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The young Iranian woman eyed the crowd and pondered the possibility that the rest of her life might be different from her mother's. She could see glimmers of a future free from discrimination -- and all the symbols of it, including the head-covering the government requires her to wear every day.
I've just been reminded of one of the most remarkable case studies in the psychiatric literature, of a patient who believed he had two heads and who seriously injured himself with a gunshot wound trying to remove the 'second' head.
He described a second head on his shoulder. He believed that the head belonged to his wife's gynaecologist, and described previously having felt that his wife was having an affair with this gynaecologist, prior to her death. He described being able to see the second head when he went to bed at night, and stated that it had been trying to dominate his normal head.
He also stated that he was hearing voices, including the voice of his wife's gynaecologist from the second head, as well as the voices of Jesus and Abraham around him, conversing with each other. All the voices were confirming that he had two heads; the voice from the second head had been telling him that it was the 'king pin', and would also say to him that it was going to take his wife away. He did not describe any other hallucinatory or delusional experiences.
"The other head kept trying to dominate my normal head, and I would not let it. It kept trying to say to me I would lose, and I said bull-shit." "I am the king pin here" it said and it kept going on like that for about three weeks and finally I got jack of it, and I decided to shoot my other head off."
He stated that he fired six shots, the first at the second head, which he then decided was hanging by a thread, and then another one through the roof of his mouth. He then fired four more shots, one of which appeared to have gone through the roof of his mouth and three of which missed. He said that he felt good at that stage, and that the other head was not felt any more. Then he passed out. Prior to shooting himself, he had considered using an axe to remove the phantom head.
John Webster writes:
Think back 10 years ago today. eBay outages were in the news on an almost daily basis and Sun Microsystems wound up wearing the blame. Yes eBay was charting territory in a brave new world and therefore offered no service or availability guarantees. And yes there were more vendors in the mix at the time (Oracle and Veritas to name two). But the outages were very visible and Sun's image suffered disproportionately. While not explicitly stated, eBay users nonetheless had an implicit expectation of quality of service from eBay, a level that was never formally agreed to, but understood and expected.
Fast forward 10 years. Twitter is in uncharted territory, too. The temporary and periodic "system busy" messages are tolerated by users, but not without complaint. Jokes about Twitter's Fail Whale are common. Hey, it's not a critical app. We're all just having fun here, right? However, the elections in Iran have changed that perception. Twitter and other social-networking sites have become windows on a pivotal event with worldwide implications. The world wants to watch. Indeed, what the State Department's request says is that the whole world needs to watch. As a infrastructure vendor in this new and uncharted environment, do you now want to be blamed for an outage? For data loss? For a security breach?
This all adds up to the Twitter Conundrum. The owners of Twitter and other social-networking sites aren't likely to buy highly available, highly secure, redundant systems and storage of the type common to 24 by 7 production data centers. Their business models simply won't support big enterprise gear. But does that stop the federal government from stepping in and saying "sorry, you can't go down right now, not even for a few hours?" No. Twitter, YouTube, and FaceBook have created windows on the world, windows that could in fact change the world for the better. You can't fail (whale).
Here's the conundrum: No one presently pays a fee for posting to these sites. You get what you pay for or, in this case, you don't get what you don't pay for. You don't pay for and therefore don't get guaranteed availability or data integrity. Is the federal government now willing to subsidize Twitter so that it can function like a production data center? Probably not. Are users willing to pay a fee to get a guaranteed level of service? Again, probably not, at least not in the near future.
link: CNET News
Think Progress reports:
Last month in the Washington Examiner, former House speaker Newt Gingrich denounced President Obama’s supposed plot to “release trained terrorists currently held at Guantanamo Bay into American suburbs.” The men he was so afraid of are innocent Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, who have since been released in Bermuda after spending seven years locked up in Guantanamo. According to 2008 State Department Human Rights report, these men faced “severe cultural and religious repression” at the hands of the Chinese government. In 2001, they stayed in a Uighur camp in Afghanistan and “were later turned in to the authorities by Pakistani villagers in return for an American bounty,” even though werenever a security threat.
