought to put senior opposition figures on trial, but the calls for the death penalty signaled an escalation in their demands.

Iran has already tried scores of opposition figures and activists on charges of fomenting the mass protests following the country’s disputed 2009 presidential elections that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win a second term. More than 80 of people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.

The opposition says scores were killed in the massive crackdown on those protests, while the government says only around 30 people died.

Following Monday’s opposition demonstrations, the first since December 2009, authorities vowed to move quickly to stifle the opposition before its gains momentum.

“The judiciary will quickly and resolutely deal with major elements and those who violated public order and peace,” the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary and state prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, told the official IRNA news agency.

The U.S. has voiced support for the demonstrators. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday the protesters “deserve to have the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt and are part of their own birthright.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, on Tuesday rejected Clinton’s remarks, and accused the U.S. of “meddling” in Iranian affairs.

Also Tuesday, Iranian officials confirmed that one person was killed in the protests.

IRNA quoted the security chief for Iran’s Culture Ministry, Gholam Ali Zarei, as saying Sane Jaleh, a 26-year-old student at Tehran’s University of Art, was killed. He said Jaleh was a government supporter.

Acting police commander Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan told IRNA that one person injured in the clashes remains in critical condition. He also confirmed that several people were arrested, but did not specify how many.

Radan claimed that members of the armed opposition group MEK, or Mujahedeen Khalq, opened fire at police and protesters, IRNA said. He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.

He also accused the U.S., Britain and Israel of stoking the protests – a common allegation from officials in Tehran following any unrest in Iran.

Bahrain protesters take control of main square.

 

Photo by: Associated Press

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
02/15/2011 15:41

Second demonstrator killed in clashes with police; authorities fire tear gas, as protesters mourn man killed in first Egypt-inspired protest in Gulf.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Thousands of protesters in Bahrain were filling a main square in the Gulf nation’s capital Tuesday, as Egypt-inspired demonstrations gripped the country for a second day.

Security forces appeared to hold back as the crowds poured into Pearl Square in Manama. The dramatic move came just hours after a second protester died in clashes with police in the strategic island kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Oppositions groups are calling for greater political freedoms and an end to the ruling Sunni monarchy’s grip on key decisions and government posts. The nation’s majority Shi’ites have long complained of discrimination.

Earlier Tuesday, security forces in Bahrain fired tear gas and bird shot on mourners gathered for a funeral procession for a man killed in the first Egypt-inspired protests to reach the Gulf, sharply raising the chances for further unrest.

Officials at Bahrain’s Salmaniya Medical Complex — the meeting point for thousands of mourners — said a 31-year-old man died from injuries from bird shot fired during the melee in the hospital’s parking lot. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to journalists.

The latest death raises the possibility of more rallies and challenges to the ruling Sunni monarchy in Bahrain — a strategic Western ally and home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

After the clash, riot police eventually withdrew and allowed the funeral cortege for 21-year-old Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima to proceed from the hospital, the main state-run medical facility in Bahrain’s capital Manama.

Mushaima was killed Monday during clashes with security forces trying to halt marches to demand greater freedoms and political rights. At least 25 people were injured in the barrage of rubber bullets, bird shot and tear gas, family members said.

A statement from Bahrain’s interior minister, Lt.-Gen. Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, expressed “sincere condolences and deep sympathy” to Mushaima’s family. He stressed that the death will be investigated and charges would be filed if authorities determined excessive force was used against the protesters.

But that’s unlikely to appease the protesters, whose “day of rage” coincided with major anti-government demonstrations in Iran and Yemen.

In the past week, Bahrain’s rulers have attempted to undermine calls for reform by promising nearly $2,700 for each family and pledging to loosen state controls on the media.

A main Shi’ite opposition group, Al Wefaq, denounced the “bullying tactics and barbaric policies pursued by the security forces” against peaceful marchers staging the first major rallies in the Gulf since uprisings toppled long-ruling regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.

Bahrain’s protesters, however, claim they do not seek to overthrow the ruling monarchy but want greater political freedoms and sweeping changes in how the country is run. The demands include transferring more decision-making powers to the parliament and breaking the monarchy’s grip on senior government posts.

In Kuwait, opposition groups had called for an anti-government protest last week, but shifted the date to March 8 after the resignation of the country’s scandal-tainted interior minister.

Iran, Yemen, and Bahrain Too!.

