UPDATED Iran: Did Yahoo Give Names of 200,000 Users to Authorities?

The Latest from Iran (9 October): Almost Four Months

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UPDATE 1900 GMT: Yahoo! has issued a further statement: “The allegations in the story are false. Neither Yahoo! nor any Yahoo! representative has met with or communicated with any Iranian officials, and Yahoo! has not disclosed user data to the Iranian government. Yahoo! was founded on the principle that access to information and communications tools can improve people’s lives, and Yahoo! is committed to protecting and promoting freedom of expression and privacy. To learn more about our human rights efforts, please visit: http://humanrights.yahoo.com.”

The original source of the claim, the Iranian Students Solidarity Organization is very active with a blog --- the story is 3rd or 4th on the current page. It has about 30,000 members. In this case, the ISSO is claiming that it had a source inside the Iranian Government who was at the meeting between Yahoo! and the Iranian authorities.


UPDATE 1300 GMT: Yahoo! has posted this denial on Twitter: "The...allegations are false. No Yahoo! representative met w/ any Iranian officials or disclosed user data to Iranian government."

--
Normally we do not feature uncorroborated stories, but the allegations of the Iranian Students Solidarity movement are so serious that we think they merit attention. The post was translated and sent to lawyer Richard Koman:

On 27th of Shahrivar [Qods Day, 18 September], when Iranians demonstrated again on the streets, the Iranian authorities, in addition to blocking many Internet sites all over Iran, blocked or severely limited access to Yahoo and Google. Google did not react and its problem was resolved with 48 hours, but Yahoo sent a representative to Iran’s telecommunications ministry, to resolve the issue.

During the meeting with Iranian Internet and telecommunications authorities, Yahoo representatives were asked to provide Iranian authorities with the names and data on all Iranian Internet account holders in exchange for removing the block/filter on the Yahoo website.

The Yahoo representative said that currently there were more than 20 million e-mail accounts and providing such a list would be a very time-consuming process. The IRGC [Islamic Republic Guardian Corps] replied by asking the representative to provide e-mail accounts of those individuals who have Yahoo accounts and are publishing blogs.

Apparently this made Yahoo’s task a bit easier, and the Yahoo representative agreed to provide such a list within a matter of hours. Upon the receipt of such a list, which included approximately 200,000 e-mails, by the Iranian authorities, the regime immediately unblocked access to the Yahoo.com website. The list went back as far as five years and included active and inactive accounts and blogs.

It is necessary to mention here that the Iranian Yahoo is managed by Yahoo Corporation in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).

Video/Transcript: Obama's Reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize

Instant Reaction: Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7bHkH779qg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, "Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday!" And then Sasha added, "Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up." So it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective.

I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build -- a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

These challenges can't be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that's why my administration has worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek. We cannot tolerate a world in which nuclear weapons spread to more nations and in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust endangers more people. And that's why we've begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons, because all nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power, but all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions.

We cannot accept the growing threat posed by climate change, which could forever damage the world that we pass on to our children -- sowing conflict and famine; destroying coastlines and emptying cities. And that's why all nations must now accept their share of responsibility for transforming the way that we use energy.

We can't allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another, and that's why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.

And we must all do our part to resolve those conflicts that have caused so much pain and hardship over so many years, and that effort must include an unwavering commitment that finally realizes that the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security in nations of their own.

We can't accept a world in which more people are denied opportunity and dignity that all people yearn for -- the ability to get an education and make a decent living; the security that you won't have to live in fear of disease or violence without hope for the future.

And even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared, we have to confront the world as we know it today. I am the Commander-in-Chief of a country that's responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies. I'm also aware that we are dealing with the impact of a global economic crisis that has left millions of Americans looking for work. These are concerns that I confront every day on behalf of the American people.

Some of the work confronting us will not be completed during my presidency. Some, like the elimination of nuclear weapons, may not be completed in my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone. This award is not simply about the efforts of my administration -- it's about the courageous efforts of people around the world.

And that's why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity -- for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace.

That has always been the cause of America. That's why the world has always looked to America. And that's why I believe America will continue to lead.