However, in his column, Gingrich said they posed a “paramount threat and “have been allied with and trained by al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups.” In an interview with Fox News, Gingrich added that the United States should just send them back to China.
One of Gingrich’s Republican colleagues is now calling out his ignorance. At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Human Rights on Tuesday, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said that Gingrich belongs in the “hall of shame” for fear-mongering about the Uighurs. He also said that the Bush administration unjustly detained these men at the bidding of the Chinese government in a “pathetic” attempt to gain the country’s support for the Iraq war.
From The Associated Press:
"The Basij began as cannon fodder for the Revolutionary Guard during the war with Iraq. Now, they are there to do the dirty work for them: breaking up parties, hassling women about their hijab (head covering) and much more violent acts," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born independent analyst living in Israel.
The Basij has leaders based in mosques in every village and city throughout Iran, giving it the widest security network in the country, said Mehdi Khalaji, a senior fellow with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a specialist in Iranian politics.
So far, the Basij has refrained from widespread attacks on demonstrators. But witnesses say the militiamen took part in a police raid on Tehran University dormitories on Sunday night after students hurled stones, bricks and firebombs at police — one of the few violent episodes during this week's rallies.
Basij members used axes, sticks and daggers to ransack student rooms and smash computers and furniture, wounding many students, according to witnesses.
A day later, students attacked a compound used by the Basij and tried to set it on fire. Gunmen on the roof fired on the crowd and killed seven people, according to state media.
link: The Associated Press: Feared Basij militia could transform Iran showdown
Women, regarded as second-class citizens under Iranian law, have been noticeably front and center of the massive demonstrations that have unfolded since the presidential election a week ago. Iranians are protesting what they consider a fraudulent vote count favoring hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but for many women like Parisa, the demonstrations are just as much about taking Iran one step closer to democracy. "Women have become primary agents of change in Iran," said Nayereh Tohidi, chairwoman of the Gender and Women's Studies Department at California State University, Northridge.
Iranian scholars and uni Professors write joint letter to Secretary General of UN condemning violation of Iran Human Rights - #Iranelection 7 minutes ago from web
Karoubi - Recognize the will of the nation and void the 10th Presidential Elections to return order to the country - #Iranelection 10 minutes ago from web
Karoubi - As a former political prisoner who was tortured I know that insulting a nation will turn them into a raging fire - #Iranelection 13 minutes ago from web
Advice - remove sim and use mobile to film ANY violence or attak against Sea of Green - #Iranelection 16 minutes ago from web
Advice - your location can be identified from mobile signal - + delete all sms after sending in case u are arrested - #Iranelection 21 minutes ago from web
Of course Mousavi has been silenced - but he has not yet been arrested - today everybody was silenced! - #Iranelection 1 hour ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
Share http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009... Reformist and activist bloggers arrested / they are my friends I am worrying for them very much #iranelection 41 minutes ago from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share
how is internet access currently? can we setup google maps to show where the basiji road blocks are? #iranelection 31 minutes ago from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment... "They want freedom, and if they are not granted it we will be faced with another revolution" #iranelection
Tehran Bureau writes:
Mousavi, Karroubi, Rafsanjani and others know that if they are to now surrender, their heads will be rolling. So what do you do when you have everything to lose?
This Saturday is a day of great suspense. History is waiting to happen. Regardless of what these veteran politicians and old guard revolutionaries will do, one thing is for certain. Iranians will continue to shout Allah o Akbar in Tehran. The game is not over, not yet.
Gizmodo writes:
Two things here in what seems to be the world's first Twittercide: don't use your computer while taking a bath. And if for whatever reason you do, don't be like this 17-year-old Romanian girl and risk your well-being to Tweet. The Austrian times says that Maria Barbu was, in fact, in the tub while using Twitter when she likely reached to plug in her charger with a wet hand, electrocuting herself in the process.