Written by NY Times

Tuesday, 15 February 2011 06:53

A day after riot police in Iran beat protesters and fired tear gas to contain the most significant street protests since the end of the 2009 uprising there, protests continued on Tuesday in other parts of the region as demonstrators clashed with security forces in Bahrain and Yemen. In all three countries, the eruptions had been inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, where predominantly young protesters mobilizing their supporters with digital technology succeeded in ousting entrenched authoritarian regimes that had once seemed untouchable. In Bahrain, where a Sunni Muslim elite rules a largely Shiite nation, police clashed with mourners following the body of a protester killed on Monday. As the police fired tear gas in an attempt to block the funeral procession, a second demonstrator was killed by gunfire, human rights organizations said. The largest Shiite bloc in the Parliament, the Wefaq National Islamic Society, announced it was suspending its participation in the body. ‘This is the first step. We want to see dialogue,” Ibrahim Mattar, a Wefaq parliamentarian, told Reuters. “In the coming days, we are either going to resign from the council or continue.” In Yemen, demonstrators emulating the protesters in Cairo scuffled with police, The Associated Press reported, as thousands marched in Sana, the capital, for a fifth consecutive day demanding political reforms and the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who promised to step down by 2013 in response to earlier protests. But that pledge has not been enough to defuse anger with his American-backed rule. Some 2,000 supporters of the government also gathered, The A.P. said, raising concern about clashes similar to those that seized the capital on Monday. Riot police blocked the main road leading to the city center and clashed with protesters throwing stones. Three protesters were injured and rushed to the hospital in ambulances. The protests followed clashes on Monday when the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into crowds of peaceful protesters from the Shiite majority population. So much tear gas was fired that the officers themselves vomited. Yemen, too, witnessed a fourth straight day of protests on Monday when hundreds of student protesters clashed with pro-government forces. In Tehran, a spokesman for Mir Hussein Moussavi, a leading opponent of the government, said Monday’s protests had shown that the so-called Green Movement, formed to challenge the disputed election in 2009, had scored a “great victory” and was “alive and well” despite a huge government crackdown when the government quashed dissent through the shooting of demonstrators, mass trials, torture, lengthy jail sentences and even executions of some of those taking part. Breaking an official silence on the demonstrations, the Fars news agency, a semiofficial service linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the demonstrations had been conducted by “hypocrites, monarchists, hooligans and seditionists” whose leaders were puppets of Britain and the United States. It ridiculed them for not chanting slogans about Egypt, the nominal reason for the protests, and said an unspecified number of people had been arrested. Iranian human rights activists and police said on person was killed and several injured in protests that continued until close to midnight. The authorities had refused to issue a permit for the demonstration but Amir Arjomand, the spokesman for Mr. Moussavi said: “If the government had issued a permit and guaranteed the safety of the people there would certainly have been millions of people out in Tehran and other cities.” The size of the protests in Iran was unclear. Witness accounts and news reports from inside the country suggested that perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators in several cities defied strong warnings and took to the streets. The unrest was an acute embarrassment for Iranian leaders, who had sought to portray the toppling of two secular rulers, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, as a triumph of popular support for Islam in the Arab world. They had refused permission to Iranian opposition groups seeking to march in solidarity with the Egyptians, and warned journalists and photographers based in the country, with success, not to report on the protests. Iranian demonstrators portrayed the Arab insurrections as a different kind of triumph. “Mubarak, Ben Ali, now it’s time for Sayyid Ali!” Iranian protesters chanted in Persian on videos posted online that appeared to be from Tehran, referring to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian authorities have shown that they will not hesitate to crush demonstrations with deadly force. Other governments across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf also moved aggressively to stamp out protests on Monday. In Egypt, the army stuck to its promise not to attack demonstrators, but the death toll during the protests leading to Mr. Mubarak’s downfall reached about 300 people, according to the United Nations and human rights organizations. Most fatalities appeared to have occurred when pro-government thugs attacked demonstrators.

Stuxnet Scored Quick Hit on First Target, Says Researcher – PCWorld.

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld Feb 15, 2011 1:27 am

Stuxnet infected its first target just 12 hours after hackers finished the worm, an indication that the malware scored an almost instant bulls-eye, a researcher said today.

The makers of Stuxnet launched the worm “as soon as they had it ready,” Liam O Murchu, manager of operations of Symantec’s security response team, said in an interview Monday.

