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Students Fight To Make Sure Their Teachers Aren't Fired

2010-06-03T12:35:41Z

Tonight, in a little strip-mall office next to the local Safeway, a teenage student from Alameda, California will spend the evening dialing up strangers to make an earnest request: please save my school.

The budget ax is about to fall on this Bay Area city. Seven million dollars in K-12 education cuts are planned this year, nearly $10 million will be lopped off next year, and a massive $17 million cut looms in 2012. A few weeks ago, Alameda's Board of Education handed out pink slips to 130 teachers, administrators and staff.

"This is the worst yet," said Superintendent Kirsten Vital, a 20-year veteran of California's education system. "I've never seen anything like it."

And so this month, Vital and a host of parents and students are fighting to pass a "parcel tax" -- basically a flat tax on landowners -- the latest trend in last-ditch efforts to save California's schools.

Unlike with big congressional elections, the campaign to shore up this 10,000-student district runs along on a relative shoe-string budget.

"It's a volunteer army," Vital said. Local residents have "organized block captains, everyone has a caseload. Tuesday through Thursday nights we have 65 to 70 high school students on the phone, doing phone-banking. It's totally a volunteer effort."

The situation in Alameda isn't unique. Parents across the state, including in four other Bay Area counties, have placed parcel taxes on the ballot next Tuesday to make up for sharply reduced school funding.

Last year, California raised $251 million from parcel taxes, according to the Education Data Partnership, despite the fact that they require two-thirds supermajorities to become law. (Alameda's measure would cost residential property owners $659 per year.)

Indeed, schools in Alameda are already funded by a parcel tax that passed in 2008 by the slimmest of margins, 39 votes. Just to maintain current funding levels, another parcel tax of double the amount is needed. "That is to preserve what we have, not to add new programming for young people," Vital said.

And what happens if the measure doesn't pass? It's a grim picture.

Class sizes will grow, from 20 students on average to 25 or even 32. Meanwhile, students' time in class will drop; they'll leave school early as partial days increase, and the total number of school days will be cut by a week.

Teachers and staff will have targets on their backs. All employees will face furlough days, and many teachers -- particularly the next generation of young educators who today are the least experienced -- will be let go. (A bill currently working its way through Congress would provide funding to prevent 300,000 education lay-offs.)

The teachers who keep their jobs will receive no professional development or coaching -- those training days are eliminated. Also on the chopping block are field trips and various enrichment experiences, which already are funded heavily by volunteer community auctions and fundraisers.

The shifts in class size and teaching time impact students immediately. "They'll have different work assigned, maybe not as much writing and reading," Vital explained, "because when teachers have more students, they're not able to assign the same level of work."

The end result, she admits, is that fewer students will meet their grade level standards. "I think that's just the truth. When you defund, this is what happens. And then what happens -- for a kindergartener this year, imagine as they move to first grade, to second grade, what that means as a cost to society when kids are not reading or doing math at grade level."

Iran Uprising Blogging: Monday Updates

2009-07-27T11:43:24Z

I'm blogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.

2:24 PM ET -- Help Iranians get online: donate thumb drives. The Wall Street Journal spreads the word to its readers.

2:18 PM ET -- Mousavi website: Protests will continue. Reuters reports:

Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Monday the pro-reform protests which erupted after the country's disputed June presidential vote will continue, his website reported.

"The pro-reform path will continue," Mousavi said in a statement. "The establishment should respect the constitution and let us to gather to commemorate our killed loved ones on Thursday."

Moderate defeated candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi on Sunday called on the authorities to permit a gathering on Thursday at Tehran's "Grand Mosala," a prayer location where tens of thousands can gather, to commemorate unrest victims.

2:12 PM ET -- "Feisty opposition starts new protest campaign." Time magazine's Robin Wright: "Phase 2 has begun. Six weeks after millions took to the streets to protest Iran's presidential election, their uprising has morphed into a feistier, more imaginative and potentially enduring campaign."

11:44 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad fires his intelligence minister.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired his intelligence minister and his culture minister resigned under pressure Sunday as further rifts emerged in his camp with just days to go until his controversial inauguration for a second term.

Although Ahmadinejad has frequently replaced his cabinet members over the past four years, Sunday's firing and resignation were significant because both Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi are especially close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, analysts say.

"All ministers are close to him," said Amir Mohebbian, a political analyst who shares Ahmadinejad's ideology but has been critical of his actions. "But these two are closer to the leader."

Taken together, the moves suggest deep unhappiness within Ahmadinejad's inner circle at a time when the government is still reeling from the impact of a weeks-long campaign by the opposition to overturn the results of June's disputed election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in a landslide.

11:28 AM ET -- A rare interview from inside Iran. Via reader Yong, here's an interview that CNN's Fareed Zakaria conducted with Tehran University Professor Mohammed Morandi. The talk gets a bit contentious after Marandi claims that the United States government and its media outlets have urged Iranians to riot and use violence. Zakaria asks Mirandi if he worries that one day he will be viewed as a "mouthpiece for a dying repressive regime."

8:56 AM ET -- Still in the streets. A protest, reportedly from yesterday, in front the headquarters of IRIB, Iran's state-backed media.

8:28 AM ET -- Israeli official: No option off the table. From the AP:

Israel dug in its heels Monday in a disagreement with the United States over a potential military strike to thwart Iran's progress toward a possible nuclear weapon, as the visiting American defense chief urged patience.

"We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said pointedly, following discussions with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"This is our policy; we mean it," Barak continued. "We recommend to others to take the same position, but we cannot dictate it to anyone."

While the United States also reserves the right to use force if need be, the Obama administration is playing down that possibility while it tries to draw Iran into talks about its disputed nuclear program and other topics. Gates said Washington still hopes to have an initial answer in the fall about negotiations.

"The timetable the president laid out still seems to be viable and does not significantly raise the risks to anybody," Gates said.

8:18 AM ET -- Saffar Harandi resigns, Ahmadinejad's cabinet no longer official. "Just eight days before inauguration, Ahmadinejad's cabinet becomes illegal and requires a parliamentary vote of confidence to continue working."

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Iran Uprising Blogging: Week Of July 20

2009-07-20T11:36:36Z

I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.

Updates for the week of July 27 are here.

Worldwide demonstrations Saturday. Check United4Iran.com for updates. Amnesty International's web sites highlights some of the larger events planned in the United States.

If you attend one of the rallies, click here to submit photos to the Huffington Post. We'll feature them as they come in.

3:16 PM ET -- Photos from readers. Keep submitting them -- either here or to me via email.

Daylife.com has a wonderful set of photos from the wire services. BBC Persia has another large slideshow -- via a reader, the first photo is of Shirin Ebadi in Amsterdam, and subsequent photos are of gatherings in Tokyo (Japan), Islamabad (Pakistan) and Berlin (Germany).

Here's one write-up:

Demonstrators in cities around the globe joined protests Saturday denouncing human rights abuses in Iran and showing support for opponents of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad.

Some of the biggest rallies took place in Amsterdam, London and Stockholm, with more than 4,000 alone taking to the streets of the Swedish capital.

Among the 1,000 people in Amsterdam was Iran's Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi who led the crowd in chanting: "We want to live in peace. Long live peace".

"We are here to show our solidarity with the people of Iran and to urge the Iranian government to respect human rights," said Tom van den Brand, a spokesman for Amnesty International in Amsterdam.

In London, where more than a thousand gathered outside the Iranian embassy, organisers also spoke of supporting Iranians protesting Ahmandinejad's disputed re-election.

"This is symbolic, it's a global day of solidarity," said Potkin Azarmehr, one of the organisers. "We need to make sure the government pays a price for the way they're treating the people in Iran."

3:12 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad names Mashei as senior advisor.

After a weeklong furor amongst Iran's ruling elite over Ahmadinejad's vice president choice, the president appoints the deputy, who resigned, as an advisor and head of the Presidential Office.

"I appoint you [Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei], as a faithful and competent figure, as advisor and head of the Presidential Office," Ahmadinejad said in a decree on Saturday.

According to the decree published on president's website, Ahmadinejad expressed hope Rahim-Mashaei would be successful in serving the great Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment in cooperation with his colleagues.

Rahim-Mashaei's appointment as the country's vice president unleashed torrents of criticism from both the president's supporters and opponents alike.

Following the political controversy, the president reversed his decision and accepted Rahim-Mashaei resignation.

3:11 PM ET -- Big turnout in Australia. Many more photos here.

3:08 PM ET -- Demonstrators in Kyrgyz Republic reportedly arrested. A press release from United4Iran.org.

(July 25, 2009) Eight human rights defenders who were planning to hold a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in the city of Bishkek in Kyrgyz Republic were arrested today. The demonstrators had assembled on a sidewalk, walking towards the Iranian Embassy. As they approached the main street leading to the embassy a group of policemen, who were apparently expecting them, detained all of them. As of this writing, 8:30 a.m. GMT, the detainees were held in a local police station and were due to be arraigned in a court. It is not clear under what article of the law they have been detained.

United4Iran, who has called for worldwide rallies to show solidarity with the people of Iran in over a hundred cities on July 25, deplores the actions of the Kyrgyz government denying its citizens the right to peaceful assembly.

United4Iran called on the Kyrgyz authorities to immediately release all the detainees. The names of the detainees are:

1. Tolekan Ismailova, Director of human rights center "Citizens Against Corruption"
2. Baijumanova Aida, national coordinator "Citizens Against Corruption"
3. Shaihutdinov Timur, Youth and Student rights Advocacy Council of Ombudsmen.
4. Diana Makembaeva, coordinator of human rights film festival, "Citizens Against Corruption"
5. Krapivina Evgeniya, lawyer
6. Imankulova Erkingul, Public Association "Karek"
7. Arykova Umutay, human rights activist
8. Urmat Kyzy Mirgul, activist

For more information contact:

Hadi Ghaemi (917)669 5996

Pantea Beigi (303) 455 2099

2:54 PM ET -- Iranians demonstrate outside Evin prison. Via reader Chas Danner -- date unspecified but just uploaded today:

2:41 PM ET -- Green scroll unrolled in Paris. Live video is streaming on Ustream. Diane Tucker has much more.

10:53 AM ET -- CNN covers global protests.

FRIDAY JULY 24

8:41 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad VP Mashaei resigns. Some big news broke while I was away -- Khamenei released a succinct letter demanding that Ahmadinejad dump his controversial choice for vice president Rahim Mashaei (who had come under heavy fire from conservatives and hard-liners in part over comments he'd made praising Israelis), and within hours, Ahmadinejad gave in. From the NIAC blog:

Rahim Mashaei has resigned from his post as First Deputy to Ahmadinejad, Fars News Reports [Persian]. Ahmadinejad had resisted firing Mashaei for six days despite an order to do so from the supreme leader. Mashaei was a controversial nominee in part because he said Iran was the friend of the American and Israeli people.

Samareh Hashemi, President's senior aid, on behalf of Mashaei said, "after the announcement of [Supreme Leader's] order, I no longer consider myself the President's First Deputy and will serve the Revolution and Iran wherever else it is necessary."

8:35 PM ET -- Meeting Austin Heap and his team. I had the great pleasure of watching a demonstration of Austin Heap's Haystack technology today -- it's simply astounding work. It sounds as if they'll be announcing more details in the days and weeks to come but for now, please consider heading to his site and donating either funds or USB thumb drives.

To give you a sense of why this is so important, check out this AP piece that went out over the wires tonight:

The tweets still fly and the videos hit YouTube whenever protesters take to the streets in Iran -- even as the Internet battle there turns more grueling.

Authorities appear to be intensifying their campaign to block Web sites and chase down the opposition online, and the activists search for new ways to elude them.

Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube remain blocked, as they have been since Iran's political turmoil began following the disputed June 12 presidential election. Internet experts believe the government is going further -- including tracking down computers from which images and videos of Iran's protests are sent out to the rest of the world. Activists fear their every move online is watched.

"We are really worried about this. To protect myself, I just limit my posts on social networks, my tweets and also I deleted some parts of my personal blogs and my other notes on the Web," one Iranian who regularly sends tweets about the election turmoil said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Another said, "Every site where people can gather and stay connected and share news and pics ... is blocked." Both agreed to e-mail interviews on condition of anonymity, fearing government retaliation.

7:50 PM ET -- Christian Science Monitor slams Clinton over Iran. A very harsh editorial from the paper's editorial board begins, "Loose lips sink ships and, for America's top diplomats, they can also sink countries into war."

1:04 PM ET -- Senate passes Iran VOICE Act. Just emailed out by Sen. Joe Lieberman's office.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate voted unanimously last night to adopt bipartisan legislation that will help strengthen the ability of the Iranian people get access to news and information and overcome the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian regime.

The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act was introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Robert Casey (D-PA) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Among the key features of the VOICE Act:

* Authorizes $30 million to the Broadcasting Board of Governors to expand Farsi language broadcasting into Iran by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Radio Farda and the Voice of America's Persian News Network. The funds may be used to develop additional transmission capability to counter Iranian government efforts to jam radio, satellite, and Internet-based transmissions; establish additional proxy server capability and anti-censorship software to counter efforts to block access to websites in Iran; develop technologies to counter efforts to block SMS text message exchange over cellular phone networks; and hire, on a permanent or short-term basis, additional staff for Radio Farda and the Persian News Network.

* Authorizes $20 million for a new "Iranian Electronic Education, Exchange, and Media Fund," which will support the development of technologies, including websites, that will aid the ability of the Iranian people to gain access to and share information; counter efforts to block, censor, or monitor the Internet in Iran; and engage in Internet-based education programs and other exchanges with Americans online.

* Requires a report by the President on non-Iranian companies, including corporations with U.S. subsidiaries, that have aided the Iranian government's Internet censorship efforts, including by providing deep packet inspection technology.

* Authorizes $5 million for the Secretary of State to document, collect, and dissemination information about human rights in Iran, including abuses of human rights that have taken place since the June 12 Iranian election.

12:08 PM ET -- Warnings sent to anti-Khamenei activists, Rafsanjani. Reuters reports:

A hardline Iranian cleric said on Friday there had been plots in the Islamic state to weaken Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's position after a disputed election last month. [...]

"We know of some insulting private meetings. We know about the plots against the leader but you (who hold these meetings) should know that you will not be able to stand against the people," Ahmad Khatami told Friday prayer worshippers. "Our people will defend the leader until the last drop of their blood," Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, added.

Also:

Separately on Friday, 50 members of the 86-seat Assembly of Experts, called on Rafsanjani in a statement to show more support for the leader.

"Many ... expect the head of the assembly, who has always helped the leader in solving problems and obstacles in the past, to show more and clearer support for the leader during these sensitive times," the statement read.

11:54 AM ET -- Demonstrators give flowers to Army soldiers. A friend describes the scene:

This video is from the city of Kerman (I am unsure when it was taken but it was posted yesterday) and shows demonstrators clapping for and giving flowers to security forces (Nirooye Entezami) who are coming towards them - I guess this is an ingenious way to stop them from getting beaten up. How can you beat someone who hands you a flower?

This is the slogan they chant:

"Nirooye Entezami, Hemayat, Hemayat" - meaning: Security Forces, Protect us, Protect us.....

At the very end they chant:

"Nirooye Entezami, Tashakor, Tashakor" - meaning: Security Forces, Thank you, Thank you....

11:50 AM ET -- Son of Rezai's consultant reportedly dies in Evin prison.
According to reformist paper Mowj Sabz (Green Wave), the son of Dr Abdolhossein Roh Allamani Najafabadi, one of the top consultants to Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei (who is actually fairly conservative), has died in Evin Prison. The paper reports that his family was informed via phone on Tuesday of the death of Mohsen Roh Allamani, who was arrested during the 18 Tir protests on 9 July.

11:45 AM ET -- Ayatollah issues fatwa over Ahmadinejad's inauguration. Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani, responding to questions from a "concerned person," has issued a fatwa regarding the presidential inauguration of Ahmadinejad:

If the individual [claiming to be president] has attained his position illegitimately and fraudulently, the inauguration ceremonies and investment of power done by the supreme leader will are not sufficient to confer legitimacy [upon the aforementioned president] because [the act of] performing these ceremonies is not the main foundation upon which [presidential legitimacy is built upon] . These ceremonies can only invest power if the president has reached his position through an honest election process.

11:42 AM ET -- Tehran mayor slams Ahmadinejad over VP choice. Translated by a reader: "In a meeting with a number of members of Parliament today, Tehran's Mayor, Dr. Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaaf, strongly criticized Ahmdinejad's pick for VP, Rahim Mashaie. In that meeting, Ghalibaaf said: 'What is surprising is that how can Ahmadinejad who goes on about "Velayat-e Faqih" make such a choice? It must be that Ahmadinejad does not believe in "Velayat-e Faqih." Ghalibaaf went on to talk about Mashaie as being anti-revolutionary - that Mashaie had spent time in prison for being an opposition member and had married the woman he met in prison."

Velayat-e Faqih is a book written by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

9:59 AM ET -- Hunger strike updates. From reader Mario: "Here's the Akbar Ganji and Noam Chomsky speeches in NY yesterday. Ganji's speech is worth translating, I found it to be quite amazing."

8:17 AM ET -- More pressure on Ahmadinejad to sack VP. From today's prayers in Tehran:

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who led Friday prayers in Tehran, once again called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to sack his acting president, Esfandir Rahim-Mashaie.

"I hope that the president will pay attention to critics and especially the demand by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and revise the appointment of his first vice-president," the ayatollah said.