From the Ptak Science Books Blog:
In the always summery days of summer of 1912, Mr. F. Aumaury Talbot went hunting in the wilds of Nigeria--not horribly unusual of course, except that the man was shooting flowers from trees. I've never seen a picture like this, nor have I read anything about shotgunning blossoms from on-high in a tree canopy. And that's what the man is doing--right down to the shotgun.
link: Ptak Science Books
Davar Iran Ardalan, Senior Producer for NPR, writes:
My grandfather Abol Ghassem, often said he would live forever because Rostam, the hero of the Shahnameh, lived for hundreds of years. Before my grandfather died, his oldest daughter, Lailee, asked him where he wanted to be buried -- he said he wished to rest in Tus, near the Holy city of Mashad, where the Shahnameh's poet Ferdowsi is buried. When Lailee asked why, he said he'd had a dream that his molecules would mix with those of Ferdowsi and a Rostam -- a hero-warrior or Pahlavan -- would then be born to save Iran.Yes, on many occasions, the legendary Rostam stood in place of the divine balance of justice, but today the millions of Iranians thirsty for self-realization ought to just claim this balance of justice on their own. As the poet Rumi once said, "Beyond the wrongdoings and right doings, there is a field. Meet me there."
President Obama, who has previously said he did not want to be seen to be meddling in Iran's affairs, told broadcaster CBS: "I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made, that the government of Iran recognise that the world is watching.
"And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not."
link: BBC NEWS | Middle East | Obama says world is watching Iran
Ghalam News: Mousavi’s supporters continued chanting “God is Great” for the seventh night:
Ghalm News reported that the sound of Mousavi supporters chanting “God is Great” echoed throughout “all districts and towns in Iran” for the seventh consecutive night. According to Ghalam news, supporters of Mousavi also chanted “Ya [Hail] Hossein, Mir Hossein” to make sure their participation is not attributed to Ahmadinejad supporters. “During reporting this news, the voices of Mousavi’s friends could still be heard in different locations in Tehran,” the report said.
The chant “ya Hossein” is said in respect to the third Shia Imam, Imam Hossein, who is the iconic tragic figure of the Shia religion. “Ya Hossein” is chanted in order to bring attention to injustice by Shias.
link: niacINsight
The Daily Kos writes:
Our top story is the attack on ProtesterHelp. For those who do not know him he has been essential in providing security for Twitterers in Iran, setting up private networks to provide secure proxies to them, calling for media networks to remove the Iranians Twiterers information from their broadcast, and providing counter-intelligence services (including Basiji and Army Locations) within the Twitter community. . . .
ProtesterHelp confirmed to me that he was attacked by a group of men that seemed to be either Iranian or Lebanese, while walking to class in Ohio. They drove up besides him and threw rocks at him while shouting, "Mousavi Fraud."
He further informed me that his personal information was leaked, and is currently being spread both online and inside of Iran amongst the government. The former most likely lead to this attack. God only knows what the latter will lead too.
I think this is a strong indicator of how international in scope these events are. An American on American soil has already been attacked due to these protests in Iran.
link: Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Reaction in Iran to Khamenei's speech: 'The supreme leader lost his reputation today'
An anthology of personal responses to Khamenei's speech from Iranians.
Alexandra Topping writes:
Two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested today in raids on two houses in south Belfast in connection with racist attacks against Romanians.
More than 100 Romanians fled their homes in the south of the city after attacks last weekend. An anti-racism demonstration on Monday was disrupted when a row broke out between protesters and a gang of youths, who threw bricks and bottles. The families are now staying in a secret location.
link: Two boys held after Belfast race attacks against Romanians | UK news | The Guardian
Salon writes: For reasons of personal safety, the author chooses to remain anonymous.