“They knew where they wanted to deliver it, and to whom, and because that domain was targeted several different times, it shows they really wanted to get into [that target],” O Murchu added.

On Friday, Symantec published new information on Stuxnet, the worm that most suspect was aimed at Iran’s nuclear program, including the uranium enrichment centrifuges at its underground Natanz facility.

In its newest Stuxnet analysis, Symantec said that 10 original infections in three waves over an 11-month period had targeted five domains linked to organizations within Iran. Symantec has declined to name the organizations, saying only that all five were involved in industrial processing.

As the worm spread, those 10 infected PCs later hijacked about 12,000 Iranian computers.

Symantec also compared each worm variant’s compile time- and date-stamp — when the attackers finished work on the malicious code — with each version’s first infection to track the speed with which Stuxnet did its damage.

It took the initial variant, compiled on June 22, 2009, just 12 hours to infect its first PC, said O Murchu, one of three Symantec experts who have spent months digging into the worm’s code. The short interval means that the attackers planned carefully, he said, and had pinpointed their targets long before they had wrapped up their work.

Other targets in the first wave were infected six days, 14 days and 26 days after the worm code was compiled.

Previously, Symantec has said that one target of Stuxnet was the Natanz facility , where Iran houses thousands of high-speed centrifuges that can be used to enrich uranium into bomb-grade material. Within Stuxnet is code crafted to grab control of the high-speed electrical motors that spin centrifuges. According to Symantec, Stuxnet sabotages those centrifuges by speeding up and slowing down their motors.

Iranian officials have confirmed that the worm infected tens of thousands of the country’s PCs, and have admitted that Stuxnet affected the operation of some of the centrifuges used to enrich uranium. The country has blamed Israel and the U.S. for the attacks.

Last month the New York Times, citing confidential sources, said that the worm was a joint American-Israeli project , and had been tested on Iranian-style centrifuges at the latter’s secret nuclear facility at Dimona.

The average time between compilation and infection for all 10 initial attacks was 19 days, and the median was 26 days, said Symantec.

Another target in the first wave was also the most important, said O Murchu, who noted that the organization was hit not only in mid-2009, but also by two later waves in March and April 2010. That organization was the only one of the five infected by all three attacks.

Of the three waves of Stuxnet attacks — June 2009, March 2010 and April 2010 — the second was the most successful, according to O Murchu.

The March 2010 variant was the first to include an exploit of a vulnerability in how Windows parsed shortcut files, the small files displayed by icons on the desktop, on the toolbar and in the Start menu that launch applications and documents when clicked. By crafting malicious shortcuts, the hackers could automatically execute malware whenever a user viewed the shortcut or the contents of a folder containing the malevolent shortcut.

“That exploit was far more effective than the original AutoRun attack,” said O Murchu, referring to the June 2009 Stuxnet’s reliance on malformed files contained on a USB drive. “[Using the Windows shortcut vulnerability] allowed [the March 2010] Stuxnet to spread so much faster.”

Stuxnet was able to exploit the shortcut bug for months before the vulnerability went public in June 2010. Microsoft rushed an emergency patch to customers in early August.

Although there were only minor differences between the March 2010 and April 2010 variants, the former infected more machines, and had a better chance of reaching the intended target, said O Murchu. He was at a loss to explain the difference, but speculated that the first PC infected by the March wave may have been better connected to other Iranian computer networks.

Most analysts have assumed that the initial attacks were delivered on infected USB drives since it would be unlikely that Natanz is directly connected to the Internet. O Murchu said it was impossible to tell from the Stuxnet code if that was the case, however.

“It could have been delivered on a USB drive, but whether it was, or as an e-mail attachment, we can’t tell,” he said.

Symantec’s revised report on Stuxnet can be downloaded from the company’s site ( download PDF ).

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com .

‘This may be the first spark of revolution in Iran’.

The protesters in Egypt, who brought down Hosni Mubarak over the weekend after 18 days of sustained demonstrations, have given the Iranian public a clear lesson, according to Menashe Amir, a veteran Israeli expert on Iranian affairs: When you take to the streets, don’t go home again.

Amid news of clashes at many locales across Iran on Monday – with Iranian forces said to have used clubs and tear gas against demonstrators, leaked footage showing mass protests at Tehran University, hundreds of arrests and reports of at least one fatality – the question of the hour is whether Iranians have learned from the Egyptian precedent and are willing to try and replicate it.