Ahmadinejad appointed Rahim-Mashaie was last week as first vice-president, making him de-facto acting president until his own inauguration on Sunday.

"The demand by the leadership should be implemented by the president at the earliest term without any hesitation," said the cleric, himself a supporter of Ahmadinejad.

Also, several ministers of Ahmadinejad's cabinet reportedly walked out of a meeting with him on Wednesday:

Amid a continued political controversy in Iran over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first vice presidential pick, cabinet members engage in a verbal quarrel with the president over his insistence on the choice.

The quarrel broke out at Wednesday's cabinet meeting between President Ahmadinejad and the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi.

Despite a reported call by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution advising the president to reverse his decision in appointing Rahim-Mashaei as his top deputy, Ahmadinejad insisted that Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei would serve as the vice president.

Following President Ahmadinejad's refusal to reverse the decision, Saffar-Harandi left the meeting of cabinet members, Ayandehnews reported on Wednesday.

During the meeting, President Ahmadinejad also criticized what he called "interference by certain officials" in the shape-up of his future cabinet.

The president's criticism prompted reactions from some other cabinet members with ministers of intelligence and labor walking out of the meeting in protest at the remarks.

7:51 AM ET -- Haystack update. I've spent some time here discussing Haystack, a brand new tool developed by tech guru Austin Heap and his team to help Iranians break through their country's Internet firewall. Haystack has a brand new website -- you can check it out here.

This afternoon, Austin Heap and his team will be here in Washington DC, explaining Haystack and demonstrating the technology. (If you're in the area and would like to attend, email me at the address above. Space is extremely limited but I'll try my best.) But more importantly, Cyrus Farivar alerted me to the fact that Austin has just posted an important request for donations of USB thumb drives.

If you've got some mini USB drives hanging around, going unused, or if you'd like to buy a few at your local electronics store and send them Austin's way, click here for instructions.

7:13 AM ET -- A day in the life of the Basiji. A fascinating 10-minute documentary produced by Current TV:

Meanwhile, Reuters features this Q&A on the Revolutionary Guard.

6:53 AM ET -- Parvin Fahimi speaks. Via reader Chas Danner, the activist mother of 19-year-old Sohrab Aarabi, who was murdered during last month's election demonstrations, addressed Tehran's City Council yesterday. The videos -- part I and part II -- are each several minutes long and in Persian.

Update: On his blog, Chas Danner writes about Fahimi and "the power of mom."

Update II: A volunteer has transcribed Fahimi's very powerful statement. Here's a portion -- read it all here:

Now I just want to know why my son has passed away, is it just for the vote he had given? Or for the protests or whatever else? My 19 year old child who has not yet even been given the entrance examination for his Bachelors Degree, a child who hadn't yet reached for any of his wishes, is assassinated by whom? And by whose order? and why? I ask the City Council, what had my son asked of you? Of the government? Of the country? We just wanted tranquility, liberty, my son was just thinking about who he would vote for, and then asking "Where has my vote gone...?" He asked for nothing more, he was just killed because he was supporter of Mr. Mousavi... for what kind of crime was he killed...? My son was just a 19 year old boy.... He hadn't yet reached for any of his wishes... I, his mother - day and night I am asking God to put an end to this oppression....

6:50 AM ET -- Clinton: Iran unable to respond to overtures.

The United States is still willing to 'reach out' to Iran but political turmoil there means Tehran is not now in a position to respond, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the BBC on Thursday.

President Barack Obama made diplomatic overtures to Iran before its June 12 election, but Clinton told the BBC: "We haven't had any response."

She added: "We've certainly reached out and made it clear that's what we'd be willing to do, even now, despite our absolute condemnation of what they've done in the election and since, but I don't think they have any capacity to make that kind of decision right now."

6:41 AM ET -- Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi criticizes state media coverage. As reported by Iran's state-backed media Press TV:

With Iranian media criticized over its post-election coverage, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi touches on the "aggressive language" employed by Iran's state broadcaster. [...]

In its reports of the post-election rallies, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) referred to protesters as "rioters".

The state television came under criticism by the opposition for having a "biased stance" in its coverage of the unrest.

In a meeting with the managers of the semi-official Fars News Agency, Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi urged the "use of the language of friendship and compassion" to help maintain security in the country.

"We should urge everyone to use the language of friendship and compassion because the aggressive language used by IRIB will not help resolve any of the problems," Mehr news agency quoted the Grand Ayatollah as saying on Thursday.

6:31 AM ET -- Graphic video apparently of injured demonstrator. Please be aware, this video is very graphic. It was uploaded relatively recently but the caption states that it was filmed last month, on June 21.

6:25 AM ET -- Iran's economy reportedly suffering. This report from RFI states that the economic situation has worsened in Iran in recent years, contrary to government claims. Citing the Center of Statistics of Iran, the unemployment rate hit 11 percent in April 2009, up one percent from a year ago. But, an informed emailer writes, Iranians who work even one hour each week are considered "employed," so the true figure is higher.

WEDNESDAY JULY 22

10:47 PM ET -- Rep. Berman wants sanctions on Iran petroleum sector. Well, here's the key takeaway from the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing we've been talking about the last few days.

I'm going to save extended comment on this development until tomorrow. The gist is below -- this editorial piece from Voice of America has much more. Reuters also has a write-up.

Reading these stories did make me recall the conversation I had with Berman one month ago. At the time, Berman was backing a non-binding resolution on Iran, and I asked him if he foresaw any additional congressional actions on Iran. He said no. "We have said what we've said. And my view now is the principle of 'do no harm.' Stay out of this."

Apparently his views have changed.

The chairman of a key U.S. House of Representatives committee has signaled his intention to move ahead with sanctions legislation targeting Iran's refined petroleum sector, if Iran does not take up the U.S offer of direct talks on its uranium enrichment program. The statement by Democratic Representative Howard Berman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee came amid other steps in Congress to increase pressure on Iran.

Congressman Berman's statement came during a hearing on Iran, and refers to his Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA) which now has 260 sponsors in the House of Representatives.

The legislation would amend the existing Iran Sanctions Act to target persons or companies involved in exporting refined petroleum products to Iran, or investing $20 million or more directly contributing to maintaining Iran's domestic petroleum infrastructure.

Although a major oil producer, Iran imports most of the gasoline it uses because of inadequate refining capacity. U.S. lawmakers see this as leverage in efforts to persuade Iran's government to halt its nuclear enrichment program.

Describing his bill as "Plan C" in a strategy that includes President Barack Obama's offer to Iran to begin a dialogue, and stronger international sanctions, Berman says he will move it forward in the next few months if Iran fails to take up President Obama's offer of engagement:

"I view the bill as a "Sword of Damocles" over the Iranians, a clear hint of what will happen if they do not engage seriously and move rapidly to suspend their uranium enrichment program as required by numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions. If engagement doesn't work than I am prepared to mark up the bill in committee early this fall," he said.

10:38 PM ET -- Rumor patrol. There's a graphic photo being passed around allegedly showing bodies of people killed at Iran's notorious Evin prison. That's not right. Here's the same photo, posted months ago, reportedly showing individuals killed in Iraq.

10:36 PM ET -- Iran nuclear reactor set to be switched on this year. "Russian news agencies quote the country's nuclear agency chief as saying a Russian-built nuclear power reactor in Iran is still set to be switched on this year."

10:35 PM ET -- Time magazine: "Iran opposition tries to spark power outage."

10:29 PM ET -- More Facebook issues. Apparently the moderators of the Facebook page for Mousavi's wife, Zahra-Rahnavard, are being blocked from posting. I've let my Facebook contacts know, and will update when I hear anything.

Update: Facebook's Chris Kelly writes again to say his team is working on this.

3:09 PM ET -- Solidarity. Reporters in Afghanistan show support for their colleagues in Iran.

2:34 PM ET -- Major hunger strike begins outside the U.N. Readers have been sending me emails about this for days and I feel guilty about not posting about it earlier, it just slipped through the cracks.

In any case, here's one reader's description:

I am not sure whether you are aware of the hunger strike that is going on in front of the UN building right now. It started today and will continue till Friday evening. Many prominent Iranian figures are taking part or supporting the hunger strike (including major political figures, academics, journalists, clerics, etc). In fact, what is very important about this effort is that it has brought together many figures with different beliefs and backgrounds, but who share the desire for true democracy in Iran and the release of political prisoners.

The idea for the strike was initiated by Akbar Ganji, the well-known Iranian journalist who was jailed by the regime and went on a hunger strike in prison that lasted for weeks and almost took his life.

Here's the language from the press release association with the strike:

In solidarity with the Iranian people's Green Movement and condemning the widespread electoral fraud, the merciless repression of the popular protests, and the illegal arrest of hundreds of citizens and activists in Iran, we the undersigned are going on hunger strike between 22 to 24 June in front of the UN building in New York. We intend to have the voice of the long-suffering Iranian people to be heard. We ask the responsible members of the world community to demand the release of all the recent prisoners. Considering the alarming condition of the recent detainees, with their health and even lives in jeopardy, we demand they be visited by representatives of the General Secretary of the UN and immediately freed.

In addition, we the undersigned call on all our compatriots living in the United States to join this protest, meeting on the above-mentioned dates in front of the UN to declare their solidarity with Iranian people's Green Movement during these dangerous and crucial days.

Some photos from today are here and here.

Actor Sean Penn co-authored an article declaring his support for the strike, you can read it at the official website for the strike, Strike4Iran.com. Actor Robert Redford also pledged support:

Political events in Iran over the past month have been dramatic. Many have been killed and hundreds of innocent people have been imprisoned. I strongly defend the human rights of the people of Iran. A hunger strike in front of the United Nations is one way of drawing world attention to the plight of political prisoners in Iran. I support this effort and my daughter, Amy Redford, will be there as an expression of solidarity with the Iranian people, and in the hope of achieving the humanitarian goal of freeing political prisoners in Iran.

Update: Here's coverage from CNN International:

2:00 PM ET -- Remembering Neda. A sculpture in San Francisco.

1:52 PM ET -- Brother of Mousavi's wife arrested, according to U.S. funded outlet Radio Farda.

1:49 PM ET -- Paging Facebook staff. Why is Mousavi's page suddenly down?

Update: It appears the page is functioning at this alternate address.

Also, I reached out to Chris Kelly at Facebook -- he writes back, "I have our folks looking at this..."

Update: It's back!

1:20 PM ET -- Reaction to Clinton's remarks. I posted earlier (7:30 AM) about Hillary Clinton's comments regarding the creation of a U.S. "defense shield" in the Middle East in response to Iran.

A smart reader argues that the "defense shield" concept will undermine U.S. interests in Iran and region-wide by too closely allying the U.S. with (non-democratic) Arab states, many of which have a long history of enmity with Iran. He argues that the "defense shield" sends the message that "regardless of regime in Iran, the U.S. will always support the Arabs."

Meanwhile, Israel has taken a different stance, arguing that Clinton's remarks are a sign that the U.S. does not intend to stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday stirred Israeli fears that Washington would accept a nuclear armed Iran when she raised the idea of a US "defence umbrella" for Gulf allies.

However, Clinton, during a visit to Thailand for an Asian security conference, said later that she was not announcing a new policy and simply wanted to turn Iran away from pursuing a nuclear weapon. [...]

In Jerusalem, Israeli Intelligence Services Minister Dan Meridor criticised her remarks.

"I heard without enthusiasm the American declarations according to which the United States will defend their allies in the event that Iran uses nuclear weapons, as if they were already resigned to such a possibility," he said.

"This is a mistake," Meridor said. "We cannot act now by assuming that Iran will be able to arm itself with a nuclear weapon, but to prevent such a possibility." [...]

Speaking at a press conference in Phuket later, Clinton suggested her remarks were misunderstood.

"I'm not suggesting a new policy. In fact we all believe that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, and I've said that many times," she said.

1:18 PM ET -- Mousavi: More woes for Iran under Ahmadinejad.

Opposition leader and defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said on Wednesday the new government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could cause domestic and international problems for Iran.

Mousavi, who has refused to acknowledge Ahmadinejad's victory in the June 12 election, said senior technocrats, managers and other professionals were not keen to work with the new government.

"You are facing a government which the elite do not want to work with, and on the other hand the government too is not interested in using the experience of the elite," Mousavi was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.

"This will result in a lack of efficiency and legitimacy, which can increase domestic and foreign problems," he said, speaking to academics and journalists.

12:47 PM ET -- Human Rights Watch: Iran 'framing' government critics: "Iranian authorities are coercing detained supporters of reform presidential candidates to implicate leading reformists in illegal acts, Human Rights Watch said today. Intelligence forces have also intensified pressure on the families of detainees to be silent about their cases."

In related news, Reuters reports:

An Iranian defense lawyer voiced concern on Wednesday about two leading reformers detained shortly after last month's disputed election, saying he did not know where being held and who was holding them.

Lawyer Saleh Nikbakht says he represents several pro-reform activists who were detained after the June 12 presidential vote, including Mostafa Tajzadeh and Behzad Nabavi, both allies of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi.

"We know nothing about their whereabouts and which body has arrested them," Nikbakht told Reuters. "The families ... have not been able yet to meet with them and expressed their concerns over the conditions of the two."

12:42 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad bucks Khamenei, defends VP pick. Ahmadinejad is unbowed on Wednesday. This is getting interesting.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defiantly defended on Wednesday his appointment of controversial aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as first vice president, saying he liked him for "1,000 reasons."

Iranian hardliners and clerics are pressuring Ahmadinejad to reverse the appointment of Rahim Mashaie, whose daughter is married to the president's son, after he enraged them last year for making pro-Israel comments.

Ahmadinejad however has not shown any sign of backing down and on Wednesday came in bold support of Rahim Mashaie, saying he was proud of him.

"I like Rahim Mashaie for 1,000 reasons. One of the biggest honours of my life and one of the biggest favours from God to me is knowing Rahim Mashaie," Ahmadinejad said.

"He is like a pure source of water," the president said in an address at a farewell function for the aide after he officially resigned from his position as vice president in charge of tourism to take up his new post.

"One of the reasons to like him is that when you sit with him and talk, there is no distance with him. He is like a transparent mirror. Unfortunately not many people know him," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Contrastingly, in a story printed by state-backed media today, Ahmadinejad's senior political adviser backtracked on comments he made saying Ahmadinejad would definitely not let Mashaie be sacked.

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Iran Uprising Blogging: Week Of July 13

2009-07-13T11:48:22Z

Updates for the week of July 20 are here.

4:43 PM ET -- Tear gas disrupts large group of people praying. Just awful.

4:29 PM ET -- Reza Aslan: Rafsanjani did not disappoint.

In the end, Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani did not disappoint. For a man who has made a career out of mediating from the middle and playing both sides, Rafsanjani delivered an unusually pointed criticism of the Iranian regime's handling of the election crisis. He explicitly condemned the Guardian Council's haphazard investigation into claims of election fraud and demanded the immediate release of all the protesters who had been arrested and detained by the Revolutionary Guard. "We do not need people in prison for [demonstrating]," Rafsanjani said. "Let's allow them to return to their families."

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the sermon came when Rafsanjani hinted that progress has been made in his attempts to come up with some kind of compromise with the regime over the election crisis, though he remained elusive about what that could possibly entail. "I have some suggestions," he said, in an oblique reference to his work behind the scenes with Iran's powerbrokers. "I have spoken to some members of the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts about them too."

2:40 PM ET -- Defending Karroubi. A reader sends along two interesting videos. In the first watch it here:

Speakers announce Rafsanjani is going to speak, to which people respond: "Hashemi, if you remain silent you are a traitor!" Then at 0:40 -- Karroubi amongst people who greet him: "dorud bar Karroubi" (Hello) then praise him "Karroubi bagheyrat, beres be dade mellat" (Honorable/Brave Karroubi, come to the help of the people!"

Then:

The forces attack, people shout "don't shoot." Then they tell Karroubi who is in the front line: "Karroubi remain behind us!" Then they yell "death to the dictator!"

2:33 PM ET -- Video, complete transcript of Rafsanjani's speech. Video (in 10 minute chunks) is on this person's YouTube account. Transcript here.

Via a reader, some notable attendees: Karroubi, Ansari and Yaser Khomeini (Khomeini's grandson)... Nategh Noori, Hassan Rouhani... Mohesen Rezai (another presidential candidate)... Mortazavi... Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Photos of all here.

2:25 PM ET -- An injured female demonstrator. Video reportedly from today here.

2:14 PM ET -- Flash mobs. A new twist on solidarity with Iran.

2:12 PM ET -- Guardian Council releases Iran election report. From state media: "Iran's Guardian Council has published a 'detailed report' on the country's latest presidential election, which shows how complaints about the results were dealt with."

Via reader David, here's the full report -- if an English version pops up, let me know.

1:59 PM ET -- "Death to Russia!" A fascinating video. From reader Sadeq Rahimi:

Here's a clip from today's prayers in Tehran that I think is a MUST for your weblog! There's not much by the way of image, it's taken by people who couldn't make it inside, but it's the recorded audio that is fascinating. Traditionally, there's this guy at the Friday prayers whom people mockingly call 'vazireh shoaar', or the minister of slogans. His job is to shout slogans through loudspeakers and lead the crowd to chant death to America or Israel or whoever after him. In this clip you hear the crowd going flatly against him as he desperately cycles through the usual slogans (death to America, death to Israel, death to England and so on), and regardless of what he shouts, the crowd keeps repeating one chant: 'marg bar roosiyeh' (Death to Russia) !!