[T]he green light has now been given to the basij to kick ass and take names. "The way of the law is open," he [Khamenei] says. "If people continue to take the other way, I will come back and speak more directly." Qanun, qanun, qanun. Law, law, law. His emphasis on the need for law and order.
By the end, uncharacteristically, the leader, gets hot. Interjections from the crowd interrupt him and he tells them to stop and listen. He talks about the U.S. and the West and how the U.S. wanted to launch a spurious velvet revolution in Georgia. He says that these "aqmaqha" -- idiots -- think that they can do the same in Iran.
And then he ends by weeping. He tells Iranians that he loves us more than we can know. Ten years ago, Khamenei wept publicly when students were protesting in the streets. That's when regime loyalists began to crack down.
"Our vote is written in blood, and we gave it to the leader," the mosque crowd yells back.
Things do not look good. It is worse than it ever was.
niacINsight writes: 3:09 pm: One of our readers requested that we translate the following blog post: “Tomorrow is a big day, may I get killed tomorrow!” (http://balatarin.com/permlink/2009/6/19/1625688)
I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children….
link: niacINsight
Robert Fisk writes:
"President" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and the quotation marks are becoming ever more appropriate in Iran today – is in real trouble. There are now three separate official inquiries into his supposed election victory and the violence which followed, while conservative Iranian MPs fought each other with their fists at a private meeting behind the assembly chamber, after Ahmadinejad's members objected to an official's reference to the "dignity" with which the opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi, answered parliamentary questions. Those close to the man who still believes he is the President of Iran say that he is himself deeply troubled – even traumatised – by the massive demonstrations against him across the country.
DominiqueRdr: RT from Iran: Now that khameneyi has in some way implied a permit 4 violence, the need 4 us to keep silent has incresed #iranelection less than 10 seconds ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet
tpaineus: #iranelection Watch closely this weekend! Keep up the pressure. Big things happen over weekends when people aren't watching. less than 10 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
tareshen: RT: I request that as it is highly suspected tomorrow will be a milestone in #gr88 and the #iranelection, you do NOT stop tweeting info. less than 10 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
mkhammer: RT @madyar: Iran's situation is crisis , all say that tomorrow is a conflict day #iranelection less than 10 seconds ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet
swellyn: RT @motoko_nl BBC switching over two additional satellites to combat Iranian gov't. jamming it's Farsi programming. Go BBC! #IranElection less than 20 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
TeenKelly: Anonymous Internet surf - bypass blocks. Free select Canada to auto-download http://tinyurl.com/nzxco5 (expand) #iranelection #tehran #mousavi #gr88 less than 20 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
qrama: #IranElection Tehran Mousavi Amadinejad Protests Iran Revolution - Up to minute news - Keep informed - http://bit.ly/qmZhc (expand) less than 20 seconds ago from Twitterizer · Reply · View Tweet
FreeIran_: Pro-Mousavi youth are "Basij hunting" - pay off police and arm yourselves! Be ready for anything tomorrow #iranelection less than 20 seconds ago from Power Twitter · Reply · View Tweet
BeyondGenre: @ judyrey RT CA Solidarity for Iranian People - Protest at State Capitol Today, Friday at 5pm - California Sea of Green #iranelection less than 20 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
AdrienneVergara: RT Students Shot In Front Of A Camera http://bit.ly/GxHC6 (expand) #IranElection less than 20 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
funnel101: @freedomgood No kidding! Killing other Muslims is expressly forbidden in the Qur'an! #iranelection less than 20 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
EnriquetaT: How Twitter can make history-Clay Sharky speaking@TED- haven's seen it you should! http://bit.ly/bLLSU (expand) "Site of Coordination" #IranElection less than 20 seconds ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet
southsouth: Double standards: UTube's comm. director on CNN w/ Tehran #iranelection street maps. If you showed Ramallah/Bil'in viewers may get offended. less than 20 seconds ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet
Mwolda: "how they approach and deal with people... send a pretty clear signal...about what Iran is and is not." -OBAMA #iranelection less than 20 seconds ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
link: (69) iranelection - Twitter Search
The Wall Street Journal writes:
The following are firsthand accounts that were solicited by Journal assistant editorial features editor Bari Weiss. Some were translated from Farsi. Surnames have been omitted to protect the writers.
