A friend in iran wrote about this in facebook. A taped message saying all phone conversations are under surveillance and threatening anyone who plans to rally or talk to outside Iran to be considered an outlaw.
I've just read a gloomy piece that basically said that Iran is on it's way to turn from a theocracy into a sort of a military dictatorship with AN in charge. The article claimed that the real power in Iran lies with the Revolutionary Guard now and not the Guardian Council. Apparently AN has the Revolutionary Guard in his pocket. Should that be true, then you can expect the situation to turn really ugly...
Collection of the latest images... http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html
Here's a video showing the basijis(pro government militia) opening fire in todays rally. Their HQ is set on fire afterwards. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=26415347001
The aftermath of the shootings [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aTpAMlD1fQ"]YouTube - Girl shot and Unconscious 15 June 2009 evening Tehran Iran[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXEu8_ce4dY"]YouTube - Injured people[/ame]
They're chanting "God is Great", "I will kill those who killed my brothers", and "Death to the dictator". Here is a video of a girl standing up to the Riot Police [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99p5ziag7rA"]YouTube - Riot Police Beat Protesters Iran[/ame]
An inspirational speech by Jian Ghomeshi (CBC TV and Radio broadcaster) about the protests [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y36F3q4dZo"]YouTube - Jian's speech at the Iranian protest in Toronto, Mel Lastman Sq. June 14 2009[/ame]
Iranian State TV stations are starting to give some coverage to the protests, after three days of silence [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOFMgogsBBI"]YouTube - protest in iran 15-6-2009_37[/ame]
Can everyone stops saying silly things? weasel...what the fuk has Rostam or his post got anything to do with anti-semitism. This has nothing to do you with your personal agenda!! I asked nicely once before, can we keep this thread on topic? Anthony, regardless of the outcome of the election, the issue of Iran's nuclear programme would not have gone through drastic change and Iran would still have been a theocracy! Can you stop treating this like it was a referendum on the Islamic Republic? And seriously, let's stop commenting on the power structure in Iran!! It is a little more complicated than that as I am sure everyone is starting to realise. Now, the latest videos have all been put up by Mani. Some very disturbing. There are others perhaps even worse. Although, some of the worst images are already available for viewing! In any case, the estimates of the crowd are anywhere between 1-3 million people!!! (compare that to the 40,000 bussed in for AN!!) AN compared those protesting to dust and dried leaves (I think that's probably the closest translation) to say it is a few insignificant individuals and that has become one of the adopted slogans for the protesters. Karrubi, Khatami, Karbaschi and Mousavi were present; although they went to calm the protesters and ensure proceedings don't become violent. It was interesting that Khatami finally broke his silence and called for another round of elections. At the end of the protests things to disperse the people, some shots were fired into the air. Some are saying the student were trying to gain access to the compound itself and had boasted burning another down. Others are saying after the shots into the air, people started throwing stones. Either way, the Revolutionary Guards decided to open fire on the public, killing at least one (no one knows exactly how many by a lot of numbers have been thrown in) and injuring many others. This is after reports that as mentioned earlier, Revolutionary Guards stormed various university dorms and now reports have come out that they have killed at least 5 in the dorms as well. In Mousavi's talk with Khamenei, he said let's keep things calm and effectively asked Mousavi to distance himself from these people. Mousavi in today's protests specifically said something along the lines of "we are in it to the end... do not desert us people!" This is mirroring what the student asked Zahra Rahnavard (his wife) that we are in it to the end, let's hope Mousavi doesn't back out and she had said something similar in response a day earlier. Unfortunately because of all of this and the scale of the protests, little else is known about the actions of the various leaders. Rafsanjani has been surprisingly quiet and he is the genius political tactician. Last anyone mentioned of him was him going to Qom to lobby the various "Marja'" - these are leading Islamic scholars whom the people choose to follow in some religious aspects. This point is slightly complicated so I'll leave it for now.
This kind of reminds me of East Germany in 1989. The difference is that AN does still have a lot of supporters while the Communist didn't have any support at the end.
I. Am. Exhausted. I think I'll take a break till tomorrow. Meanwhile, enjoy this video in support of the protesters in Iran. And if you wish, in solidarity with Iran, wear Green - an avatar, a logo, a ribbon, a shirt, a scarf, a tie, a wristband...anything. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykr_Daixgsk"]YouTube - Dariush - Vatan (Khordaad 1388)[/ame]
Oh, I do, I believe in democracy regardless of the outcome. And we won't know anytime soon who the s. arabians would vote for, you have a king. A silly, ridiculous king. And worst of all, most of you don't seem at all unhappy about that fact. what a pathetic, infantile state of affairs. You are a nation of infants.
Off topic... I'm not the one trying to derail the thread. Rostam has gone off on myself and other posters about our "evil creed" holding America, Obama, and the West in general hostage. He is obviously referring to "The Jews" and their evil conspiracies, which is absolutely stupid and paranoid, considering I'm not Jewish. If you can't see that, then I don't know what else to say. My agenda is to see peoples' votes counted and the legitimate results respected, and for that to happen without violence. I do hope Mousavi wins and that he can foster better bilateral relations, if only marginally. I'd be happy with that. Back on topic... I'm trying to figure out what the likely end game is to this. It seems the best approach for the regime is to let this drag out for several days and hope the protests lose steam. Shooting people obviously doesn't help with that. If Mousavi can't get the results rejected, which would be a shocking outcome in my opinion, what else can he do? I can't see him being willing to resort to violence, since that will just end up with lots of people dead, and the guys with more guns (i.e. AN) still being in charge. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic, that this will have a happy ending. In any event, we all appreciate the updates from you and Mani.
Iranian Election Protests Warning: Graphic & Disturbing photos (many seen in previous posts): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XsjaaSmWds"] Iran Protests, Riots after Elections. Fighting, wounded.[/ame]
So if the election was not fraudulent what is Irans government's excuse for cutting off internet sites, not allowing foreign press to cover events and even arresting some press, beating protesters, ignoring the protests for a full day on the state run news network, etc etc??? If they are not guilty of election fraud then why are they doing everything possible to make it look like they are guilty of election fraud?
It may shock you but the people of this region are perfectly content with the current states of government. Democracy is not desired and won't help around these parts. Nor are the people prepared or self determined enough to use it properly. Besides, democracy is not the be all and end all.
I hope it would shock him, since it's not true. http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/162/27604.html
Actually, !Bob, this is precisely anti-semitic garbage. Calling Jews a "wicked type" and suggesting their "ilk" holds America and the rest of the west hostage? How much more stupidly anti-semitic can you get? Seriously, fucking red card this douchebag.
AP reports that according to Iran state radio seven persons shot dead after the rally; Der Speigel reports Hezbollah in route.