The chants against Russia and China -- whose governments have both recognized Ahmadinejad's election victory -- were widely used today. As noted below by a reader, the strategic benefit here seems to be associating the Iran's government with a foreign power, just as the government is trying to do to tar the reformists.

Update: A regular reader, after watching this video, writes:

I get goose bumps each time I listen to this.
Hats off to all of our people. I am amazed and in awe by their bravery. I feel like I am not big and free enough a person to be called Iranian now....

Thank you, people, Thank you. You fill my eyes with tears...and fill my heart with such a huge sense of pride and gratitude to have known you and lived among you...

1:43 PM ET -- Siemens risks losses due to Iran work. "One of the world's largest engineering firms, Siemens, could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) because it sold Iran equipment used to spy on dissidents."

1:38 PM ET -- Demonstrators meet a group of Ahmadinejad supporters. Near the end of the clip... it all stays peaceful. Via a reader:

1:33 PM ET -- Karroubi reportedly attacked. "Mehdi Karrubi, a former Parliamentary Speaker and a defeated candidate in the June 12 ballot, was attacked by plain- clothed forces on his way to Friday prayers, his party said on its Web site. Karrubi didn't require hospital treatment after the incident and later returned home."

Here's an account, in Farsi, from his son.

1:27 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad picks VP who praised Israel.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appointed Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as Iran's new first vice president, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

Ahmadinejad announced late Thursday in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad that Mashaie will serve as the new first vice president in the 10th government, replacing incumbent First Vice President Parviz Davoudi, who was appointed adviser to the president, IRNA said.

Why this pick is particularly interesting:

Mashaie a year ago was severely criticised by the country's hardliners and even rapped by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for saying Iran was a "friend of the Israeli people."

He returned to the theme again in August, saying he had "no hostility against the Israeli people."

1:23 PM ET -- Great new photos of the Tehran University protests from a photojournalist with Demotix. An important detail from Andy at Demotix: "He's one of our most established reporters in Tehran, but is going via a new username because eight of his friends (6 photographers and 2 cameramen) have been arrested. He himself was detained by the Sepah 7 days ago." True bravery -- and because of them, the world is still watching.

Some pictures apparently from today of Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Mousavi, here.

Many more photos posted on Flickr here.

1:15 PM PM ET -- New calls for Mousavi's arrest.

Mousavi should be put on trial as the driving force behind the post-election unrest, according to an Iranian lawmaker cited by the state-run Fars news agency.

"Mousavi has been the main factor behind the unrest," said Esmail Kosari, a member of the parliamentary committee for national security and foreign policy. "People have been harmed and he must be accountable."

11:31 AM ET -- A video archive for Iranians. There are two big problems for people in Iran trying to see some of the amazing footage coming out of their country. 1) Since Internet speed is low, it's much better to download a video rather than watching a streaming version; and 2) Many more would be able to watch if you could access the videos via mobile phone.

This site, developed by some smart and committed activists, is trying to help. All the videos archived there are already downloadable, and soon they'll be available for cell phones. If you know people in Iran, spread the word.

11:10 AM ET -- Brave Iranians gather in front of Interior Ministry.

11:00 AM ET -- How geeks (and non-geeks) can help Iranians.

10:32 AM ET -- Anti-Rafsanjani chants. (Update: Or maybe not.) Thoughts from reformists on Rafsanjani's speech today are very, very diverse. Some are extremely happy with his comments. Some are pleasantly surprised by the speech (given his history of cautiousness) but wish he had gone much further. Others are disappointed, and still others believe he "sold out the people."

In a video posted below, a reader notes, people are chanting "base dige dorooghgoo, Akbar Hashemi (literally: we've had enough you liar, Akbar Hashemi [Rafsanjani])." The reader notes, "It is crucial not to mistakenly identify the unusually high number of people who attended today's prayer as backers or even fond of Rafsanjani. His sermon merely presented people with an opportunity to once more voice their dissatisfaction."

UPDATE: Another reader challenges this translation:

Hi, you've mentioned the chant: "base dige dorooghgoo, Akbar Hashemi (literally: we've had enough you liar, Akbar Hashemi [Rafsanjani])."

But in face they were saying, base dige dorooghgoo, Akbare Hashemi KU? which means, enough of you liar (addressed to the guys who was talking for a very long time before Hashemi), where is Akbar Hashemi.

Taghavi the guy who spoke for a long time before Hashemi was bascially saying things in support of the leader, and people chanted enough, let Hashemi speak!

Yet another reader offers:

I know his speech may have disappointed some people. It was soft, and full of double speak. But we have to remember that this speech is coming from a man who has always moved behind the scenes. The fact that he is even so closely connected to the Green Wave is a pretty big deal. For him to give such a speech that even hints at anything is huge.

The real question is what does all this mean? Perhaps he was trying to comfort the people. Maybe he was hoping to influence some of the hard liners who are now questioning things. What I'm worried bout is that maybe this means his behind the scenes influence has lost its clout and he is forced to come out of the shadows a bit more.

10:29 AM ET -- Several new photos apparently from today are here, via reader Tim.

9:32 AM ET -- Rafsanjani's most important line? Via email, Portland State University professor R. Kevin Hill writes:

There was subtext and not-so-sub-subtext in several of Rafsanjani's remarks, based on the transcript of a live-blogger (caveats about accuracy, accuracy of translation, etc.) excerpt of which follows. If this is accurate, and I'm reading the oblique sermon style correctly, he's articulating a principle of popular sovereignty and calling on the government to resign. I've highlighted the crucial remark:

"The Imam [Khomeini] would always quote the Prophet [Muhammad] who would say to Ali [Muhammad's successor]: leave the people if they do not want you.

9:25 AM ET -- "Something profound has changed." "Iranians are losing their fear and mock the official line."

9:16 AM ET -- Photo of Mousavi at prayers. Allegedly from today:

9:01 AM ET -- Demonstrators reportedly swarming state media HQ. Iranians calling into EPersianRadio.com say that large crowds have gathered outside the headquarters of the state media outlet IRIB. One caller said the building was surrounded by thousands of people, and that demonstrators were trying to break in.

Here's a series of new videos from today:

8:38 AM ET -- Today in Tehran. A great compilation of video from today by Chas Danner:

And one new high-quality clip, again showing very large crowds:

A caller to EPersianRadio.com says he is a former Revolutionary Guard member. Via a reader, "He said that mentally it's so hard, that the basiji forces may not be able to hold up. He said he served 10 years ago and he knows what goes in their mind and how much effect it has on them. Otherwise, why are they asking for volunteers now? He said when they were on alert he couldn't get any sleep and he knows how scared the forces are themselves."

8:19 AM ET -- Mousavi among the people? A caller from Tehran to EPersianRadio.com claims that Mousavi is taking part in the street demonstrations.

Another caller says "so much tear gas... old men laying on the ground. The air was thick with tear gas, so much that you couldn't open your eyes."

And here's video of another reformist presidential candidate, Karoubi, apparently demonstrating today:

8:03 AM ET -- Reports of violence. An account relayed from an Iranian:
"Plastic bullets being used. Getting lots of reports of people hurt. He says every minute its getting bigger and bigger. He says its the biggest protest in weeks. People are starting to come from all the streets, lots of tear gas. He says batons and tear gas, yet lots of people. Fatami seems to be the big street that is happening. He says 1 hour ago, people were headed towards the state-run tv station, but he doesn't know what happened."

Here's a new Reuters report:

Iranian police detained at least 15 people and used tear gas and batons to disperse supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi outside Tehran University on Friday, a witness said.

The incident took place as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani led Friday prayers inside the university grounds.

Mousavi supporters outside chanted slogans calling for the release of people detained since last month's disputed presidential election and for the resignation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when police moved to disperse them, the witness said.

7:52 AM ET -- A note from a reader: "great videos you posted. if you have any sources in iran, please tell them a 22 year old diaspora that has never been to iran was crying tonight in LA watching that. never been more proud."

7:50 AM ET -- Tear gas fired on demonstrators outside Tehran University.

7:25 AM ET -- Mousavi did attend the prayers, his first official public appearance since the vote, Reuters reports.

Here's more video:

7:14 AM ET -- A caller from Tehran to EPersianRadio.com says that several women were stabbed by plainclothes paramilitaries outside Tehran University. "Blood everywhere," she says. "Please tell everyone to get away from the university."

A reader's contact in Iran says something very similar: "The basijis had knives with them. That's why everyone around the university has knives. He says its really bad."

7:09 AM ET -- Women's rights activist reported arrested on way to prayers. Associated Press: "Two pro-reform Web sites reported that a prominent women's rights activist, Shadi Sadr, was beaten by plainclothes militiamen and taken away as she headed toward Tehran University. Sadr was forcible pushed into a car and taken to an unknown location, Mousavi's Web site http://www.mowjcamp.com and a women's activists site http://www.meydaan.com said."

7:02 AM ET -- Massive crowds. Via reader Chas:

7:00 AM ET -- Down with Russia. Here, the crowd chants, "Russia, do us a favor and let go of our country!" A smart reader offers, "The anti-Russia chants are great. It's like the '79 version of death to America. They are associating the regime with a foreign power."

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6:45 AM ET -- EPersianRadio.com continues to have live updates from people in Iran. One caller just said people are fighting, especially around the university. You can here very very loud chanting in the background.

Another caller from Sweden asks people to protest in front of the Russian and Chinese embassies. Another caller in Iran asks people to go to Evin prison and free the prisoners like the French Revolution. Now another caller from Tehran -- he said they had taken his mobile earlier. He is urging everyone to come to the streets.

6:30 AM ET -- Update from Tehran. "My friend just came back from prayer (he is alive) he said there were so many people and it felt really good. He said there were so many people and also so many riot police and they forced people to get separated around University of Tehran and Enghelan Sq. He said he couldn't heard Rafsanjani's speech but didn't matter they chanted with others anyway.. and he was very happy he went."

6:20 AM ET -- First video from today. A very loud and very large crowd:

6:00 AM ET -- Rafsanjani updates. (The updates in this section are in reverse chronological order -- there was no television coverage of Rafsanjani's speech so we were posting updates and translations from readers in real time. Scroll down to the bottom of this section to get the gist of the speech, or read the wire reports directly below.)

Reuters on Rafsanjani's speech:

Iranian police used tear gas and batons to try to disperse tens of thousands of supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi who had flocked to Tehran University for Friday prayers, a witness said.

Influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, leading the weekly ceremony for the first time since the disputed June 12 election, said many Iranians had doubts about the official result in favor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

"We are all members of a family. I hope with this sermon we can pass through this period of hardships that can be called a crisis," he said in a sermon broadcast on state radio.

Mousavi, a former prime minister, attended the ceremony in his first official public appearance since the vote, which he says was rigged. The authorities deny any fraud.

Rafsanjani, a key backer of Mousavi's election campaign, also demanded the immediate release of people detained in post-election unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed.

"In the current situation it is not necessary for us to have a number of people in prisons ... we should allow them to return to their families," he said.

Earlier the crowd inside the hall could be heard on live state radio chanting "Mousavi, Mousavi, we support you," interrupting Rafsanjani's sermon.

The chants died away after he quietened the crowd, urging them "not to contaminate the position and the sanctuary of Friday prayers by comments and slogans."

And here's the AP report:

One of Iran's top clerics criticized hard-liners at the main Islamic prayers Friday, saying the clerical leadership must clear up doubts over the disputed presidential election and should release opposition supporters arrested in the postelection crackdown.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who sits on two powerful clerical ruling bodies, made the comments during his sermon before tens of thousands of opposition supporters, with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi sitting in the front row.

The opposition packed the prayer hall to make a show of strength at the weekly Islamic prayers, which broadcast live on radio and are one of Iran's most important and symbolic political platforms. It was Rafsanjani's first time delivering the sermon since the June 12 election. In recent weeks, hard-line clerics have been using the sermon to tell Iranians to fall in line behind Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and accept the election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rafsanjani urged unity and appeared to blame hard-liners for disrupting unity by not listening to the controversy over the election, which was declared a victory for Ahmadinejad but which Mousavi claims to have won.

"Doubt has been created (about the election results)," Rafsanjani said. "There are two currents. One doesn't have any doubt and is moving ahead with their job. And there are a large portion of the wise people who say they have doubts. We need to take action to remove this doubt."

He said the turmoil following the elections "was a bitter period ... all were the losers." He criticized hard-liners for the crackdown on postelection protests, saying they should show sympathy for those arrested.

"Sympathy must be offered to those who suffered from the events that occurred and reconcile them with the ruling system. This is achievable. We need to placate them," he told the worshippers in the Tehran University prayer hall.

"It's not necessary ... to keep individuals in jail. Let them join their families. We should not let enemies criticize or laugh at us ... for keeping our people in jail," he said.

-- I've posted a few instant reactions to Rafsanjani's speech from readers down below.

-- On a radio station, an Iranian calls in from Fatami Square and you can hear loud chanting in the background -- "death to the government that tricks poeple!"

People are now chanting, "Liar, liar, where is your 63%?" (a reference to Ahmadinejad's election vote total). Now, "Death to Russia, death to China" -- two countries that have recognized Ahmadinajead's "victory." People are singing 'Yare Dabestani,' chanting 'Oh Houssein Mir Houssein.'

The caller says "the first group of people just went by, another thousand is passing by surronded by riot forces." A new chant: "I will kill, I will die, I'll get my vote back."

-- From the calls people are getting from Iran, thousands of riot forces are standing in front of Tehran University, a reader writes. "Seems like they are wating to attack people coming out of the university. All streets that are leading to the university is filled with riot police."

Large crowds are reportedly now going from Vali Asr square to IRIB headquarters.

A reader relays word from Iran, "my friend just said, the basijis are being a lot more aggressive than any of the other days, they are breaking up groups very very quickly, a lot more quickly then any previous time."

-- The conclusion of the sermon (three translations): "I have some suggestions. I have spoken to some members of the the expediency council and the assembly of experts about them too. [Signaling that he is the chief of the assembly of experts and the expediency council and he is speaking from that platform]. We must bring back the trust of the people. First of all, everyone must accept the law. The people, the parliament, everyone. We must create a condition so that everyone can speak. We must speak logically. And a part of this is on the shoulders of the broadcasting corporation The guardian council did not make good use of the extra fives days given to them by the leader. We do not need people in prison for this. Let's allow them to return to their families. [More chants of Allah o Akbar] We must join hands with those who have incurred great loss and try to lesson their pain. We must give freedom to the press within the confines of the law."

14:15 We are all members of the same family. We must remain friends and allies. Why have we gone so far as to pain some of our marajeh [top religious leaders]?

14:16 I hope this sermon will pave a way out of this current situation. A situation that can be considered a crisis.

'Unfortunately the opportunity given by the Supreme Leader (5 extra days to submit election fraud evidence) wasn't used properly, but that's over now. People shouldn't be in prison. Let them get back to their families. Our enemies are laughing at us (b/c we have put our people in prison). Don't limit the media if they operate within the law.'

From another reader: 'We are now past the stage where the Guardian Council could have restored the peoples trust. We must be able to tolerate one another. We must compensate the families that have been harmed. We must let the press be free, we should refrain from intimidation. We are all one family. We (he must be referring to the opposition) have been involved in government for 30 years.'

-- Rafsanjani: 'Which ever of those elements of our governance (Islamic or Republic) is not respected, then we have failed our revolution. Towards the end of the election campaign, some people were abusing the system, using the national television and radio... [speech in interrupted by jeers]... The majority of the people are suspicious of the election. Today is a bitter day. It is a bitter time. Everyone is losing. We need unity. We need unity more than ever today, given the numerous threats facing our nation.'

'You all know me, i do not and never do take sides. But my opinion is that we must find a path of unity. My solution: the assembly of experts has been consulted and we conclude that the trust of the people must be restored. This must be our priority. Everyone is within the framework of the law. We must proceed within the framework of the law. We should follow the legal paths. Restoring the peoples trust will not happen over night. Everyone should be able to say their words. IRIB and radio should give everyone a chance.'

-- Crowd begins chanting loudly again, Rafsanjani pleads for calm. None of our readers can figure out what the crowd is chanting.

-- "Now he talks about how the previous regime was toppled by the people and how he worked with the Imam on a daily basis, and how Imam wanted the goverment to be by the people. He is quoting a story by a 13th century Islamic scholar, reading it in Arabic (you get extra points, kind of like talking Latin by the Pope) and translating to Farsi, again basically arguing why the support of people is so important."

The quote, another reader says, "If people are satisfied and happy then you may continue to govern with constitutional authority." Another reader, "In our constitution everything is the people's vote. It's Islamic and it's a republic."

-- Violence being reported outside the sermon in Tehran. One reliable Iranian on Twitter: "I am alive.the hit ppl with batons and pipes in 12 farvardin and daneshjoo avenue!"

-- Rafsanjani now addressing the elections. 'Very good beginning to the electoral campaign. The people should take pride in their participation. He wishes the same trends could have continued til today. Sadly it didnt go that way. The main question in my second segment is 'what do we want from our revolution'?'

Another account, "He is saying we should thank the people for showing such a support for the election, and unfortunately the outcome was not how he had hoped for. He said you are hearing this from me, my history goes back to 60 years. I worked with the Imam (Khomeini) and the Imam historically wanted the people's support."

-- Crowd now interrupting Rafsanjani, he is asking them to stop. He is addressing the violence against Muslims in China. 'May god bring justice to all the criminals and give patience to the victims (in the context of death of the 7th imam).'