Monday’s demonstrations were initiated by Iranian opposition figures in ostensible solidarity with the popular protests in Egypt and elsewhere, but were plainly intended, after months of relative quiet, to revive the post-election protests of 2009.

According to Amir, that goal, at least, was achieved.

“After a year of silence, everyone thought the opposition was dead,” he said. “They had sought permits to demonstrate and, when refused, simply withdrew. This time, they went ahead despite the refusal.”

By publicly endorsing the Egyptian people’s rights to hold protests and to achieve their freedom, analyst Amir noted, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his regime exacerbated the problems they now face from their restless people.

“How, after all, it will be wondered, can Ahmadinejad say ‘yes’ to the rights of the Arab peoples, but deny those same rights to his own people?”

Further complicating matters for the Iranian regime on Monday was the fact that Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul just happened to be visiting Tehran, and used a joint press conference with Ahmadinejad to declare that “the desires of people must be taken into account. In this respect, fundamental reforms must be carried out, whether economic or political.”

Iranian-born Amir, Israel Radio’s long-time Persian language broadcaster, said he had heard reports, furthermore, that the Gul-Ahmadinejad press conference was cut short after the Turkish visitor indicated that he intended to accept an invitation from the organizers of the Iranian solidarity rallies.

Plainly concerned ahead of time about the potential for escalating protests, the Iranian regime placed two key opposition leaders, defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, under house arrest days ago. On his website on Monday, Mousavi said the street around his home had been blocked off, and his and his family’s phone lines cut.

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Hamadani, reportedly warned that “any incitement will be dealt with severely,” and that “the conspirators are nothing but corpses.”

Amir said the regime had slowed the Internet and interfered in text-messaging networks. All foreign journalists were also barred, and information was leaking out mainly via social networking sites, YouTube and other new media channels.

Critically, Amir said, the regime gave the large contingents of security personnel it sent into the streets orders not to fire on protesters. But those orders for restraint, if maintained, said Amir, could create a climate for steadily growing public participation in demonstrations.

“As long as they are not firing on people, more people will come out,” he said.

Amir said there were some reports of intervention by Basiji paramilitary forces and the Revolutionary Guard, which put down the major protests that followed Iran’s fraudulent presidential elections in June 2009, killing hundreds of people. Some official Iranian sources, it was reported on Monday night, were blaming “Tel Aviv” for fomenting unrest – perhaps as part of an effort by the regime to justify the use of force against the protesters.

In contrast to 2009, when the Obama administration chose not to energetically encourage the protests against the ayatollahs’ regime, the State Department has opened what Amir described as a “symbolically significant” Twitter account in Farsi.

“We want to join in your conversation,” it tweeted initially.

Later posts, according to The Associated Press, “noted the inconsistencies of Iran’s government supporting Egypt’s popular uprising but stifling opposition at home.”

Amir, who pointed out that President Barack Obama “completely supported” the anti- Mubarak Egyptian protests, recalled that in June 2009, the president was waiting to hear back from the Tehran regime on its nuclear program, and also that overt US support for the protests then could have proved counter-productive, in that it could easily have been spun by the regime in Tehran as ostensible proof that the “Great Satan” was trying to orchestrate ferment in Iran.

In the wake of the patently genuine uprisings across the Arab world in recent weeks, any such claim by the Tehran regime today would presumably be less credible.

“This may be the first spark of revolution in Iran,” said Amir.

“But for it to work, people will have to not be scared. In 2009, they demonstrated and went home. The Egyptians taught them a lesson – don’t go home.

If the Iranian forces do what the Egyptian army did, and don’t fire on them, they’ll keep coming, and the regime will have a problem.” Tellingly, he added, “the Iranian people’s demand is no longer limited to fixing the election result and returning to the ‘glorious past’ of [Ayatollah] Khomeini.” In his assessment, “most Iranians want real regime change, as demanded in Egypt and Tunisia.”

Amir said it was significant that the protesters on Monday gathered in several cities across Iran – as many as 30, according to some reports, including Shiraz, Isfahan and Mashhad – and at several squares in Tehran, rather than the single intended focus of the rallies, in the capital’s Azadi (freedom) Square.

“The protests were splintered, which meant they were weakened,” Amir said, “but if all the demonstrators had gathered in one place, it would have been easier for the regime to suppress them. One key test will be whether they stay out into the night. Another will be whether they come to feel strong enough to concentrate in one square and refuse to leave.”