I was pacing around my apartment when I heard a massive explosion that woke up everybody in our apartment complex.
I rushed downstairs in the dark with my neighbors as our complex was being attacked. One of them said "Man! They exploded a grenade just few feet from me. Can you see the blood dropping from my fingers? I can barely hear anything." An old woman on the first floor said the plainclothes forces broke the front porch, knocked on some doors and left.
We learned that the sounds of windows being broken were coming from three neighboring apartment complexes and garages. My injured neighbor had gone to check the source of the sound just when the grenade exploded.
In the morning, I checked out the damage myself and took pictures of smashed cars, windows and doors. I also found some bullet casings left in front of our house. I quickly posted them on Facebook where I received lots of comments from others who had the same experience. One of them commented "Yours was just 23 cars. How about our four-story parking garage that now looks like a junkyard?!"
[Follow the link for other similar accounts. TRH]
Christiane Amanpour writes:
Khamenei. . .directly addressed the people on the streets, telling them it was time to end their protests and pursue their grievances through the Guardian Council, which has already said it will recount some of the votes.
And he made clear there would not be another election, warning that the consequences of any further violence or public disturbances would be borne by those responsible. Analysts in Iran suggest this was Khamenei's way of sending a religious ultimatum to the people: Come off the streets, don't defy me and work out these problems through the legal system.
link: Analysis: Iranian leader's ultimatum to protesters - CNN.com Analysis: Iranian leader's ultimatum to protesters - CNN.com
Europe's new Herschel space observatory has provided a demonstration of its capability with a first image of the iconic Whirlpool Galaxy.
The billion-euro telescope opened its "eyes" to the cosmos last Sunday when a command was given to lift a protective hatch covering the instrument bay.
Herschel spied the galaxy, also known as M61, with its Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS).
link: BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Herschel gives glimpse of power
The House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution that expresses "support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law."
The resolution also "condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the Internet and cellphones." It also "affirms the universality of individual rights and the importance of democratic and fair elections."
Co-sponsored by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the resolution passed by a vote of 405 to 1. Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas libertarian, cast the sole opposing vote. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced a similar resolution in the Senate.
link: House Passes Resolution To Support Iran Protesters - Political Hotsheet - CBS News
Yigal Schleifer writes:
Before Iran, there was Moldova, which had its own (unsuccessful) "Twitter Revolution" back in April, when young activists used online tools to coordinate protests against the country's dubiously reelected Communist government. In Egypt, meanwhile, a new generation of activists has come to embrace Facebook and Internet-based social networking applications to protest (again, mostly unsuccessfully) their repressive government.
But new-media experts say that Iran's civil resistance movement is unique because the government's tight control of media and the Internet has spawned a generation adept at circumventing cyber roadblocks, making the country ripe for a technology–driven protest movement.
"This is a country where you have tens of thousands of bloggers, and these bloggers have been in a situation where the Internet has been filtered since 2004. Anyone worth their salt knows how to find an open proxy [to get around government firewalls and filters], knows how to work around censorship," says Ethan Zuckerman, a research fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society in Cambridge, Mass. "The Iranian government, by filtering the Internet for so long, has actually trained a cadre of people who really know who to get around censorship."
link: Why Iran's Twitter revolution is unique | csmonitor.com
Repeat Iranian Elections with National and International Monitoring 2321 Signatures Published by Iranian People on Jun 15, 2009 Category: Politics Region: Iran Target: United Nations Background (Preamble): Outrage over the results of the 10th Iranian presidential election is widespread both in Iran and amongst the Iranians overseas. The elections have been deemed faulty by the canditates Mir Hossein Mousavi Khamene, Mehdi Karroubi, Mohsen Rezaee Mirgha'ed, and a majority of the Iranian people. The results announced by the government have sparked spontaneous protests of the Iranian people, all over the country, who have consequently been countered violently by the pro-government police and militia, against all democratic principles.
link: Repeat Iranian Elections with National and International Monitoring Petition
niacINsight reports:
12:41 pm: The Times of London reports that Khamenei has told Mousavi to support the regime – or leave Iran.