-- The end of point 1 of Rafsanjani's speech:

Rafsanjani is getting teary. "The prophet respected the rights of all those under his rule." He brings an example from the end of the prophet's life where the prophet comes to the people and asks that if he ever treated anyone unfairly, they speak up and let him know.

The prophet felt, during the last years of his life, that animosity was brewing amongst his people [he is crying now]. The prophet felt that his old friends are now enemies.

The prophet went to Baghi [where his old friends were buried] and said to them: you are lucky that you are no longer here to see that your old brothers are killing and destroying one another.

-- A caller to this radio station says the gate at Tehran University (site of the prayers) is closed, people are being turned away. The caller said mostly Basij are in the arena. People began shouting "Death to the dictator" and tear gas was fired in response.

-- CNN's Reza Sayah says some demonstrators were chanting this morning, "Hashemi (Rafsanjani), if you stay silent, you have committed a crime."

-- The Prophet was so concerned about harming anyone that he asked for forgiveness before death, if he has in anyone caused harm to his people.

-- First shot at Khamenei? Rafsanjani says, the Prophet was always careful not to violate any person's right.

-- Rafsanjani discussing the origins of Islamic rule and how it turned Medina in Saudi Arabia into a major influential story. "I guess his point is Mohammad didn't use force," one reader says.

-- A photo of crowds heading to prayers apparently from today, via reader Chas:

-- A reader in contact with Iranians says the speech is not being aired on Iranian TV. CNN is not airing the speech either, despite claiming it would.

-- I have three items to discuss. Number one, explaining the fundamentals of Islam and the Islamic Republic. Number two, goals of the revolution. I want to clarify the goals of the revolution to the youth, so they understand where we have come from and where we are going. He says he will express his personal views and hopes that people in charge will listen. The third part will be about current day events and the conditions we are in. I will try to draw out solutions the way I see them. Of course, these will be my personal opinion.

-- This is a holy place, let us not allow events to get out of control...

-- Basij chanting: the blood in our veins is a gift to our leader (threatening Rafsanjani) & Raf says tnk u! let me start!

Reaction to Rafsanjani's speech. A collection of reaction here.

-- From a reader:

Rafsanjani started talking about the violence in China. Then he added how the violence was against the Muslims in China. Though the way he was talking about China was really....I don't know how to explain. His tone wasn't convincing. He sounded like he was hinting towards something else (violence in Iran) Bringing up China was way too random. Why even bring it up? I think it was his way of talking about was going on in Iran. His whole speech pretty much was about Iran and the current issues facing it, though it was in a very indirect way; which was a smart move on his part.

I personally think he did well. He talked about the prisoners, he talked about the media restriction, about how the government isn't allowing families who lost a loved one to mourn properly. He talked about a lack of trust in the government, about what the revolution was about and what it was meant to be. People need to realize that he holds a high post and he can not directly accuse Khamanei and Ahmadinejad. The whole speech was about human rights, the freedom to protest and how a government is selected by its people. I'm actually surprised that he took a direct stab at the Iranian press for favoring Khamanei and Ahmadinejad. Before the speech, I was skeptical, but once I realized that none of the Iranian channels are airing the speech I was hopeful.

Another reaction:

I think it was pretty bad nico, a few soft shots here and there, but basically what's done is done. it's over, time to move on! i think it was pretty spineless. I'm not surprised either. I never looked him as the one who's gonna save us all. i had seen him in action for too long. I mean, no direct shots at Khamenei? Forget direct shots, nothing remotely close. He put him back in his untouchable spot again. "it's between us, let's figure something out." But did i expect he was gonna risk his billions, family, spot in the government, etc, etc? nooo."

4:41 AM ET -- Prayer organizer warns speakers. Taghavi, "the head of the organization that oversees the Friday prayer imams is still speaking," according to one source providing updates from Tehran. A few of his Taghavi's comments:

Whoever participates in the Friday prayers is strengthening his ties with the leader... The Imam is speaking on the behalf of the supreme leader and thus must only speak of those policies approved by him. The Imam must organize his speech according to these policies... This podium and this gathering must never be used on behalf of any political party or political cause. The Friday prayer is a prayer said in allegiance with the supreme leader. It is a prayer of unity and brotherhood... Unity is a policy that must be propagated by the Friday prayer. Respect for the law is another such policy. We must accept the law even if it is not to our advantage.

4:37 AM ET -- Live audio feed of the sermons is here. (Reader Sam notes, "it is a monarchist radio station so the host interrupts with political commentary.")

This account on Twitter is apparently doing live updates in Farsi.

4:14 AM ET -- Will Iran's state media show Rafsanjani? No sign of him yet.

Iranian state TV is currently broadcasting via its five channels:

1) a discussion on havij bastani (an Iranian desert with carrots and ice cream)

2) a 1986 Japanese cartoon

3) an Indian movie

4) an even cheesier Iranian movie

5) a documentary on the Iran-Iraq war

3:46 AM ET -- Massive crowds reported. From an Iranian on Twitter: "Massive crowds marching toward Tehran University as I type this, I'm hoping for a historic day, hope is all we have now"

Another, unconfirmed, tweet: "4k-5k basijis in prayer area & slept there.most of crowd is stuck outside but chanting is louder than speakers inside"

3:20 AM ET -- Watching Rafsanjani live. CNN just said it will be airing Rafsanjani's speech live.

I'm told you can watch a stream here via Iranian stations, probably IRIB 1.

3:00 AM ET -- "Tensions build ahead of Rafsanjani speech." The Los Angeles Times has a great scene-setting piece -- here's the intro:

A self-described "party girl," 28-year-old Ameneh Saeedi has spent the last few days brushing up on her prayers, which she hasn't performed since she was forced to in high school.

This morning, Saeedi, a secretary, will skip her daily makeup routine and don an all-covering black hijab to attend a potentially momentous sermon by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one that could herald a new stage in the political drama that has followed the disputed June 12 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Saeedi is among the thousands of Ahmadinejad opponents expected to show up at the Tehran University prayer service to be led by the powerful cleric. Reformist leaders, including presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and former President Mohammad Khatami, have vowed to attend.

Rafsanjani's long-awaited sermon could pour water on the ongoing fire of protests or add more fuel to the dispute within the ruling establishment and Iranian society over the election results, which the powerful Guardian Council confirmed again Thursday in a 39-page document posted to its website.

Saeedi joked that she voted for Mousavi at the behest of friends. "One vote cost me a lot. I became a practicing Muslim again," she said.

THURSDAY, JULY 16

4:33 PM ET -- 7 photographers detained in Iran. AP:

Media monitor Reporters Without Borders says five photographers and a cameraman have been detained in Iran over the past week.

The Paris-based group listed five Iranian photographers seized Saturday, nearly a month after the June 12 presidential elections that prompted a wave of opposition protests. It says French-Iranian cameraman Said Movahedi was detained July 9.

The reason for the arrests is unclear.

Reporters Without Borders said in a statement Thursday that "The Iranian government fears images" of the protests.

The group says at least five other photographers or cameramen have been injured by police or militias during the crackdown on opposition protesters. It says 41 journalists are behind bars in Iran.

3:16 PM ET -- Joe Klein previews Friday. Via Talk Islam:

There's lots of speculation about what Rafsanjani might say. One Iranian friend said, "It's the speech of his life, a chance to redeem his career. He must call for the rejection of the election results." Unfortunately, that's never been Rafsanjani's style and is an unlikely alternative now. But he and his family are also too closely identified with the protest movement for him to just acquiese and kowtow to the Revolutionary Guard Corps-dominated government. Another Iranian friend predicts, "He'll announce the formation of a political front that will work within the system but oppose the Ahmadinejad government." That seems more plausible.

3:14 PM ET -- Outside Sohrab's house. Iranians gather, sing and chant yesterday outside the home of slain 19-year-old demonstrator Sohrab Aarabi.

This movement is alive and well.

3:07 PM ET -- A Conversation About the Elections, Protest and the Future. Keeping the Change reviews a big panel in New York last night featuring Shaul Bakhash, leading Iran expert at George Mason University; Roger Cohen, renowned New York Times columnist; Haleh Esfandiari of the Woodrow Wilson Center who suffered an eight month prison term in Iran; and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

2:35 PM ET -- A new Poem for the Rooftops. Translated by readers and captioned by Chas Danner.

Incidentally, a reader passes along word from a friend in Iran: "She said the Allah-o Akbar shouting off of the rooftop is really loud tonight. That's more like a confirmation of coming out tomorrow, safest way of sending the signal."

2:28 PM ET -- Hardliners organizing to disrupt Rafsanjani's sermon. From NIAC:

Mowj Camp, a pro-Mousavi website created recently, has reported that the hardliners "are extensively preparing to prevent the presence of [Mousavi supporters]" at the Friday prayer.

"After hearing about the decision of Mousavi supporters to attend and the possibility of a green movement to form at the Friday prayers, supporters of [Ahmadinejad] have become extremely worried and are trying to weaken the presence of the greens and overshadow them."

2:25 PM ET -- Iran moves to curtail lawyers. Via reader Nancy, Human Rights Watch issues a statement:

Iran's government should withdraw new regulations that severely limit the independence of the Iranian Bar Association and would give the government control over a lawyer's right to practice, Human Rights Watch said today.

Revised implementing regulations (bylaws) to the law establishing the independence of the Bar Association would give the Judiciary, whose head is appointed by the Supreme Leader and which oversees the Justice Ministry, the decisive role in approving lawyers' licensing applications. The Bar Association has exercised that right for the last 50 years, and the 1955 law establishing the bar's independence says that the law cannot be changed without the bar's approval.

2:19 PM ET -- Rafsanjani's prayers on Friday. Anticipation is building, and Ahmadinejad is not expected to attend, the New York Times reports:

Opposition supporters vowed on Web sites and social networking sites to show up at the prayers in force. There were reports that green prayer mats -- the color green symbolizing both Islam and the opposition -- were sold out across the city.

The vast hall at Tehran University where prayers are held was expected to be stacked on Friday with government supporters, and the intelligence minister, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, was quoted by the Fars News Agency as warning Iranians to not turn the sermon "into an arena for undesirable scenes."

Mr. Ahmadinejad, who embarked Thursday on a provincial trip to the northeastern city of Mashhad under heavy security, is not expected to attend the prayers.

A "political analyst" who has worked with Rafsanjani, quoted by the Times, offers his insight on what Rafsanjani may say: "He is known as the man behind the scenes and favors those kinds of negotiations rather than making bald public statements. He has said he will say what he has to say but in his own way."

2:12 PM ET -- Iran summons French ambassador to complain about crackdowns on protesters on Bastille Day.

Meanwhile, the French ambassador expects to meet for the second time on Saturday with Clotilde Reiss, a young French lecturer being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

12:21 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad: Iran will strike enemies "in the face." Some trash talking:

Newly re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fierce attack on the West on Thursday, saying Iran's enemies had tried to interfere and foment aggression in its disputed presidential vote last month.

"In this recent election the enemy tried to bring the battlefront to the interior of this country," Ahmadinejad told a big crowd in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

"But I have told the enemies ... that this nation ... will strike you in the face so hard you will lose your way home," he said in comments translated by English-language Press TV.

12:12 PM ET -- Proposals on U.S.-Iran policy. The Israel Policy Forum, a thoughtful group, has a new paper outlining its ideas on Iran diplomacy.

The group basically backs the Obama administration supports, but argues that the election unrest requires a shift from public to private/secret efforts at negotiations.

We still believe that the President should pursue a policy of engagement given the dire consequences of failing to move on a fresh approach. However, we strongly advise that the initial contacts be more private and secret than would have been anticipated originally. It may also be necessary to rely on Track Two in which participants acting in their private capacity have the support of their respective governments to talk, but not to negotiate. As a means of setting the stage for greater mutual involvement and understanding Track Two is more important now than would have been the case originally.

The administration must pursue a consistent policy toward Iran that makes it clear that the United States is prepared to talk with any government in power, given the perils precipitated by Iran's development of a nuclear force, its support of terrorism, and its more aggressive foreign policy in recent years. At the same time, given American values and human decency, we are also obligated to oppose the Iranian government's oppression of its people. Therefore, President Obama has taken just the right combination of caution and firmness. He has admirably presented the United States as prepared for serious engagement and negotiations, while making our opposition to the Iranian government's treatment of its people clear and firm.

7:59 AM ET -- News agency: Iranian nuke chief resigns.

The head of Iran's nuclear agency tells an Iranian news agency that he has resigned.

Gholam Reza Aghazadeh gives no reason for his resignation from the post. Aghazadeh, however, has long been close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to be the victor in June 12 presidential elections and says the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is illegitimate.

Aghazadeh is quoted as telling the semi-official ISNA news agency that he submitted his resignation 20 days ago to Ahmadinejad, who accepted it. In the ISNA report Thursday, Aghazadeh says he also resigned from his other post, as one of Ahmadinejad's vice presidents.

Aghazadeh and other nuclear officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

WEDNESDAY JULY 16

6:43 PM ET -- Torture victims tell their stories. Via reader Marc, a heart-breaking video, produced before the elections, featuring victims of torture in Iran's prisoners telling their stories, as well as commentary by human rights activists and political prisoners.

6:31 PM ET -- "Behind Iran's silence." The latest by the New Yorker's wonderful Laura Secor. No need to excerpt, it's worth reading the whole piece.

5:43 PM ET -- Clinton's remarks on Iran. From the Secretary of State's big speech today:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

3:52 PM ET -- Mousavi confirms his attendance at Friday's prayers in a new statement. This will be his first public appearance at a state-sanctioned event in weeks. I'm going to be staying up late and covering it live on Friday morning, fyi.

Update: Here's the AP report:

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed not to let the blood of protesters killed in postelection crackdown go in vain as he met with the family of a young man shot to death during the turmoil, reformist Web site reported Wednesday.

Mousavi, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that he will attend Tehran's main Friday prayer services this week for the first time, a key symbolic assertion of the opposition's presence after the crackdown.

The sermon Friday is due to be delivered by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric in Iran's leadership who has not performed the sermon since the turmoil erupted following the disputed June 12 presidential election. Rafsanjani is a top rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is believed to be a strong behind-the-scenes backer of Mousavi.

"I'll join you (for prayers) on Friday July 17," Mousavi said, according to his Web site ghalamnews.ir.

The main Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University is a significant political platform that hard-line clerics have used in recent weeks to demand a halt to postelection protests and spread the message that that turmoil was fueled by foreign enemies. Rafsanjani's sermon could give the first opposition voice in the sermon.

The pro-Mousavi Web site mowjcamp.com said reformist leaders will hold street protests after attending the Friday prayers.

3:48 PM ET -- Allah-o Akbar! Via a friendly reader, video of the chanting from last night. How do we know it's from last night? Because the videographer uses the cover of the newspaper of Etemad Meli to show the date. Very crafty!

3:47 PM ET -- Returned a little while ago from speaking at an event at NDN about Twitter and Iran. Will post video when available.

10:40 AM ET -- Clinton to Iran: Time is running out.

Hillary Clinton will give what one administration official familiar with the U.S. Secretary of State's preparations described as a "muscular" foreign-policy address this afternoon before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

As The Cable reported last week, Clinton appears to be using the occasion to raise her profile amid Washington chatter that she has not yet seemed to fully dominate her turf as the nation's top diplomat. It's a perception Clinton seems set to challenge. [...]

[A] key theme of Clinton's speech appears to be defending the administration's pursuit of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, despite widespread international outrage over the Iranian regime's violent crackdown on demonstrators protesting against alleged vote-rigging in the June 14 presidential election. Conservatives in particular have said that Obama was slow to condemn the Iranian government's conduct, a charge the White House and its defenders deny.

9:56 AM ET -- Reports: Missing Iranian woman raped. Shirin Sadeghi writes:

First there was Neda. Then there was Sohrab. Now there is Taraneh.

The names and stories of the Iranians who have been brutalized or killed in the aftermath of the post-election protests are gradually seeping into a memorial vault of the faces of suffering and endurance in the name of sociopolitical reform.

On Friday July 19, a large group of mourners gathered at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran to await a speech about the martyrs of the post-election protests by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. According to one Iranian blog, 28-year-old Taraneh Mousavi was one of a group of people that was arrested by plainclothesed security forces for attending the gathering.

Taraneh, whose first name is Persian for "song", disappeared into arrest.

Weeks later, according to the blog, her mother received an anonymous call from a government agent saying that her daughter has been hospitalized in Imam Khomeini Hospital in the city of Karaj, just north of Tehran -- hospitalized for "rupturing of her womb and anus in... an unfortunate accident".

When Taraneh's family went to the hospital to find her, they were told she was not there.

Much more on this here.

1:47 AM ET -- Supreme Leader Khamenei diminished in Iranians' eyes. Analysis by the L.A. Times' Borzou Daragahi:

For two decades he was considered to be above the petty political squabbles, a cautious elder contemplating questions of faith and Islam while guiding his nation into the future.

But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose title of supreme leader makes him Iran's ultimate authority, has gotten his hands dirty. His decision in recent weeks to so stridently support the nation's controversial president after a disputed election has dramatically changed his image among his people, setting in motion an unpredictable series of events that could fundamentally change the Islamic Republic.

"Public respect for him has been significantly damaged," said one analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Opposing him is no longer the same as opposing God."

The venerated Khamenei has even become the target of public jokes and criticism.

12:41 AM ET -- Event today -- a request. I'll be speaking today on a panel called, "Twitter, Iran and More: Impressions from the Front Lines of the Global Media Revolution."

I have my own thoughts on how Twitter has impacted the uprising in Iran -- but I'd like to share some of yours as well. If you've got stories or thoughts about Twitter and Iran specifically, please shoot me an email. Thanks as always.