Iran confirms 1 killed, dozens injured in protests.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian police on Tuesday confirmed that one person was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters a day before.

The official IRNA news agency quoted acting police commander Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan who said dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, were also wounded in Monday’s protests. Radan said one of the injured was in a critical condition.

He also said several people were arrested, but did not specify how many.

Radan blamed the violence on the Iraq-based Iranian opposition group, MEK. He provided no proof to back up his claim.

Monday’s clashes between police and tens of thousands of protesters wracked central Tehran as opposition supporters tried to evoke the spirit of Egypt’s recent popular uprising.

The opposition called for the demonstration in solidarity with Egypt’s popular revolt that a few days earlier forced president Hosni Mubarak to resign after nearly 30 years in office. The rally was the first major show of strength for Iran’s cowed opposition in more than a year.

Police used tear gas against the protesters in central Tehran’s Enghelab, or Revolution, square and in Imam Hossein square, as well as in other nearby main streets. Demonstrators responded by setting garbage bins on fire to protect themselves from the stinging white clouds.

The pro-government Fars News Agency initially reported that a bystander was shot dead at the hands of protesters.

Eyewitnesses at the time reported at least three protesters injured by bullets were taken to a hospital in central Tehran while dozens of others were hospitalized because of severe wounds as a result of being beaten.

“An Iranian dies but doesn’t accept humiliation,” demonstrators chanted. “Death to the dictator,” they said, in a chant directed at hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Security forces on motorcycles could also be seen chasing protesters through the streets, according to eyewitnesses.

Fars, which is linked to the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force called protesters “hypocrites, monarchists, ruffians and seditionists,” and ridiculed them for not chanting any slogans about Egypt as they had originally promised.

The agency added that an unspecified number of protesters were arrested and handed over to police and security officials.

Opposition website kaleme.com reported that similar rallies took place in the central city of Isfahan and Shiraz in the south. Security forces used force to disperse them as well.

Foreign media are banned from covering street protests in Iran.

Following the announcements by the opposition that they would attempt to hold a new rally in solidarity with the Egypt uprising, Iran’s security forces cut phone lines and blockaded the home of an opposition leader in attempts to stop him attending the planned rally.

Police and militiamen poured onto the streets of Tehran to challenge the marches, which officials worry could turn into demonstrations against Iran’s ruling system.

The security clampdown is reminiscent of the backlash that crushed a wave of massive protests after Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in June 2009. But opposition supporters revived a tactic from the unrest, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or God is Great, from rooftops and balconies into the early hours Monday in a sign of defiance toward Iran’s leadership.

The reformist website kaleme.com said police stationed several cars in front of the home of Mir Hossein Mousavi ahead of the demonstration called for Monday in central Tehran.

Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since last week after they asked the government for permission to hold a rally on Feb. 14 in support of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

On Sunday, the opposition renewed its call to supporters to rally, and accused the government of hypocrisy by voicing support for the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings while refusing to allow Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.

Across central Tehran, riot police, many on motorbikes, fanned out to prevent any demonstration, witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from authorities.

The uprising in Egypt opened a rare chance for the political gambit by Iran’s opposition.

Ahmadinejad claimed the Egyptians who toppled President Hosni Mubarak took inspiration from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which brought down a Western-backed monarchy. Iran’s opposition movement used the comments to push the government into a corner and request permission to march in support of Egypt’s protesters.

Iranian officials quickly backpedaled and said no pro-Egypt rallies were allowed — bringing sharp criticism from the White House and others.

Karroubi and Mousavi have compared the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia with their own postelection protest movement. Mousavi said Iran’s demonstrations were the starting point but that all the uprisings aimed at ending the “oppression of the rulers.”

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a visit to Iran, urged governments in the Middle East to listen to the demands of their people.

“When leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands,” IRNA quoted Gul as saying Monday.

Iran blames Israel, US for supporting protests.

Hardline Iranian lawmakers called on Tuesday for the country’s opposition leaders to face trial and be put to death, a day after clashes between opposition protesters and security forces left one person dead and dozens injured.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for the opposition rally Monday in solidarity with Egypt‘s popular revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power. The demonstration was the first major show of strength from Iran’s beleaguered opposition in more than a year.

At an open session of parliament Tuesday, pro-government legislators demanded opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami face be held responsible for the protests.

“The main aim of Americans was to simulate the recent events in the Middle East in Iran to divert attentions from those countries,” Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani told state radio, according to a Reuters report.

