LATEST: Events in Iran moving towards climax

A confluence of alarming developments in Iran -

• Government forces killing at least eight in the streets
• Leading clerics voicing death sentences against all dissenters

and 88 prominent citizens, all university professors at Tehran University, the latest to raise their voice in protest. Can there be any more doubt that a tipping point is nearing?

Not to mention the intensifying blaming (scapegoating) in Iranian news media of the Bahá'ís of Iran for the recent public unrest (read below), and the incarceration on 3 January of 10 more Bahá'ís (according to a Bahá'í International Community interviewed on bahairadio.org [in Persian] on 5 January), many of whom are relatives of the seven former Bahá'í leaders who are still behind bars.

CNN, 5 January:

The 88 professors -- all of whom are considered employees of the Islamic republic -- who signed the letter [criticizing the government's violent handling of student protesters] are "risking their jobs and God knows what else," said Ali Alfoneh, a research fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute...

Read the full article, Tehran professors decry handling of protesters, here.

More on the appalling harrassment of civilians in Iran here.

Faces of Iran: Iranian protesters hold a rally on the Shi'ite mourning day of Ashoura in central Tehran, Iran December 27, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer)

Iranian riot police run towards opposition protesters during clashes in central Tehran December 27, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer)

Below on the situation of the Bahá'ís.

The seven Baha'i "leaders" scheduled to go on trial on 12 January, photographed several months before their arrest in the spring of 2008.

Bahá’í World News Service, 5 January:

Trial of seven Baha'i leaders in Iran looms

"The Baha'i community in Iran has all too often been subjected to campaigns of vilification and false charges devised to deflect the attention of a disquieted population onto the Baha'is and away from those in power," said Diane Ala'i, the Baha'i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva. "And now, in these days leading to the trial, there are signs that once again the Baha'is are being made scapegoats.

"Rather than accepting responsibility for the turmoil in the country, the Iranian government seeks to lay the blame on others, including foreign powers, international organizations and media outlets, students, women, and terrorists. Now the Baha'is have been added to this long list of alleged culprits," she said.

"Over the past several days, Iranian state-sponsored media have accused the Baha'is of being responsible for the unrest surrounding the holy day of Ashura," said Ms. Ala'i. "This is clearly aimed at rousing public sentiment against the seven Baha'is being held in Evin prison. We are particularly concerned that the government, or ultraconservative elements within it, may use the turmoil in Iran as cover for extreme measures against these wrongly imprisoned individuals.

This concern deepened on Sunday, she said, when authorities rounded up 13 Baha'is from their homes in Tehran, took them to a detention center, and tried to get them to sign a document saying that they would not engage in any future demonstrations.

"Putting two and two together, the situation facing these Baha'i leaders is extremely ominous. We are deeply concerned for their safety.

"We expect their trial to be nothing but a show trial, with a predetermined outcome," she said. ...

Read the full article here

Photo of Bahá'í "leaders" copyright Bahá’í International Community.