12:04 AM ET -- Solidarity. A lot of people showing support in Montreal:

TUESDAY, JULY 14

11:56 PM ET -- "Women commandos" in Iran. Robert Dreyfuss, who wrote a fantastic cover story for The Nation magazine a few weeks ago based on his post-election reporting from Tehran, is back with a new piece. Here's a bit:

So strong is the women's movement that a web site linked to Iran's intelligence ministry has begun referring to "woman commandos" in describing post-election protests, according to Haleh Esfandiari, who added that there are reports that Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi's well-known activist wife, is the leading voice behind the scenes urging Mousavi not to accede to pressure to halt his campaign against the election results. (So well known is Zahra Rahnavard that, when Mousavi became prime minister in the 1980s it was said in Iran that "Rahnavard's husband was named prime minister.")

The complete piece is here.

11:50 PM ET -- Mousavi and wife visit Sohrab. (I posted this several hours ago but am moving back up to include the video.) Earlier today, Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard visited the home of Sohrab Aarabi, the 19-year-old Iranian who was killed during demonstrations last month. Photos are here and here. Much more on Sohrab below.

Here's video -- a reader offered this overview of what Sohrab's mother is telling Mousavi and Rahnavard:

She says that earlier she was extremely distraught. But now she's glad that Sohrab's death (the spilling of his blood) is helping pave the way. She says it's amazing how brave and patient the kids are who attended the demonstrations... She had hoped that her son was in prison. That he would be released soon, be able to go to school and have a future. Unfortunately they (the regime) does not even know how to deal with a 19 year old.

I'm angry with them because they kept giving me the run around; for a long time, sending me to different places. I will revenge my child. I will revenge his death because they spilled his blood needlessly. My child went out with just a green ribbon. The green ribbon was his voice. But they had everything: guns, batons, electric batons, etc... They purposely forced some of the kids into less crowded areas so they could kill them. That way they would not be able to go out to demonstrate anymore. I do not like to see the youth's blood spilled. They should be allowed to rally and express themselves. Now the whole world knows. They will not get away with this. Justice always prevails.

As you know, we ourselves (she's including Mr. & Mrs. Mousavi) were kids during the Shah's time. I myself used to go to demonstration rallies, majority of which were organized by or attended by Mr. Taleghani, Mr. Montazeri, and Mr. Khomeini and we succeeded. Now too people will succeed. They will support each other and reach their goal. I just want to say that I'm proud (of her son) and thank you very much for your visit and your kindness.

6:44 PM ET -- Petition for American academic imprisoned in Iran. New York's The New School and Endangered Scholars Worldwide have launched a petition drive demanding the release of imprisoned Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh.

Read more about Tajbakhsh and sign on here -- if you include your email, they will "send you further updates on Kian's case and information about how to help."

6:39 PM ET -- Smearing Rafsanjani. The state media find a target ahead of Friday's prayers.

6:36 PM ET -- Hundreds of families still waiting, in agony.

Several dozen families camp outside Iran's daunting Evin prison, trying to learn the fate of loved ones who vanished in post-election turmoil. A month into the government crackdown, the number of killed and arrested remains unknown, but human rights groups believe the death toll is far higher than the official figure of 20.

Many of at least 500 known to have been arrested have disappeared in prisons, held in secret locations and barred from contact with families. Rights groups say perhaps dozens of others have not been heard of since the protests and their relatives still cannot determine whether they are now locked in a cell or dead.

Over the weekend, about 50 men and women held vigil in Tehran before the gates of Evin, the main prison for political detainees, waiting for news on whether their relatives are inside, a witness told The Associated Press. Some of the women read aloud softly from the Quran, others chanted "God is great" from time to time. But mostly they stood silent, the witness said.

"They will call you soon. Go home and wait for the phone to ring," a police officer told them. But the families remained in place.

6:34 PM ET -- In possible Iran signal, Israeli boats cross Suez. AP reports:

Two Israeli warships sailed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday, Israeli and Egyptian officials said, a move that appeared to be a new signal to Iran that Israel's reach could quickly extend to its archenemy's backyard.

The Suez Canal is a strategic waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. Use of the Egyptian-controlled canal means Israeli naval vessels could reach waters off Iran in a matter of days, instead of taking a much longer route around Africa.

Israeli vessels regularly use the canal. But what is noteworthy in recent weeks is that the navy's moves have been publicized, albeit unofficially, by Israel.

Two of Israel's Saar class missile boats crossed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, Israeli defense officials said. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the move was not officially publicized, they said it was connected to "the navy's recent activities around the Red Sea."

5:19 PM ET -- Solidarity. A fun video filmed in Ecuador nearly 6,000m above sea level, via reader Sara:

4:51 PM ET -- Mousavi's new political group. The Los Angeles Times notes some new details, including apparent help from Rafsanjani:

Iran's leading opposition figure plans to forge a new reformist political front that would challenge the country's dominant conservatives, his top aide said today, as the country's political camps brace for a possible confrontation during Friday prayers this week.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi's top advisor, Ali-Reza Beheshti, said reformists would pursue their case against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by forming a political front that will have all the rights of a political party except being able to call for rallies. [...]

The Islamic Iran Participation Front, a reformist political grouping, has been operating for years but has been unable able to break through Iran's legal and political restrictions to obtain and exercisepower. But the reformist cause could be strengthened with the help of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric who is a pillar of Mousavi's support.

Rafsanjani said he would endorse Mousavi's plan for a "united moderation front," according to Mohammad Hashemi, his brother. "He had even formulated the charter to a certain extent but this front did not materialize for certain reasons," he told ILNA.

4:47 PM ET -- Parsing an Ayatollah's absence. Scott Lucas examines the latest analysis of Iran's clerical establishment, and includes this interesting detail: "One indication that can be revealed [from a phone call with Iran analysts] is the closing statement of Ayatollah Reza Ostadi, leading Friday prayers at Qom, that he would not do so again in the near-future. Ostensibly, this was for health reasons, but the impression is that Ostadi and other ayatollahs wish to avoid public appearances until there is some resolution."

4:45 PM ET -- Paper: Tehran morgues holding hundreds of bodies. Via a reader:

The on-line Farsi-language newspaper, Nooroz, reports that hundreds of unidentified dead bodies are being held in Tehran's morgues. According to Nooroz, the government has provided little information on the fates and locations of those individuals detained during the recent unrest in Iran. One of the few official organs providing information on the detainees is the office of unidentified dead persons, which has summoned some families to various morgues around the city to determine whether their loved ones are among the dead. Nooroz newspaper reports that those families, who find their sons or daughters among the countless corpses, are threatened and pressured into signing statements attesting that their family members died in car crashes or as a result of other ordinary, run of the mill accidents. Unless the families sign these statements, the cherished bodies of their loved ones are withheld from them.

4:28 PM ET -- Activists turn the water red in Mahabad. Photos here, via reader Sean.

4:33 PM ET -- Helping Iran target Iranians. I'm late to posting this, but Tim Karr with the media rights group Free Media has a fascinating post on the "deep packet inspection" process that is being used to censor Iranians online.

4:32 PM ET -- Thanks for bearing with me. As you know if you've ever moved offices, it is a real pain. Trying to post as often as possible but it's been a bit difficult these last few days.

2:59 PM ET -- New Iran media law proposed. This sounds frightening, via the state-backed Tehran Times:

Iran has proposed a new set of media guidelines to ensure that any criticism of state affairs will not stray from objectivity in the future.

Head of Iran's General Investigation Organization Mostafa Pourmohammadi said Tuesday that the projected guidelines would by no means limit the influence of state media, but would merely ensure that future criticism is constructive and presented in a non-judgmental manner.

The new media law came after state media became awash with provocative, insulting, derogatory, and defamatory reports following the June 12 elections.

Update: A reader suggests that I'm reading this report the wrong way, that this reform will make the state media less propagandistic. We'll keep tabs on this.

10:21 AM ET -- "Mousavi 'party' gains momentum." That's the headline from state-backed Press TV:

Amid suggestions to defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi to establish a political party, an influential Principlist figure steps up to endorse the idea.

A senior member of the Islamic Coalition Party and leading Principlist figure, Habibollah Asgaroladi describes the move as a 'favorable' one, saying, "Establishing a party to voice one's ideas and political perceptions is a wise move."

"To clarify political actions and to show respect for the collective intellect, politicians need to come together in a political formation," Asgaroladi added.

Last week, the Reformist Etemad-e-Melli daily broke the news about Mousavi's plans to launch a political party to pursue his goals.

The daily said that the party was expected to be established before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inauguration.

10:18 AM ET -- Analyst in Tehran: The people have left their leaders behind.

10:13 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad to take oath in August.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will take the oath of office before parliament in early August following his hotly-disputed re-election, the ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The hardline Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as the 10th president of the Islamic republic between August 2 and 6 after being confirmed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and will then unveil his new cabinet, it said.

10:11 AM ET -- Life in Evin prison. A regular reader sends over a message: "Hey Nico, one of my family members is in Evin and we just got news. The cells that they are kept in are meant for 30 people but 60 people are in them. There are only a few beds for the injured people. Everyone else sleeps on the ground. ... Families also need to pay around 20 dollars to go see them. That is only if prison officials allow the family to see them at all."

MONDAY, JULY 13

8:01 PM ET -- Sohrab becomes a martyr. The New York Times has more on 19-year-old Sohrab Aarabi, whose story I noted earlier (10:42 AM).

Iran's opposition movement consecrated another martyr on Monday, with the funeral of a 19-year-old named Sohrab Aarabi, whose family just discovered on Saturday that he had died last month of a gunshot wound to the heart. Mr. Aarabi had been missing since the huge opposition rally in Tehran on June 15, which was followed by clashes between opposition protesters and Basij militia members during which several people were shot and killed. [...]

Bloggers using Twitter added the tag #Sorhab to many of their updates on the post-election turmoil, alongside the tag #Neda, indicating that he has become, like Neda Agha-Soltan, a martyr.

Inter Press Service has much more here.

Here's video of Sohrab's mother at his funeral, with English subtitles:

7:55 PM ET -- What is Tehran's mayor saying? I'm having a difficult time deciphering this article from the Google translation. Here's a piece:

Tehran Mayor Qalibaf, speaking to senior executives of Tehran Municipality: "Today we in a sensitive circumstances and by using our experiences from earlier occasions we must preserve our vigilance since preservation of the regime is of supreme importance and according to His Holiness the Imam we must consider the Guardian Jurist as the authority with the final say so that the regime is not harmed...

Tehran's mayor is relatively moderate and has frequently criticized the violent crackdowns on demonstrators. Is he sounding a new line here?

7:50 PM ET -- Major changes coming to Ahmadinejad's cabinet. So says Ahmadinejad's senior aide Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi.

7:46 PM ET -- Former Cheney adviser John Hannah: Bush deserves more credit for the uprising in Iran.

7:40 PM ET -- Smearing Montazeri. One day after Grand Ayatollah Montazeri issued a fatwa targeting Supreme Leader Khamenei...

Raja News, which is a strong supporter of Ahmadinejad, claims that Ayatollah Montazeri has been "sick for several months," suffering from "imbalance and severe memory loss." Montazeri has been supportive of the demonstrators and has condemned the government's post-election behavior as contrary to Islam.

According to their reports, statements that are supposedly from Montazeri are in fact being written by other people. "Mohsen Kadivar, who is outside Iran, along with one of Montazeri's sons are primarily responsible for creating these fatwas and statements, using Montazeri's stamp and publishing them through anti-revolutionary media and have probably downgraded Montazeri's role to a low level political element."

His son, Ahmad Montazeri, denied the claim and said in an interview with Parleman News that his father is perfectly healthy.

7:32 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad-Parliament meeting on election unrest. State-backed Press TV has an opaque report about Ahmadinejad's upcoming meeting with Iranian parliament members who met previously with Mousavi and Rafsanjani.

Iran's Parliament's national security commission will discuss post-election events with the president and the judiciary chief in a sequel to meetings with other top officials.

"This meeting is part of the committee's agenda with respect to post-election incidents in the country," Deputy Head of the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Sobhaninia told reporters on Monday.

He also explained that the aim was "to put across suggestions and exchange important information" on Iran's current affairs.

Sobhaninia added that the meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi will be held this coming Saturday.

Committee members have already met with senior clerical figures, former Reformist president Mohammad Khatami, the Head of Iran's Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, and defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

7:13 PM ET -- Geithner to talk Iran sanctions in Arab world. A friendly reader passes along the content below from the financial analysis site RGE Monitor.

I've sounded skeptical notes about sanctions before, but there are certain "smart sanctions" targeting the personal assets of Iran's leaders that could be quite effective. And as an Iran analyst noted to me the other day, it is much better for the White House to be taking the lead on sanctions than Congress: if conditions change in Iran, the White House can undo the sanctions with the stroke of a pen, while Congress would take years to reverse theirs.

Treasury Secretary Geithner will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in mid July as part of a trip to talk with key partners before the G20 meetings (Saudi Arabia is the only Arab member of the group). Key topics on the agenda likely to be the enforcement of sanctions towards Iran, including the possibility of deeper sanctions, investment in the US, transparency of sovereign wealth funds (UAE has among the largest globally) as well as discussion on the long-term fiscal plans of the U.S. with these key US creditors. US trade and investment with the UAE has been climbing and is largely in non-oil areas.

The Iran Connection

# The UAE, especially Dubai has significant trade relationships with Iran and there are many Iranians resident in Dubai. Some U.S. politicians worry that the increase in nuclear technology to the UAE through the civilian nuclear cooperation could be passed to
# EIU: US has been putting pressure on UAE, others to cut down on business with Iranian banks. Emirati authorities resticting trade in dual use technologies
# US still provides security umbrella and significant military aid to countries like Egypt, Middle East is also sourcing weapons, military technology from Europe, China but this is rising from a low base. Chinese interests in the region are still primarily energy related.
# U.S. military supplers are expanding business in the region. Raytheon/Lockheed Martin $3 billion contract to supply PAC-3 anti-missile systems to the U.A.E. (December 2008)

6:28 PM ET -- Rafsanjani's speech part of "perfect storm"? Scott Lucas assesses what Rafsanjani's speech on Friday could bring:

So the perfect storm of the opposition from "without", the public challenge symbolised by the leadership of the Presidential candidate Mousavi, and the opposition from "within", the private manoeuvrings of former President Rafsanjani, may be imminent. Rafsanjani, having refused to lead prayers in recent weeks and limited his public appearances, re-emerges dramatically on Friday, and a vast crowd of demonstrators marches to the University of Tehran to welcome and applaud him. It turns the regime's public displays -- an ayatollah, even the Supreme Leader, setting out the appropriate line to the acclaim of followers -- against it.

This plan also has the clever beauty of complicating the regime's response. Does it dare tell Rafsanjani that he cannot speak on Friday? Do security forces dare block marchers who, after all, are only trying to worship as "good" Muslims?

This, in short, could be the largest mass gathering since 15 June, complete with the presence of Rafsanjani, Mousavi, and Khatami. Start counting down the days....

5:36 PM ET -- Going gray for justice. "The official state news agency IRNA praises Ahmadinejad, says his hair turned white prematurely because he 'worked so hard for justice.'"

5:33 PM ET -- A boycott of text messages. Tehran Bureau reports on Iranians' SMS boycott.

5:21 PM ET -- "Iranians worldwide roll out green scroll against Ahmadinejad." Diane Tucker reports:

When a reporter asked Vaclav Havel to comment on the election protests in Iran, the former Czech president said, "Expressions of solidarity with those who are defending human rights, with students and others, are important."

Havel spoke from hard-won experience. He led the Velvet Revolution that peacefully overthrew a totalitarian regime. However, Iranians abroad who support the demonstrators know they walk a fine line between being perceived as supporters or as outside agitators, and they take care not to cross it.

"Once in a while, someone doing the same things you are doing will get in trouble, and it creates an atmosphere of fear. In Iran, you never know who will be handpicked as an example," explained expat Banafsheh Madaninejad, who lives in Austin. Nevertheless, she helped create the website austinforiran.org, and this past weekend was one of thousands of Iranians around the world who bravely signed Green Scroll petitions proclaiming Ahmadinejad is not Iran's president.

5:17 PM ET -- U.S. worried about detained American scholar.

The United States called on Iran on Monday to release U.S. citizen Kian Tajbakhsh and said it was "deeply concerned" about the scholar, who was detained in Tehran last week and has previously been accused of spying.

Tajbakhsh, an Iranian American who holds a doctorate in urban planning from Columbia University, was arrested by Iranian authorities in May 2007, charged with spying and then released after more than four months in Tehran's Evin prison.

It was not clear why Tajbakhsh was detained last week. [...]

In 2007, Tajbakhsh was one of several Iranian Americans who were jailed by Iran and became pawns in the strained relations between Tehran and Washington. Iran does not recognize dual nationality.

Update: The National Iranian American Council calls for Tajbakhsh's release.

5:14 PM ET -- An early request of readers. If someone can provide video of Rafsanjani's address on Friday, let me know. Would love to post the complete footage.

2:15 PM ET -- Army chief claims forces "unarmed" in post-vote unrest. Quite possibly the most unhinged state propaganda yet: "Defending the performance of security forces during the post-election unrest in Iran, the country's chief of Joint Armed Forces says they were not allowed to carry weapons. 'Saboteurs and seditionists hiding behind a new mask attacked the people on June 20,' said Major General Hassan Firouzabadi in the 'Tale of Woes' published on Sunday."