The moderate Iranian leader who says that he was robbed of victory in last week’s presidential election faces a fateful choice today: support the regime or be cast out.
The demand was made at a meeting this week with representatives of all three candidates who claim that the poll was rigged, and it puts Mr Mousavi on the spot. He has become the figurehead of a popular movement that is mounting huge demonstrations daily against the “theft” of last Friday’s election by President Ahmadinejad, the ayatollah’s protégé.
This represents a serious escalation in tensions between Mousavi and Khamenei. Mousavi had urged his supporters not to attend Friday prayer events to avoid confrontation with pro-Ahmadinejad and Khamenei forces. Events within Iran’s elite appear to be headed toward a tipping point where neither Khamenei nor Mousavi will be easily able to step back.
link: niacINsight
The image above, which looks like an abstract modern stained-glass window, is a photo of bits of plastic retrieved from the stomach of a Laysan albatross fledgling. The bird was found on a Hawaiian atoll.
link: TYWKIWDBI: Plastic
persian_twitts: Iranians DONT BE AFRAID if we stop now they will come get EVERY one of us, PLZ attend tomorow's rally #iranelection
link: Twitter / Home
Mousavi - confirmed - show support for Sea of Green from balcony starting 9pm to midnight tonight - #Iranelection 8 minutes ago from web
Mousavi - Confirmed - calls for ALL the nation to stand on balconys TONIGHT and show support with 'Allah Akbar' - #Iranelection RT RT RT
An amazing amusement from National Geographic:
My Shot Dogs Infinite Photograph Dive into this photo-mosaic of dogs made up of hundreds of photos submitted by users to My Shot Dogs. Move the yellow square over an area you would like to explore, click, and go. Double-click on an image to see more information about it. Keep clicking—and exploring deeper into the Infinite Photograph.
link: My Shot Dogs - Infinite Photograph - National Geographic Magazine
The Supreme Leader has the trick of addressing most sensitive issues in the most irrelevant ways
RT from Iran: Khamenei wants a fight? He has no fist to use anymore, we are not scared
confirmed - Shahab Talebani has been arrested today
The election forensics expert who has been poring over the announced results of last week's controversial Iranian elections writes this morning that he is "no longer on the fence" about electoral irregularities there.
In an early morning update to his prelimary report on the election, Walter R. Mebane, Jr. notes: "I think the results give moderately strong support for a diagnosis that the 2009 [Iranian] election was affected by significant fraud."
Mebane, a professor at the University of Michigan, uses newly obtained town-level results from the election four years ago to predict this year's votes, and finds a "large number of outliers," instances where numbers do not make sense given the other outcomes.
link: New Analysis Points to Fraud in Iran - Behind the Numbers, Washington Post
A. Patricia Villamil writes:
As the world watches the massive protests in the streets of Tehran, the US is quietly taking notes. The White House wants this uprising to be self-made and homegrown, not trampled by American influence. In fact, the measured response could be the hallmark of Obama’s transformative foreign policy in the wider Muslim world.
link: Iran's revolution takes a beating, U.S. stands to benefit Examiner.com Phoenix
Robert Burns writes:
Washington's lack of normal diplomatic access — both to Iran's hard-liners and its reformers — is now handicapping the administration on at least two levels. It restricts the American view of events inside Iran, where the government has cracked down on independent media coverage of street protests. And it limits U.S. officials' grasp of more subtle political undercurrents.