“We have information…that America, Britain and Israel guided the opposition leaders who called for the rally,” deputy police chief Ahmadreza Radan said, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Pumping their fists in the air, the lawmakers chanted “death to Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami.”

“We believe the people have lost their patience and demand capital punishment” for the opposition leaders, 221 lawmakers said in a statement.

Hardliners have long sought to put senior opposition figures on trial, but the calls for the death penalty signaled an escalation in their demands.

Iran has already tried scores of opposition figures and activists on charges of fomenting the mass protests following the country’s disputed 2009 presidential elections that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win a second term. More than 80 of people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.

The opposition says scores were killed in the massive crackdown on those protests, while the government says only around 30 people died.

Following Monday’s opposition demonstrations, the first since December 2009, authorities vowed to move quickly to stifle the opposition before its gains momentum.

“The judiciary will quickly and resolutely deal with major elements and those who violated public order and peace,” the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary and state prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, told the official IRNA news agency.

The US has voiced support for the demonstrators. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday the protesters “deserve to have the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt and are part of their own birthright.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, on Tuesday rejected Clinton’s remarks, and accused the US of “meddling” in Iranian affairs.

Also Tuesday, Iranian officials confirmed that one person was killed in the protests.

IRNA quoted the security chief for Iran’s Culture Ministry, Gholam Ali Zarei, as saying Sane Jaleh, a 26-year-old student at Tehran’s University of Art, was killed. He said Jaleh was a government supporter.

Acting police commander Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan told IRNA that one person injured in the clashes remains in critical condition. He also confirmed that several people were arrested, but did not specify how many.

Radan claimed that members of the armed opposition group MEK, or Mujahedeen Khalq, opened fire at police and protesters, IRNA said. He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.

Jpost.com staff contributed to this report

Bahrain protesters take control of main square.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Thousands of protesters in Bahrain were filling a main square in the Gulf nation’s capital Tuesday, as Egypt-inspired demonstrations gripped the country for a second day.

Security forces appeared to hold back as the crowds poured into Pearl Square in Manama. The dramatic move came just hours after a second protester died in clashes with police in the strategic island kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Oppositions groups are calling for greater political freedoms and an end to the ruling Sunni monarchy’s grip on key decisions and government posts. The nation’s majority Shi’ites have long complained of discrimination.

Earlier Tuesday, security forces in Bahrain fired tear gas and bird shot on mourners gathered for a funeral procession for a man killed in the first Egypt-inspired protests to reach the Gulf, sharply raising the chances for further unrest.

Officials at Bahrain’s Salmaniya Medical Complex — the meeting point for thousands of mourners — said a 31-year-old man died from injuries from bird shot fired during the melee in the hospital’s parking lot. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to journalists.

The latest death raises the possibility of more rallies and challenges to the ruling Sunni monarchy in Bahrain — a strategic Western ally and home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

After the clash, riot police eventually withdrew and allowed the funeral cortege for 21-year-old Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima to proceed from the hospital, the main state-run medical facility in Bahrain’s capital Manama.

Mushaima was killed Monday during clashes with security forces trying to halt marches to demand greater freedoms and political rights. At least 25 people were injured in the barrage of rubber bullets, bird shot and tear gas, family members said.

A statement from Bahrain’s interior minister, Lt.-Gen. Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, expressed “sincere condolences and deep sympathy” to Mushaima’s family. He stressed that the death will be investigated and charges would be filed if authorities determined excessive force was used against the protesters.

But that’s unlikely to appease the protesters, whose “day of rage” coincided with major anti-government demonstrations in Iran and Yemen.

In the past week, Bahrain’s rulers have attempted to undermine calls for reform by promising nearly $2,700 for each family and pledging to loosen state controls on the media.

A main Shi’ite opposition group, Al Wefaq, denounced the “bullying tactics and barbaric policies pursued by the security forces” against peaceful marchers staging the first major rallies in the Gulf since uprisings toppled long-ruling regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.

Bahrain’s protesters, however, claim they do not seek to overthrow the ruling monarchy but want greater political freedoms and sweeping changes in how the country is run. The demands include transferring more decision-making powers to the parliament and breaking the monarchy’s grip on senior government posts.

In Kuwait, opposition groups had called for an anti-government protest last week, but shifted the date to March 8 after the resignation of the country’s scandal-tainted interior minister.

Analysis: New IDF chief faces an axis of evil.