2:10 PM ET -- Montazeri issues fatwa. From Tehran Bureau:

In a very important development, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the most senior cleric living in Iran, and one of the top two* marja' taghlid (source of emulation) in Shiite Islam, issued a series of Fatwas, calling the Supreme Leader illegitimate and saying that he was working with the government against religion. Montazeri has called on people to take action against this injustice, even if they have to pay a heavy price for it.

Iran Uprising Blogging (Friday July 10)

2009-07-10T13:29:14Z

(Blogging will be light today, HuffPost is moving offices in DC.)

10:57 AM ET -- Basiji rush the cameraman. Video apparently from yesterday:

10:15 AM ET -- Tehran police chief: few arrests made. AP:

The head of Tehran's police says few arrests were made in opposition protests that erupted in the Iranian capital in an opposition attempt to revive street demonstrations over the country's disputed election.

Police chief Azizullah Rajabzadeh says those arrested in Thursday's protests were involved in "damaging public property and chanting," according to a report Friday in the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Rajabzadeh gives no exact number of detainees, saying only that they were "few," adding, "there was no widespread campaign of arrests."

Thousands marched in various parts of the capital on Thursday, chanting "death to the dictator." In some places, clashes erupted as police fired tear gas and charges demonstrators with batons.

9:53 AM ET -- The rooftop project. Chas Danner, who has been doing all sorts of yeoman's work on Iran, today posts the most comprehensive set of videos capturing the haunting and inspiring "Allah-o Akbar" chants that are heard around Iran each evening.

This is meant to be the most complete possible collection of recordings of nighttime protest in Iran since the beginning of the uprising. Its goal is to locate and profile at least one video for each night primarily focusing on the nightly chanting of Allah-o-Akbar from the rooftops, whenever that footage is available. Some of these videos have not been widely seen until now.

Go check it out.

9:42 AM ET -- Big demonstration outside Iranian embassy in London. Photos here.

9:35 AM ET -- Iran criticizes Italy's suppression of protesters. "Iran summons the Italian Ambassador to Tehran Alberto Bradanini in protest against the violent suppression of anti-G8 protesters. Bradanini was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday to hear Tehran's concerns about the 'violent suppression of justice-seeking protesters by the Italian police.'" No comment.

9:30 AM ET -- Obama: "Further steps" needed if Iran talks fail.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday the G8 message to Iran was that if it failed to change its nuclear defiance by a September deadline "we need to take further steps."

"We're not going to just wait indefinitely," Obama told a news conference at the end of a G8 summit in Italy. He insisted, however, that it had never been the intent for the summit to apply new sanctions on Tehran.

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Thursday July 9)

2009-07-09T12:00:42Z

Friday's updates are here.

10:55 PM ET -- The dangers for citizen journalists in Iran. For another reminder of why we're so lucky to get as much citizen-produced video from Iran as we do, watch the end of this clip. Via reader Marc:

8:46 PM ET -- U2 does it again. The band again plays "Sunday Bloody Sunday" with the stage covered in green light and Farsi lyrics streaming on the screen above them, during a concert in Milan.

8:36 PM ET -- Journalist explains time in Iranian prison. From Al Jazeera:

At least 35 Iranian journalists have been arrested since protests against the result of recent elections began.

Some foreign journalists were also detained. Iason Athanasiadis, a Greek-British reporter, was held for three weeks in Tehran's Evin prison.

He's now back home in Athens, where Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips asked him to describe what happened after his arrest.

8:11 PM ET -- No propaganda too ironic. State-run media: Iran "voices concern" over China's crackdown on protesters.

8:04 PM ET -- Good news. On June 17, the site TehranLive.org -- which had been posting incredible photos of Iran's huge demonstrations -- suddenly stopped updating. Family members of its publisher, Amir, said he had gone out one night and hadn't returned.

Tonight, via reader Wilcoy, a new post.

7:30 PM ET -- "Russia, Iran will never forgive you." From a reader, "Just wanted to say that one of the photos you linked to says 'Russia, Iran will never forgive you'.
Iranians care a lot about how other countries respond to this crisis."

Russia, as readers know, has celebrated Ahmadinejad's election "victory" and said little about the subsequent violence.

7:27 PM ET -- Allah-o Akbar! Earlier today, the NYT reported:

An Iranian blogger wrote on Twitter about one hour ago that in the Amirabad district of Tehran, "people are all on the roofs" to resume the nightly ritual of shouting "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is Great!") -- a form of protest turned against the Shah in the 1970s.

Video from tonight...

7:12 PM ET -- "We are in this together." New York Times:

A young woman, her clothing covered in blood, ran up Kagar Street, paused for a minute and said, "I am not scared because we are in this together." [...]

A man in a business suit pulled out a collapsible baton and beat a person with a camera until the baton broke. A middle-aged woman ran through the crowd, her coat covered with blood stains. Protesters hurled rocks at security officers. Two men held a huge floral arrangement of yellow and purple flowers on green leaves in commemoration of those killed last month and in 1999, a witness said.

But still, no matter who stopped to talk, witnesses said, there was a sense of mission and unity that seemed almost validated by the brutal government response. A 55-year-old woman on the streets in support of the marchers said: "This is Iran. We are all together."

6:17 PM ET -- Professor estimates 25,000 demonstrated in Tehran. Prof. Scott Lucas, who's been blogging Iran here, is interviewed by Fintan Dunne.

5:44 PM ET -- "It was nothing less than war. Please pray for us." ABC's Lara Setrakian posts a dispatch she received from Tehran.

5:22 PM ET -- Jubilation. It's striking, after the last few weeks of fear and anger and frustration we've heard from people in Tehran, just how joyful people seem to be in returning to the streets and being together again.

Many, many more videos here.

4:43 PM ET -- Photos from today here.

4:30 PM ET -- What is going on with BBC Persia? I've received multiple reports that BBC Persia has had practically zero coverage of the demonstrations today. What is going on over there?

4:09 PM ET -- Inspiring. More videos showing very large crowds out in Tehran. This one comes from the friend of a reader -- here is the friend's note:

This video shows the time when protesters arrived at the intersection of Taleghani and Valiasr ave, heading toward Valiasr Square.

The duration of this rally was about 25 minutes and before arriving at Taleghani intersection, riot forces were not interfering but closed behind the crowd to block the accumulation of people. After arriving at the intersection of Taleghani and Valiasr ave, people continued toward Valiasr Square, as shown in this video. At this time, the anti riot forces shot teargas and followed people on motorcycles forcing the crowd to Taleghani ave.

I continued toward Chahar-rah Valiasr where people were blocked from going to Enghelab Square. The revolutionary guards on motorbikes hit pedestrians with batons. On my way to the subway station I saw a lot of military cars full of anti riot guard heading west, apparently to help their forces stationed at Enghelab square.

3:28 PM ET -- Teargas. Via reader Chas, an apparent victim of the teargas used in Tehran today. The person next to her smoking a cigarette is trying to use the smoke to alleviate some of the burning (we've seen this several times in videos from Iran).

3:19 PM ET -- "Today they sounded very different..." Via reader Allie, Tehran Bureau has accounts from all over the city. Here's one: "All the friends I spoke to today have been relatively depressed for the past few days. But today they sounded very different. They said while the security forces were trying their best to separate the demonstrators, the city overall was alive and filled with peaceful protests. Their voice sounded excited, and much more confident and determined than in recent days."

3:13 PM ET -- From a friendly reader: "They are chanting: political prisons must be freed. You can also see a women is helping to set fire to the trash dumpster."

3:08 PM ET -- Major AP dispatch. Worth reading all of it:

Thousands of protesters streamed down avenues of the capital Thursday, chanting "death to the dictator" and defying security forces who fired tear gas and charged with batons, witnesses said. The first opposition foray into the streets in 11 days aimed to revive mass demonstrations that were crushed in Iran's postelection turmoil.

Iranian authorities had promised tough action to prevent the marches, which supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have been planning for days in Internet messages. Heavy police forces deployed at key points in the city ahead of the marches, and Tehran's governor vowed to "smash" anyone who heeded the demonstration calls.

In some places, police struck hard. Security forces chased after protesters, beating them with clubs on Valiasr Street, Tehran's biggest north-south avenue, witnesses said.

Women in headscarves and young men dashed away, rubbing their eyes as police fired tear gas, in footage aired on state-run Press TV. In a photo from Thursday's events in Tehran obtained by The Associated Press outside Iran, a woman with her black headscarf looped over her face raised a fist in front of a garbage bin that had been set on fire.

But the clampdown was not total. At Tehran University, a line of police blocked a crowd from reaching the gates of the campus, but then did not move to disperse them as the protesters chanted "Mir Hossein" and "death to the dictator" and waved their hands in the air, witnesses said. The crowd grew to nearly 1,000 people, the witnesses said.

"Police, protect us," some of the demonstrators chanted, asking the forces not to move against them.

The protesters appeared to reach several thousand, but their full numbers were difficult to determine, since marches took place in several parts of the city at once and mingled with passers-by. There was no immediate word on arrests or injuries.

It did not compare to the hundreds of thousands who joined the marches that erupted after the June 12 presidential election, protesting what the opposition said were fraudulent results. But it was a show of determination despite a crackdown that has cowed protesters for nearly two weeks.

Onlookers and pedestrians often gave their support. In side streets near the university, police were chasing young activists, and when they caught one, passers-by chanted "let him go, let him go," until the policemen released him. Elsewhere, residents let fleeing demonstrators slip into their homes to elude police, witnesses said.

All witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. Iranian authorities have imposed restrictions that ban reporters from leaving their offices to cover demonstrations.

Many of the marchers were young men and women, some wearing green surgical masks, the color of Mousavi's movement, but older people joined them in some places. Vehicles caught in traffic honked their horns in support of the marchers, witnesses said. Police were seen with a pile of license plates, apparently pried off honking cars in order to investigate the drivers later, the witnesses said.

3:05 PM ET -- Hats off to CNN. Its coverage of Iran today is blowing every other media outlet out of the water, including Al Jazeera and BBC Persia.

Rick Sanchez just said, "It's our responsibility, here at CNN, to share these peoples' stories with the rest of the world."

2:15 PM ET -- Scenes from today. The NYT's Lede blog has returned to Iran coverage for the demonstrations today -- check it out here. Robert Mackey just published this note from today:

Just off the phone with Teheran with several people who were out on the streets. One of them is an Iran/Iraq war veteran from the volunteer forces. People are out all over the city, there is not a single march, but protesters gather in groups of 200-300, and do not move when attacked. The basijis are trying to prevent large groups to form, but people are not forming such large groups, however there is so much protest that it cannot be contained.

Until my contacts had returned home there was no shooting, but lots of tear gas. They marched in Karegar, Vali Asr, and tried to get to Teheran University. People of all ages are out, but the young are more present. All the garbage cans in major streets are on fire. People are honking their horns. The sense is that this is the beginning of the end.

The regime assumed that with Khameni's speech last week forgiving the protesters, and arresting all the reporters and heads of reformist movement, the issue of unrest was resolved. Today's marches and protests are not supported by Mousavi, Khatami, and Karoubi. It is a grassroot uprising meant to let the Islamic regime know the people will not be silenced.

1:37 PM ET -- Really large crowds. Wow.

1:31 PM ET -- Scenes from today. From a reliable Iranian on Twitter: "One guard was running after us holding his hand up with a baton but he kept saying don't be afraid i wont hit u!"

This post in Farsi claims tear gas was thrown into a bus with passengers inside of it.

Here's a better view of the Basij out in force today:

1:17 PM ET -- The world is watching. Footage from a rooftop, reportedly from today, in which clashes are seen. Riot police seem to beat two girls and then hit a passing car.

A friend writes, "The phrase you hear -- 'begeer...begeer' means capture it, as in capture the scene."

12:51 PM ET -- The Basij lined up. More video from today (this one's a bit choppy)...

12:37 PM ET -- Changes. This blog is now paginated -- at the bottom of the screen you'll see the text "« First Prev 1 2 Next Last »" -- you can use that to click to early entries from today. It's an effort to keep the page loading faster.

If you'd like to support this post on Digg, click here.

12:28 PM ET -- Scenes from today. Via reader Leyla, from the Guardian:

According to one witness, police fired shots in the air above the crowd and swooped to arrest at least 10 protesters at one location in Tehran. One elderly man was pushed to the ground, handcuffed and put in a police bus after he shouted: "Death to the dictator." Another witness reported clashes in another part of the city.

The police stopped the cars of those supporting the protest and confiscated driver licences, a second witness said.

Click on the page numbers below to read earlier updates from today.

12:21 PM ET -- More video reportedly from today.

In this video, via reader Chas, demonstrators are chanting, "Mojtabah, die, so we will not see you become the leader," referencing Khamenei's son (who reportedly is now leading the Basij).

12:01 PM ET -- "The screams of women being beaten..." Los Angeles Times:

Violent clashes erupted today in downtown Tehran between more than a thousand determined young men and women chanting, "Death to the dictator" and "God is great" and security forces wielding truncheons.

The screams of a woman being beaten could be heard from nearby buildings, a witness said. Business owners could be seen hustling protesters into their buildings to shield them from plainclothes officers and anti-riot police who fired tear gas canisters.

Passing drivers and motorcyclists honked their horns and flashed the "V" sign in support of the clumps of demonstrators. At least one trash bin was set afire, a witness said, sending a plume of black smoke rising as dusk approached.

11:55 AM ET -- MSNBC fail. Almost noon ET and still zero mention of the demonstrations today, as far as I can tell via transcript searches and my own viewing.

The MSNBCFail tag is taking off on Twitter.

11:52 AM ET -- Also live-blogging today. The National Iranian American Council and journalist Fintan Dunne.

11:50 AM ET -- More videos reportedly from today. From readers RB and Chas:

11:48 AM ET -- Reuters reports on one of the gatherings. Via reader Chas:

Iranian police fired in the air to disperse pro-reform demonstrators in central Tehran on Thursday, nearly four weeks after a disputed election triggered mass protests in the capital, a witness said.

The witness also said he saw police detaining several people among about 250 protesters who had gathered near Tehran University in defiance of a ban on gatherings for the anniversary of violent student demonstrations in 1999.

It appeared to be the worst outbreak of unrest in Tehran since security forces last month quelled days of opposition protests over the June 12 election, which moderate opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say was rigged in his favor.

"Police are shooting in the air and they have arrested several people," the witness said.

Another witness at the scene in downtown Tehran said: "Police used tear gas twice to disperse the crowd. There were also many Basij militia on motorbikes patrolling the area."
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Police urged passers-by through loudspeakers to leave the area, the witnesses said.

11:38 AM ET -- Some images from today. A description from a friendly reader: "Enghelab circle or square, 26 sec in you can see the police force they have. You can also here a phone conversation in background, the person saying to the caller he is talking to: 'there is a big police force and they are not letting people loiter.'"

Another new video posted on Facebook here.

Here's a picture reportedly from today near Tehran University:

11:10 AM ET -- Shootings reported. "Tweets passing around that there are heavy clashes near Azadi Square.. Word is out that 3 people have been shot by security forces."

10:47 AM ET -- MSNBC fail. As far as I can tell, there has been zero mention of the events in Iran thus far on MSNBC. CNN has been doing updates roughly every 30 minutes.

10:45 AM ET -- Another Ayatollah turns? Has anyone seen news reports on this?

Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi, an Attorney General in the Khomeini era, declares :

- Janati's remarks at Friday sermon are against religious and Iranian law
- announcing that "confessions" are being "taken" is a serious breach of law
- not allowing peaceful protests is unconstitutional
- keeping prisoners without warrants after 24 hours is illegal

He warns all judges that any such warrants would be criminal, baseless, and directly conflict "Leader's Differentiation of Friends & Foes" declarations. He also announces that "Confrontation" or "dispersement" of peaceful gatherings and demonstrations is a direct violation of constitutional rights, "No matter who orders it."

10:43 AM ET -- More unconfirmed accounts from Iran: "Hundreds of Protesters chanting against the regime infron of Ploytechnic University, Near Azadi Sq. . . . Police used Teargas against people trying to push them back at Vanak Sq . . . Police arresting seemingly at random, throwing tear gas into buses . . . people are joining the demonstration from Imam Hossein Sq. towards Enghelab Sq . . . Clashes infront of Tehran Universi and VankSq . . ."

10:35 AM ET -- BBC Persia reports accounts of tear gas being fired on demonstrations.

10:12 AM ET -- Tweets from Iran. Some unconfirmed reports from reliable Iranians on Twitter...

People are being arrested brutally in Enghelab, and tear gass is used in Vanak // Enghelab square being packed with people coming from side streets // Clashes infront of Tehran Universi and VankSq. unconf. // very heavy Basiji presence. Almost all have handguns.

One girl harshly arrested as she was dragged on the ground and thrown into a van... many others arrested

Apparently HUGE turnout, Basij desperately trying to block enghelab

6:29pm in Tehran right now, Reports of Moussavi showing might pop up as he had stated he would attend earlier

10:00 AM ET -- Context for today's rallies. TheRealNews.com features an interview with Babak Yektafar, Editor-in-Chief of Washington Prism.

9:56 AM ET -- CNN reports thousands in the streets, armed clashes. The transcript of a report on CNN from about 20 minutes ago:

Heidi, things are really heating up in the streets of Tehran. The crowds were in the hundreds according to our observers about a couple of hours ago. Now they say between 2,000 or 3,000 people, and we can confirm at least five clashes between security forces and protesters.