Thank you very much.

Latest Iran Video: The "Confession" That Means Death

The Latest from Iran (9 October): Almost Four Months

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Iranian state Press TV's mid-August report on Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani, sentenced to death earlier this week for post-election protest. Ali Zamani "confesses" to meeting US and Israeli intelligence officers in Iraq and Los Angeles and then carrying out disinformation and bombings. Note there is no direct linking of Ali Zamani to any specific operation; instead, Press TV jumps to a bombing by the "Iranian Empire Society", to which Ali Zamani allegedly belongs, in April 2008.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uPOOgitWyg&feature=related[/youtube]

Now, for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize: Mehdi Karroubi

The Latest from Iran (20 September): Is Ramadan Over?

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UPDATE 9 October: We originally posted this on 20 September, but in light of today's announcement of the 2009 award to a Mr B Obama, we thought it was not too soon to prepare for next year.

Mehdi Karroubi as a Nobel Prize Laureate? A group of activists certainly think so after the events in Iran since June, and they have launched a petition via Twitter to nominate the cleric and Presidential candidate. More information is available via this Twitition link.

Iran: Karroubi Reply to Ahmadinejad's Appearance on US TV (9 October)

Now, for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize: Mehdi Karroubi
The Latest from Iran (9 October): Almost Four Months

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Thanks to Pedestrian for translation from original article in Mashrote News. The letter is written on behalf of Karroubi by his son, Mohammad Taqi:

In the Name of God,

[a poem: if the first bricks of a wall are placed askew, the entire wall will go up askew]

Dear Brother, Mr. [Ezatullah] Zarghami,

The Honorable head of IRIB [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting],

Greetings,

As you are well aware, on Tuesday Mr. Ahmadinejad’s interview with Charlie Rose [of US Public Broadcasting Service] was broadcast on Channel1 [IRIB1]. When speaking of post-election events, the host of this American TV network pointed to the subject of rape in prisons. In response, Mr. Ahmadinejad said: "It is Mr. Karroubi who has made these allegations and when the three-member team from the judiciary refuted his comments, he grew very angry and had nothing to show for it."

It is quite unfortunate that the culture of lying has become an inseparable part of the executive branch [of government]. I don’t know what it is about New York that brings out this personal attribute [lying] of the president’s two-fold. It is also unfortunate that the Islamic Republic’s broadcasting service has also been transformed to a medium that spreads this vile culture and the result is the lack of trust people feel towards this public medium....



I want the dear people to know that some very shocking news was reported to me about the state of the children of this nation who were in legal and illegal detention centers for simply demanding their legal rights. It was my religious, legal, national, and human obligation to say something and not to allow the violation of people’s rights and the trampling of their honor to become a norm in the Islamic Republic. After the members of the judiciary team were announced, we had some productive meetings, and I gave them my documentation while trusting that these individuals were intent on following the cases and punishing those who were responsible. But suddenly, instead of pursuing the cases, traitors viciously attacked me and they shut down my personal office and the office of my Etemade Melli party and another copy of the documents was in the hands of the officials.

The accusations made in [Ahmadinejad’s] interview are pure lies, and I am still actively pursuing those cases --- stories which hurt the conscience of any free human being. I ask the so-called national media to give me or one of my representatives a third of the time they gave to those judiciary members so I can convey the extent of these atrocities to the people, so that the nation, the real owners of this land, can place themselves in the place of a jury and judge my words and yours. The late Imam [Khomeini] said that he would sacrifice his life for the people of this nation, so why are these same people now considered become outsiders and why do they not have the right to hear of what is happening to their own children via their own medium?

Mr. Zarghami,

I know you to be an honest, intelligent individual. That is why I recommend that you bring down this great wall of mistrust that has been created between the people and their national media, which, today, more resembles the officials’ personal media. The interests of the people and the nation lie in their being informed of events. And there’s no one around these days who doesn’t know that because of the existent technologies, despite all the efforts, borders have been broken and people have access to information.

I ask the lord for your health and well-being,

With Thanks,

Mohammad Taqi Karoubi