Shortly after receiving his new rank and as he made his way from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the new IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz received news of a Kassam rocket attack in the western Negev.

Later in the day, thousands of young Iranians took to the streets of Tehran to protest against the radical regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protests could lead to the resurgence of the Green Movement, which popped its head above the ground and might eventually lead to a change in government in Iran. Not something immediate but possible.

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One of his first tasks will be presenting IDF plans for bridging that gap to the cabinet. How many aircraft will it need to buy? How many more Merkava Mk 4 tanks will it require?

Seven years ago, the IDF dismantled three divisions. There is some thinking within the top IDF command that maybe those divisions should be reinstated.

For the time being, Israel is trying to stabilize its relationship with Egypt. There is some concern with the fact that Defense Minister Mohamed Tantawi is now the head of the country. Tantawi, who fought in three wars against Israel, is not particularly fond of the IDF or the Jewish state. This could affect military relations between the countries.

Under these circumstances, Gantz will not have even one day of grace. The positions he has filled until now – head of Northern Command, head of the Ground Forces Command, military attaché in Washington and deputy chief of staff – make him suitable for the post. Now, he will need to prove he really is the right man for the job.

These two incidents illustrate the opposite ends of the axis of evil that Israel faces in the Middle East. On the one hand is Iran, which is continuing to develop a nuclear weapon and could pose an existential threat to Israel. On the other end is Hamas, which is continuing to arm itself with larger missiles and rockets with extended ranges and accuracy.

They also demonstrate the challenges that Gantz will need to deal with over the next three years as he serves as the IDF’s 20th chief of General Staff. The possibility that Israel will need to confront Iran in the coming years is growing, as is the chance of a another war with Hezbollah and Hamas. Added to the mix is Egypt, whose future is uncertain as the army took control, postponing elections for at least half a year.

2011 is turning into a critical year for Israel and the IDF. The upheaval in the Middle East and the expected American withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan will present new challenges for Israel.

Within this strategic context, Gantz will need to also a draft a new multi-year plan which will set the IDF’s procurement plans for the coming five years. After the Harpaz Document affair, he will also need to quickly work to stabilize the IDF’s top ranks and ensure that senior officers do not jump ship after the shakeup that resulted in his appointment.

Egypt presents the greatest challenge. It is no secret that the IDF does not currently have enough units, planes and tanks to properly deal with a war that could involve Egypt, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran at the same time.

One of his first tasks will be presenting IDF plans for bridging that gap to the cabinet. How many aircraft will it need to buy? How many more Merkava Mk 4 tanks will it require?

Seven years ago, the IDF dismantled three divisions. There is some thinking within the top IDF command that maybe those divisions should be reinstated.

For the time being, Israel is trying to stabilize its relationship with Egypt. There is some concern with the fact that Defense Minister Mohamed Tantawi is now the head of the country. Tantawi, who fought in three wars against Israel, is not particularly fond of the IDF or the Jewish state. This could affect military relations between the countries.

Under these circumstances, Gantz will not have even one day of grace. The positions he has filled until now – head of Northern Command, head of the Ground Forces Command, military attaché in Washington and deputy chief of staff – make him suitable for the post. Now, he will need to prove he really is the right man for the job.

Israeli general claims Stuxnet attacks as one of his successes.

The latest results of a Symnatec study concentrating on the Stuxnet worm revealed that its developers knew what they were doing – once finished, it took only 12 hours to infect the first target.

The study also concluded that the Stuxnet attacks can be dated back to June 2009 – more than a year prior to it being first discovered by security experts – and that its intial targets were five separate organizations that have a presence in Iran and most of which have been attacked at various points through 2009 and 2010.

Last month, The New York Times ran a story about Stuxnet having been developed by the Americans and the Israelis as a part of a joint project, but it was based on the claims by confidential sources and there was only circumstantial evidence that would corroborate them.

But, it now seems that the information from these sources was correct. The Haaretz – Israel’s oldest daily newspaper – reports (via Google Translate) about the a surprising video that was played at a party organized for General Gabi Ashkenazi’s last day on the job.

The video contained references to the successes he achieved during his stint as chief of staff, and enumerated among them was the Stuxnet worm attack on Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and and the nuclear reactor at Bushehr.

There is always the possibility that this was just a way of magnifying the General’s achievements, but it is also possible it is true. As we all know, Israel has never commented on the speculations about its involvement in the attacks.