This is happening in revolution square...very close to Tehran University. This is a protest to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of another protest ten years ago, a crack down that killed several students... The government had said don't come out or there will be a crackdown and that's exactly what's happening. Of course, we don't have the ability to show you pictures from there because the international media is banned, but a lot of the things that we're confirming from observers on the ground coincide with what we're seeing on Twitter. Here you see a bunch of activity on Twitter, here's one person saying helicopters and armored persons are making things worse. Here's another thing, people moving towards or Revolution Square.

So we hadn't seen these types of clashes about a week and a half right now because of the government crackdown, there was a lot of Internet chatter that because of this ten-year anniversary, people would use this opportunity to come out and protest the elections. It looks like it's happening again, at least five clashes we can confirm between security forces and protesters, Heidi.

I've expanded the Twitter module at the bottom of this page to include 15 entries, so you can follow along more easily.

9:40 AM ET -- If you're interested... here's my interview yesterday with Juan Cole put together by Brave New Studio. Sincerely appreciate all the questions you sent in.

9:27 AM ET -- Demonstrations today in Iran. Getting information out of Iran is tougher than ever, so If you see or receive any news, let me know.

Update: Saeed Valadbaygi is blogging fron Iran with updates -- lots of gatherings reported. Here's a photo apparently from today:

8:44 AM ET -- U.S. releases Iran detainees to Iraq.

Five Iranian diplomats held by the US military in Iraq since January 2007 were freed on Thursday, the official IRNA news agency said, quoting Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad.

"The five Iranian diplomats abducted in Iraq were handed over by the occupying US forces to the Iraqi prime minister (Nuri al-Maliki)," the ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi said.

He said the five men would be handed over to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad after meeting Maliki.

Their detention has long been a source of additional friction in the hostile relations between Iran and its archfoe the United States.

The New York Times notes, "The reasoning behind the timing of the release was unclear. American military officials have been gradually releasing thousands of Iraqis from detention camps under the terms of the security agreement between the United States and Iraq, but thousands of prisoners for now remain in American custody."

8:20 AM ET -- Mousavi external spokesman addresses EU. The video of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, speaking in Persian, is below. A reader offers an overview:

He starts with making a parody: if there is a flight with hostages, are you going to say this issue is internal between hostages and passengers? The people are Iran are like passengers hostage to Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. He ends with two requests: 1) Not endorsing the election results, that's his main request; 2) try to prevent the regime from squashing the protesters.

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Wednesday July 8)

2009-07-08T11:53:35Z

Thursday's updates are here.

Top story -- The brave women of Iran. An incredible dispatch from a woman in Tehran, published by the Jerusalem Post:

"Just yesterday, I saw four plainclothes [members of the security forces] harassing two young men. The two young men had their hands tied behind their backs and were crying. I went to up the security forces and told then to let the boys ago, even though my two daughters were trying to hold me back. The security men grabbed us by the arms and started calling for reinforcements.

"I screamed at them: 'How dare you grab my two daughters, who have never been touched by any man, and how dare you touch me? I have never been touched by any man except my husband.' They let go of our arms and I told them again: Let the boys go."

She said the security men were preparing to drag the two young men away, nonetheless, so "I took out a picture of the Imam from my purse and the Koran. At that point five more of the riot police came... I said to them, 'Do you think this is what the Imam wanted?' I waved the Koran and told them to be afraid of God's wrath in the next life, because Khamenei's jurisdiction ends there."

Read here to see how her story ends (it's worth it).

11:15 PM ET -- I am Neda. Produced by VoiceOfTheVoiceless.net.

10:54 PM ET -- "Bearing witness in Iran weighs heavily on Cohen." A 30-minute NPR interview with New York Times columnist Roger Cohen.

10:41 PM ET -- Some protesters freed, but arrests still being made. This New York Times story notes that some 2,000 Iran demonstrators were reportedly freed today. But it adds:

The announcement was made against a backdrop of rising anxiety and continued arrests. According to Press TV, a reformist member of Parliament, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, said the government's approach -- holding prisoners incommunicado -- had left families of the accused frightened. And the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based group, said the government was continuing to make arrests.

The group said a prominent human rights lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, was arrested in his office in Tehran around 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

"The Iranian government is trampling over every rule of due process," Hadi Ghaemi, the group's spokesman, said in a statement from New York. "Not only are hundreds of detainees in incommunicado detention, in solitary confinement and possibly under torture, but their lawyers are rapidly being added to their ranks."

10:10 PM ET -- G8's statement on Iran. There was widespread agreement on several issues:

Group of Eight leaders say they deplore the violence in the aftermath of Iran's disputed election last month and remain "seriously concerned" about the situation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the statement by G-8 leaders "shows the unity of the G-8 against the situation in Iran."

The G-8 statement, seen by The Associated Press, said G-8 leaders "deplore post-electoral violence, which led to the loss of lives of Iranian civilians." The leaders also "condemn the declarations of President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust."

The statement also criticizes restrictions on the media.

Two other important points: there was no agreement on increased sanctions on Iran (it's unclear if any countries were actually pushing for new sanctions).

However, the G8 did agree on a deadline for nuclear negotiations to make progress before additional sanctions would be sought.

Group of Eight major powers will give Iran until September to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or else face tougher sanctions, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday.

Upping the stakes in a dispute with Tehran, Sarkozy said the powers would review the situation at a G20 meeting of developed and developing countries in Pittsburgh on September 24 and 25.

"If there is no progress by then we will have to take decisions," said Sarkozy after discussions with G8 partners that wrapped up the first day of their annual summit.

UK Guardian: Supreme Leader's son takes control of Basij. As a reader notes, this news is probably not much of a surprise. On the other hand, it could also be a sign of a there a lack of trust in the loyalty of the basiji ranks.

The son of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has taken control of the militia being used to crush the protest movement, according to a senior Iranian source.

The source, a politician with strong connections to the security apparatus, said that the leading role being played by Mojtaba Khamenei had dismayed many of the country's senior clerics, conservative politicians and Revolutionary Guard generals. [...]

He said Mojtaba had played a leading role in orchestrating Ahmadinejad's disputed election victory on 12 June and had led the backlash against protests through direct control of street militias, known as basiji.

10:02 PM ET -- Shirin Ebadi writes open letter to Ahmadinejad. Ebadi, the renowned Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate, published an open letter to Ahmadinejad on Sunday which I only saw today, thanks to reader Larry.

The letter doesn't touch on the election unrest. Rather, it details the extent of abuse and harassment that Ebadi's human rights center has faced from Iran's government in recent months. Here are a few points taken at random, representative of what Ebadi and other rights advocates are struggling against:

2) On December 22 and December 29, 2008 my offices were searched by individuals claiming to be from the office of taxation and all my client's case files, computers and CDs in the office as well as my personal writings and documents which were unrelated to my taxes were illegally seized by these officials. While much of the property seized has since been returned, it remains unclear which documents have yet to be returned and which documents still remain in the possession of these security officials.

3) The former secretary of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, Jinous Sobhani, was arrested on January 14, 2009, for no reason. She was released on bail after enduring 55 days in detention.

4) On January 1, 2009, under the pretense of defending the people of Gaza, a mob of basiji students attacked my building where my home and offices are both located. The mob shouted violent slogans against me and wrote similar slogans on the walls outside. Despite the fact that the police were present on the scene, they did nothing to stop the mob, and only watched as the violence unfolded. This occurred despite the fact that the Palestinian Human Rights Organization, which is supported by all Palestinian political groups, had condemned the closure of the offices of the Defenders of Human Rights Center and had invited me to travel to Palestine and the Gaza Strip.

9:56 PM ET -- Just finished up a talk with Middle East analyst Juan Cole, sponsored by Brave New Studio. I'll post video tomorrow.

2:40 PM ET -- Netanyahu aide: Obama "distinguishing" U.S. from Israel on Iran.

Comments by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden about a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities were directed at Iran and meant to "distinguish" the U.S. from Israel, the Israeli premier's national security adviser said Wednesday.

Also, American leaders are signaling Iran that the U.S. is still interested in diplomatic engagement, the adviser, Uzi Arad, told The Associated Press.

1:43 PM ET -- Iran: 2,500 election demonstrators arrested, 500 will stand trial. From Press TV:

Iran's Prosecutor General says some 500 individuals arrested in the course of the post-vote unrest will be subject to court action.

Mohammad-Reza Tabesh, head of the minority Reformist faction in the Iranian parliament, Majlis, met with prosecutor general Qorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi to address issues surrounding the post-election situation in the country.

Tabesh pointed to the acute distress of the families of the detainees and urged a 'legal approach' to the situation. [...]

While authorities had previously announced that more than 1,000 people had been arrested over the course of the unrest, Tabesh said that according to Iran's prosecutor general the number of arrests stands at 2,500. [...]

The Majlis official also revealed a decision to release those facing fewer charges 'on bail.'

He added that some cases might be referred from the judiciary to the Supreme National Security Council for further investigation.

1:38 PM ET -- An online demonstration targeted at Biden. From a reader:

WHEN - Thursday, July 9th @ 8pm PST or 11pm EST

WHO - everyone who wants to help give Iran a voice against their aggressors

WHERE - at your house - so no excuses, it is the least you can do for all those giving their lives

http://www.facebook.com/joebiden

Please watch the video for instructions on the July 9th Onlne Protest

"As Iran Calms, a Struggle for Political Power Intensifies." The New York Times places the ongoing clerical struggles in Iran in some historical context, finding that the "competing poles of Iran's system have produced a fight-to-the-death ethos. Compromise is not just elusive but a sign of weakness."

The streets of Iran have been largely silenced, but a power struggle grinds on behind the scenes, this time over the very nature of the state itself. It is a battle that transcends the immediate conflict over the presidential election, one that began 30 years ago as the Islamic Revolution established a new form of government that sought to blend theocracy and a measure of democracy.

From the beginning, both have vied for an upper hand, and today both are tarnished. In postelection Iran, there is growing unease among many of the nation's political and clerical elite that the very system of governance they rely on for power and privilege has been stripped of its religious and electoral legitimacy, creating a virtual dictatorship enforced by an emboldened security apparatus, analysts said.

12:32 PM ET -- Detainees describe beatings, pressure to confess. A new report out from Human Rights Watch:

The Iranian authorities are using prolonged harsh interrogations, beatings, sleep deprivation, and threats of torture to extract false confessions from detainees arrested since the disputed June 12 presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today. The confessions appear designed to support unsubstantiated allegations by senior government officials that Iran's post-election protests, in which at least 20 people were killed, were supported by foreign powers and aimed at overthrowing the government.

"The Iranian government is desperate to justify its vicious attacks on peaceful protesters," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "What better excuse does it need than confessions of foreign plots, beaten out of detainees?"

Human Rights Watch has collected accounts from detainees after their release illustrating how the authorities are mistreating and threatening prisoners in a deliberate effort to obtain false confessions.

The new accounts are here.

12:28 PM ET -- Solidarity. Photos from Iran demonstrations around the world, to the music of U2...

10:25 AM ET -- Big day tomorrow. Patrick Disney of the National Iranian American Council emails:

I wanted to give you and your team a heads-up that we're hearing from a lot of sources that Thursday will likely see a lot of unrest and potential violence in Iran. It marks the 10th anniversary of the "18th of Tir", which is a monumental day in Iran.

On that day in 1999, students protesting the closing of the reformist newspaper "Salaam" were attacked in their dormitories in Tehran and Tabriz. Six days of protests ensued, which began with several hundred students and blossomed into thousands of people from all walks of life supporting the demonstrations. They were the biggest display of [protest] sentiment in the regime's then twenty-year history, and they were put down by the regime with a mandate by the threatened leadership to stop the unrest at any cost.

The parallels to today's events are uncanny, and while the date has been marked with numerous protests since 1999, this anniversary takes on a special significance. We know that authorities are already trying to lock the cities down ahead of time. Demonstrations are planned all over the U.S. in solidarity with the protesters letting them know the world is watching what the regime is doing.

10:03 AM ET -- Clinton warns Iran of tougher sanctions. There were reports last week that the Obama administration was pushing against efforts from other G8 nations to impose new sanctions on Iran. If Clinton's new comments reflect administration policy (and there's no reason to believe they do not), the U.S. position seems to be that sanctions should be used only if diplomacy fails.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Washington would call for more sanctions against Iran if the White House policy of engagement with Tehran failed.

Clinton said U.S. outreach to Iran may not work given the country's recent repression of protests after a disputed election.

"It may not be possible, in which case we would ask the world to join us in imposing even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime," Clinton said in an interview with Venezuelan television station Globovision, broadcast late on Tuesday.

"We have seen in the last weeks that Iran has not respected its own democracy," she said.

An informed reader writes, "Honestly, if the shut gasoline imports to Iran for 2 weeks - regime will fall. What outsiders tend not to fully understand is that people in Iran do not view gasoline as outside forces. It is government's duty to provide, simple as that. Your most hardcore Ahmadinejad supporter could care less [about supporting the president] if there's no gasoline. Last time big riots - 2007 - due to increase in gasoline prices. The country would come to standstill. About 7-8m people in country's income are directly dependant on having gasoline. Secondary effects - god knows."

10:00 AM ET -- Protesters urged to carry roses as weapons. The Los Angeles Times reports:

Keep quiet under all circumstances, the circular advises those planning to march in Thursday's unauthorized demonstrations in Iran cities.

"The heaviest weapon to carry is one rose in the hand," it says.

As Iranians prepare for what could be another violent day of confrontations Thursday between demonstrators and security forces, including pro-government plainclothes Basiji militias, supporters of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi have distributed instructions to try to keep any anticipated violence to a minimum.

Iran-rose One video making its way around the internet (above) shows demonstrators how to make devices to disable the motorcycles used by truncheon-wielding Basiji and Ansar-e-Hezbollah militiamen.

100 6047

9:55 AM ET -- Mousavi aide reportedly leaves for UK. Iran's state media has been closely following the case of Mousavi aide Abolfazl Fateh, apparently because his desire to leave the country gave them the opportunity to link Mousavi's operation with a foreign government. Here's the latest:

A top aide to defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi has reportedly left for the UK after previously being banned from leaving the country.

Tabnak reported on Wednesday that Abolfazl Fateh, who had been banned from leaving Iran to "clarify certain issues", had left the country.

According to authorities, the ban had been enforced due to Fateh's "role in recent developments and his efforts to arrange for the illegal gathering of Mousavi supporters."

9:54 AM ET -- Iran says no post-election protesters hanged. From Iran's state-backed Press TV: "Amid speculations that the 20 drug traffickers recently hanged in Iran were in fact individuals arrested in the country's post-vote unrest, deputy Tehran prosecutor moves to dismiss the claim. ... 'Among those hanged there were no individual who had been arrested during the recent unrest in Tehran,' Salarkia explained."

9:41 AM ET -- Newsweek reporter still languishing in Evin prison. Newsweek sends over an update on its reporter Maziar Bahari. "He is still being held in Evin Prison for more than two weeks now and hasn't been formally charged or been allowed access to lawyers."

Also of note -- Bahari has dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship. An editorial in Canada's Globe & Mail today urges the Canadian government to become more aggressive in the push for Sahari's release:

Iran's jailing of Maziar Bahari, a journalist and filmmaker who lived in Canada for 10 years and became a Canadian citizen, carries echoes of a traumatic incident in Canadian-Iranian relations, the arrest and beating death in 2003 of Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-born photojournalist from Montreal. There is little concrete that Canada can do that will actually have an impact, short of Prime Minister Stephen Harper making the case to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran. He should do so.

Nothing in the 42-year-old Mr. Bahari's background suggests a plotter or conspirator against the Islamic Republic of Iran. He has distinguished himself as a journalist and a filmmaker, first in Canada, directing and co-writing (with the respected journalist Terence McKenna) a 1995 film for the National Film Board called The Voyage of the St. Louis, about the ship of Jewish refugees from Europe who were turned away from Canada in 1939. He returned to his homeland of Iran in 1998 and has since been a correspondent for Newsweek, and made several more documentaries. [...]

Canada has had no ambassador in Iran since 2007, so whatever diplomatic voice it has is easily ignored. Because Mr. Bahari is an Iranian citizen, Iran considers him one of its own; it does not even have to grant consular access, and it hasn't. Mr. Harper should let Iran know the seriousness with which Canada views Mr. Bahari's plight.

8:13 AM ET -- Questions for Juan Cole? Brave New Studio is hosting an event tonight on Iran featuring Middle East historian and analyst Juan Cole which I'm lucky enough to be moderating. Any questions you'd like me to ask Cole? Email me. I'll post video of the event in tomorrow's blog.

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Tuesday July 7)

2009-07-07T12:35:33Z

Wednesday's updates are here.

Top story -- Ahmadinejad slams rivals over post-election stance. Iran state media's report on Ahmadinejad's remarks on television tonight.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized the stance adopted by certain political figures following the June 12 presidential election.

In a speech broadcast on IRIB channel one, President Ahmadinejad slammed 'foreign meddling' in Iran's internal affairs following the presidential election, saying the massive turnout of the Iranian nation had upset 'arrogant powers'. [...]

Tehran has accused certain Western countries and their media of fueling post-election unrest in Iran.

"Unfortunately, some people inside Iran collaborated with them. They repeated the comments made by certain Western countries," Ahmadinejad said.

He added that the defeated candidates rejected the election results without offering any proof of irregularities in the electoral process.

President Ahmadinejad invited the nation to 'unity and solidarity' now that the file on the election has been closed and the electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, has confirmed his re-election.