"There's a huge gap in understanding Iran," said Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, a nonpartisan group that advocates expanded U.S.-Iranian contacts.
"There is no more effective way to understand the perceptions and intentions and concerns of the other side than to actually talk to them directly," Parsi said. "Not having done so in a robust way for 30 years has created misperceptions on both sides."
link: The Associated Press: US has limited inroads to understanding Iran
Hundreds of prominent activists and politicians have been arrested in Iran for taking part in anti-government protests, it was claimed today.
Hadi Ghaemi, of the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights, said he had spoken to families and colleagues of people who have been arrested or who have disappeared and was told that there were at least 200 across Iran.
The claim could not be confirmed because of government restrictions on reporting inside the country. The Iranian government said it had arrested a relatively small number of people for violence and other crimes.
link: 'Hundreds of Iran dissidents held' | News London Evening Standard
Live-blogging Friday’s Events in Iran June 19, 2009 9:56 am:
More translated news from http://twitter.com/iranbaan
“It is said that Tajzadeh, Aminzadeh, Ramezanzadeh, Abtahi and other arrested individuals are under great pressure to give fake confessions on TV.”
“The soccer players who were wearing green wristbands in the Iran-South Korea game have been suspended.”
“Maryam Ameri, a member of Karroubi’s organization, has been arrested.”
link: niacINsight
What a weather in Tehran ! Thunders and rain. This is the first time in my life that I can see a spring like this.
Watching the coverage of Khamenei this morning was eerily similar to when I watched the events in Romania in 1989 on the BBC. Like Ceauşescu, Khamenei appears to be an old man unsure of what is going on around him. He initially called the election “divine”, then backpedalled, and now is rather deliberately making himself an obstacle to reality. He looks enfeebled, confused, unsure of himself…Khamenei has made himself a target.
link: Khamenei, meet Nicolae Ceauşescu | blogger interrupted
unconfirmed reports - Revolutionary Guard has been mobilised to secure Tehran - #Iranelection 42 minutes ago from web
The situation in Iran is now CRITICAL - the nation is heartbroken - suppression is iminent - #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web
confirmed - the Gov has refused to issue a permit for Sea of Green march at 4pm on Saturday in Tehran - #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web
Confirmed - Mousavi calls on people of the world to march on SUNDAY in support of Sea of Green - #Iranelection RT RT RT about 1 hour ago from web
The vigilantes plan to take their fight into the daylight on Friday, with the public relations department of Ansar Hezbollah, the most public face of the Basij, announcing that they planned a public demonstration to expose the “seditious conspiracy” being carried out by “agitating hooligans.”
“We invite the vigilant people who are always in the arena to make their loud objections heard in response to the babbling of this tribe,” said the announcement, carried on the Web site Parsine.
The announcement could be the first indication that the government was taking its gloves off, Iranian analysts noted, because up to this point the Basijis, usually deployed as the shock troops to end any public protests, have been working in stealth.
“It is the special brigades of the Revolutionary Guards who right now, especially at night, trap young demonstrators and kill them,” said Mohsen Sazegara, an Iranian exile who helped write the charter for the newly formed Revolutionary Guards in 1979 when he was a young aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “That is one way the regime avoids the responsibility for these murders. It can say, ‘We don’t know who they are.’ ”
link: Shadowy Iranian Vigilantes Vow Bolder Action - NYTimes.com
While Khamenei called on those who don't believe the results to use proper legal avenues, such as requesting the recounting of ballots in their presence, he did not issue a call for a new vote. He also criticized the street protests and said those who caused violence during demonstrations would be held accountable. . . .
And as for street unrest, Khamenei said "extremism in the country in society, any extremist move will fan up another extremist move. "If political elite want to ignore law and break the law and take wrong measures which are harmful, willy nilly, they will be held accountable for all the violence and blood and rioting."
link: Iran's supreme leader defends election - CNN.com