3:49 PM ET -- Obama: "Absolutely not" giving Israel green light for attack. From a new interview with CNN:

The United States is "absolutely not" giving Israel a green light to attack Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama told CNN Tuesday.

"We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East," Obama said, referring to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"I think Vice President Biden stated a categorical fact, which is we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are. What is also true is that it is the policy of the United States to resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels," he said.

3:46 PM ET -- Berlusconi: G8 divided on Iran.

The leaders of Group of Eight countries have yet to forge a common position on Iran's violent crackdown on post-electoral protests, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday on the eve of the summit.

Berlusconi, who chairs the gathering of world leaders opening Wednesday, noted that some countries, such as France, were calling for tougher action against Tehran, while others, such as Russia, favored a softer stance to keep dialogue open.

"It still has to be decided what the statement on Iran will be," Berlusconi said at a news conference in Rome to present the summit. He said the leaders would likely opt for dialogue.

3:17 PM ET -- Iran will never be the same again.

1:51 PM ET -- Major D.C. demonstration on Thursday. Facebook page is here.

1:43 PM ET -- Tehran University dorms closed. "According to Amir Kabir Newsletter, the authorities are closing down the dorms at Tehran University for two weeks. Every year, the dorms are closed for a few days during the anniversary of the 1999 dorm incidents to prevent protests. This year, the time was extended to two weeks. The university authorities claim 'this decision is not related to recent events and was made before that.'"

1:31 PM ET -- State media: SMS failure not due to dust pollution. A strange report from Iran's Press TV: "The new disruption in text messaging services in Iran, is unrelated to the dust pollution overwhelming the country, a report says. After text messaging came to a stop on Monday, an informed source told ILNA that the problem had nothing to do with air pollution."

So what is it related to? One can only wonder...

1:15 PM ET -- A message from NIAC. The National Iranian American Council has been a crucial source for news and thoughtful analysis on the uprising. They've got a requestion for readers:

NIAC is surveying Iranian Americans as well as the broader American public to get a better understanding on where people stand on the Iran issue in the aftermath of the elections.

We are encouraging non-NIAC members to participate as well, with the understanding that membership views will naturally take precedent in influencing how the organization moves forward. We highly encourage non-members to join and become part of the dialogue by visiting this site.

Click here for the survey.

11:06 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad relative speaks out. In an interview forwarded by a reader, the father of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's son-in-law says Ahmadinejad has manipulated his son, and stresses that he has not voted for Ahmadinejad and will never do so.

11:05 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad to speak tonight. Ahmadinejad will appear on Iranian television tonight to discuss domestic and foreign policy issues.

9:49 AM ET -- Haystack. As I mentioned the other day, tech guru Austin Heap has developed a new tool to bust through Iran's Internet censorship wall. Now, he needs our support.

"A lot of people have written asking how they can help without being a tech wizard," he writes. "Well, here's the answer: donate. In the past four weeks (three of which I took off of work) a lot has happened. First a tiny proxy list on Twitter, then a more organized effort called Proxyheap, and now Haystack, a completely custom protocol for beating the Iran governments filters."

He explains exactly what he needs to fund here.

9:47 AM ET -- Sarkozy demands release of French academic imprisoned by Iran. Iran's state media reports, "President Nicholas Sarkozy has demanded the immediate release of a French academic detained in Iran on charges of espionage."

"Let me say in the clearest and simplest way possible: we demand the release of our compatriot. These accusations of espionage are pure fantasy and there is no reason for them," Sarkozy said at a Tuesday news conference with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Paris.

"Kidnapping and holding French nationals under the pretext of espionage, no one can accept this."

9:41 AM ET -- Iran opposition: "The wave of arrests should end."

Iranian opposition leaders urged the authorities to release people arrested following a disputed presidential election last month, and criticized the "security state" imposed in Iran, a website said on Tuesday.

"Mehdi Karoubi, Mirhossein Mousavi and (former president Mohammad) Khatami met on Monday and underlined the importance of ending the imposed security state in the country and also demanded the immediate release of detained protesters," defeated candidate Mousavi's website reported. [...]

"The continuation of arrests and the imposed security state will lead to a more radicalized political atmosphere," they said, adding that the "wave of arrests should end."

9:40 AM ET -- Freedom vs. Firewalls. The Washington Post calls on the Senate to support Internet freedom.

9:11 AM ET -- Israel declines to ask U.S. for okay to bomb Iran. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top deputies have not formally asked for U.S. aid or permission for possible military strikes on Iran's nuclear program, fearing the White House would not approve, two Israeli officials said. One senior Israeli official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, told The Washington Times that Mr. Netanyahu determined that 'it made no sense' to press the matter after the negative response President Bush gave Mr. Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, when he asked early last year for U.S. aid for possible military strikes on Iran."

8:35 AM ET -- Obama on Iran. President Obama has been doing a series of interviews during his time in Moscow, and he's taken several questions on Iran. No major news it seems, but here's the gist of his comments, from his interview with ABC's Jake Tapper:

Mr. Obama said that Iran's "governing elites...are going through a struggle that has been mirrored painfully and powerfully on the streets." He said that "the fact that we have both said we are willing to work with Iran -- at the same time as we have been very clear about our grave deep concerns with respect to not just the violence, not just the detentions that have taken place -- has created a space where the international community can potentially join and pressure Iran more effectively than they have in the past."

That said, the president said that it was too early to declare the policy successful.

"Ultimately we're going to have to see whether a country like Russia, for example, is willing to work with us to apply pressure on Iran to take a path toward international respectability as opposed to the path they're on. That's not something we're going to know the results of for several more months as we continue to do the hard diplomatic work of putting this coalition together to tell Iran: 'Make the better choice. '"

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Monday July 6)

2009-07-06T13:49:12Z

Tuesday's updates are here.

11:59 PM ET -- The brave women of Iran. Mothers gather in front of the notorious Evin prison -- where beatings and torture have been reported by countless prisoners over years -- to protest the detention of their children.

These videos are reportedly from today:

11:55 PM ET -- Major demonstration in D.C. on Thursday. I'll be posting more on this tomorrow, but a reader writes, "Please Note that on Thursday July 9th at 6pm there will be a large rally for 18 Tir (Iran Student Day) in Washington DC 14th Street and Pennsylvania North West." Here's the Facebook page with more details.

11:01 PM ET -- No change in Iran policy, White House insists. "As White House and Office of the Vice President aides formed a united front against widespread media speculation about a change in policy signaled by Vice President Joseph Biden's statement on a Sunday news show that Israel is a 'sovereign nation' that could 'determine for itself' how to deal with threats from Iran, analysts said that Israel may be wary of any such green light in any case."

That's the lede of Laura Rozen's latest for Foreign Policy. It's the most comprehensive piece written thus far on Biden's remarks and the wide range of reactions. There's way too much to excerpt -- you should just read the complete piece.

Meanwhile...

Israel's hard-line foreign minister on Monday welcomed Vice President Joe Biden's statement that Israel can make its own decision about whether to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, calling it "logical."

But other Israeli leaders avoided comment, a low-key reaction that suggested Israel did not see Biden's comments as a green light to strike against its biggest Mideast rival. President Barack Obama underlined that diplomacy with Iran remains an option.

10:53 PM ET -- Rafsanjani's party dismisses election results. After weeks of working behind-the-scenes, Rafsanjani has apparently given the okay for his party to publicly reject the results of last month's election. My question: why now?

A day after commanders of the Revolutionary Guard warned there was no middle ground in the dispute over the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the political party of one of Iran's most powerful clerics Monday defiantly issued a statement dismissing the vote.

The statement by the Kargozaran Sazandegi, or Executives of Construction Party, all but cleared away weeks of ambiguity about the stance of the powerful cleric Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.ce trial

The cleric, who heads two government councils that oversee the supreme leader and mediate disputes between branches, openly backed Mir-Hossein Mousavi. But he has not spoken definitively about the election since the June 12 vote, which was validated after a partial recount by the powerful Guardian Council.

"We declare that the result is unacceptable due to the unhealthy voting process, massive electoral fraud and the siding of the majority of the Guardian Council with a specific candidate," said the statement issued by the party.

10:51 PM ET -- Mousavi appears in public for first time in 3 weeks. Washington Post:

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, appearing in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, vowed Monday that protests against the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "will not end" and predicted that the new government would encounter problems because it lacks legitimacy.

But the former presidential candidate, who maintains he was denied victory in the June 12 election by massive vote-rigging on behalf of Ahmadinejad, stopped short of calling for new street demonstrations, which the government has declared illegal and largely crushed in a massive crackdown. Instead, Mousavi indicated that the opposition would adopt new tactics, pursuing protest "within the framework of the law."

10:35 PM ET -- SMS down again. Via Cyrus Farivar, Radio Farda is reporting that SMS service is down again (just in time for the anniversary of the 18th Tir student protests).

9:45 PM ET -- Will G8 Condemn Iran? Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth is calling on leaders of the G8 industrialized nations to condemn Iran's crackdown on protesters:

The Iranian authorities are trying to blame 'foreign powers' for their violent and abusive campaign against peaceful protesters. The G8 needs to make it clear to Tehran that it cannot shift the blame and that human rights concerns will be at the forefront of future G8 engagement with Iran.

5:11 PM ET -- Tehran Bureau gets another well-deserved write-up, this one by the Associated Press.

4:58 PM ET -- Biden's Iran comments. Via reader Heather, Middle East analyst Juan Cole disagrees that Biden's remarks yesterday gave Israel the green light for a military strike on Iran:

I think Biden's remarks on Israel and Iran were aimed at underlining the independence of US policy-making toward Iran. He underlined twice that the US would not alter its own posture toward Iran, regardless of what others did. That he also said that the Israelis are sovereign and that the US could not stop them from launching a missile strike on Iran, is just the United Nations Charter. I.e. it is boilerplate. In my view the significant bit is this:

BIDEN: Look, Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Whether we agree or not?

BIDEN: Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that. But there is no pressure from any nation that's going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed.

What we believe is in the national interest of the United States, which we, coincidentally, believe is also in the interest of Israel and the whole world. And so there are separate issues.

So what Biden was really saying is that the Obama administration intends to engage Iran diplomatically, and that if anyone wants Iran attacked they will have to do it themselves. This is not a green light to the Israelis, who hardly need one. It is a tough message to the right wing of the Israel lobbies that the Obama administration is not going to launch any hostilities with Iran, even after the hard line power grab of three weeks ago.

4:14 PM ET -- French woman held in Iran as spy. "France has demanded the release of a French academic who it says has been detained in Iran since 1 July, accused of spying. The French foreign ministry condemned the arrest of the unnamed woman and said the allegations of spying did not stand up to examination. The French news agency AFP says the woman is an academic in Isfahan. She had been in Iran for five months, and was arrested at Tehran airport as she was about to depart for Beirut."

3:02 PM ET -- Iran goes on strike. Via reader Ken, the latest from Reza Aslan.

2:46 PM ET -- Pregnant journalist believed to be languishing in Iranian prison. For those looking for a place to send donations, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has been doing fantastic work. Their new release is particularly distressing:

With as many as two thousand individuals, including more than two-hundred prominent personalities, under incommunicado detention in Iran, serious concerns for their health and safety are growing. There are increasing reports of extensive use of solitary confinement and torture against the detainees. While the Iranian Judiciary has announced a directive to criminalize cooperation with satellite television programs and "opposition" internet communication, authorities have continued to detain individual journalists, including Masoud Bastani, who was arrested on 5 July as he inquired about the whereabouts of his wife, Mahsa Amrabadi, a pregnant journalist arrested on 14 June, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The life of another detainee, Saeed Hajarian, a prominent politician and journalist who is paralyzed, is in danger. For the past ten days, his family have not been able to verify his condition. He may be in critical condition and hospitalized. Since his detention on 15 June, his wife has been able to see him only once for ten minutes.

2:40 PM ET -- Doctors denounce terror in the hospitals. Via readers Sara and Paul, WhyWeProtest has a translated version of a story published today in the French paper La Figaro.

Update: Journalist Fintan Dunne sends over his much improved translation:

One of a pair of Iranian doctors, who fled the capital to France, says an unofficial tally by medical staff at Tehran area hospitals counted 92 violent deaths related to conflicts with security forces. The death toll is considerably at variance with an official figure of 17 deaths.

The account of events in Tehran by the doctors, who declined to be identified for reasons of personal safety has been published today in the online edition of the French newspaper Le Figaro. They say that intimidation prevented them revealing the scale of casualties but motivated them to flee to France to reveal the details.

Among the dead were an eight months pregnant woman and six young males found dead in Shahriar, on the outskirts of the capital. "They all died from wounds in the neck, " said the second unidentified doctor, quoting information from a trusted medical colleague. "Their skulls had been smashed and their brains had been opened, presumably to retrieve the bullet and destroy evidence of the crime."

1:29 PM ET -- Still trying to spin Neda's death. These officials are shameless.

Iranian Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam says his comments on a witness in the death of Neda Agha-Soltan during post-election unrest were distorted.

Iranian media on Wednesday carried reports quoting the brigadier general as saying that the International Police force known as Interpol is on the hunt for Arash Hejazi, who was pictured while trying to help Neda.

A day after Ahmadi-Moqaddam's reported comments Interpol spokesperson Rachel Billington rejected involvement in any investigation into the death of Neda.

Ahmadi-Moqaddam, however, moved to reject the published report.

"Although I tend to choose my words with utmost care, a certain website has carried a story saying that I have said the Intelligence Ministry and Interpol are after Mr. Hejazi," Iran's police chief said on Monday.

"This is while I had said Iran's Intelligence Ministry and criminal police are on the case," he told reporters in Tehran.

12:38 PM ET -- Dubai police stop Iran petition. "Iranian protesters who gathered in Dubai last night were prevented by police from signing a petition against their president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Officers told the 100-strong crowd they were forbidden from sending official petitions from UAE soil."

11:30 AM ET -- Tehran shut-down. Iran's state media outlets (also here) are reporting that after an emergency meeting, Tehran's pollution committee has decided to close all government agencies, schools, and factories for the next two days due to heavy pollution.

The timing of the closures seem very suspicious, coinciding with the major 10-year anniversary of the 18th Tir student protests. Several readers have noted that a national day of strike was called for the anniversary, and these pollution closures would take that action off the table.

Update: Here's state-backed Press TV's account of the closings, which it blames on dust pollution.

11:21 AM ET -- A new poem for the rooftops of Iran. Reader Chas Danner, with help from several Farsi-speaking readers, has published a new video of the "Allah-o Akbar" chants accompanied by some beautiful, poetic commentary by an Iranian woman.

It's so very touching.

11:17 AM ET -- Mousavi holds planning meeting? The news site Baztab reports claims that Mousavi met recently with Hassan Khomeini (grandson of Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini) and reformist former president Rafsanjani to discuss further actions against the election result.

11:09 AM ET -- Ayatollah Beheshti's son warns against arresting Mousavi. In the midst of calls for prosecution of Mousavi, Ali-Reza Beheshti, son of the late Ayatollah Beheshti, says there must be "clever individuals in Iran who know what cost such a prosecution would entail."

10:17 AM ET -- Iran's parliament speaker congratulates Ahmadinejad. Via a reader, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has visited Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and officially congratulated him on his reelection.

This is unfortunate news for the reformists. Larijani is a conservative, but he has a long, negative history with Ahmadinejad and had been a consistent thorn in his side after the election, arguing at one point that the majority of the country did not trust the election results.

10:04 AM ET -- Revolutionary Guard takes command. The Los Angeles Times reports:

The top leaders of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard publicly acknowledged they had taken over the nation's security and warned late Sunday that there was no middle ground in the ongoing dispute over the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a threat against a reformist wave led by Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the elite military branch, said the Guard's takeover of the country had led to "a revival of the revolution and clarification of the value positions of the establishment at home and abroad."

"These events put us in a new stage of the revolution and political struggles, and all of us must fully comprehend its dimensions," he said at a Sunday press conference, according to reports that surfaced today.

9:58 AM ET -- Khamenei warns "meddling" West. The Supreme Leader remains on-message:

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Western leaders on Monday of a "firm fist" in response to their "meddling" in Iran's domestic affairs.

"The leaders of arrogant countries, the nosy meddlers in the affairs of the Islamic republic, must know that no matter if the Iranian people have their own differences, when you enemies get involved, the people... will become a firm fist against you," he said in a televised speech.

"The Iranian nation warns the leaders of those countries trying to take advantage of the situation, beware! The Iranian nation will react."

Iranian leaders have accused the West, particularly Britain and the United States of seeking to destabilise the country in the aftermath of its disputed presidential election.

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Sunday July 5)

2009-07-05T04:48:37Z

Monday's updates are here.

11:36 PM ET -- Where in the world is Grand Ayatollah Sistani? Fareed Zakaria asks the question.

11:07 PM ET -- Did the New York Times err in report on clerical group? Late on Saturday, the New York Times published a story with this lede:

The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country's clerical establishment.

The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult -- if not impossible.

The TImes has since shifted its description of the group -- they're now described as "an important group of religious leaders" -- and several readers believe the Times misidentified the group in question. Here's one such email:

I'd like to point out a couple of important issues. The "Top clerical group defies Supreme Leader" has considerable factual flaw. Seems NYT was a bit confused over the issue and the article's opening as posted on NYT site: "The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country's clerical establishment. " is a gross exaggeration of facts, as I will explain.

The statement apparently came from the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum headed by Hojjat-ol-islam Musavi Tabrizi, and is not nearly as powerful as stated by NYT. It is a very loosely worded statement which, certainly does not directly declare the AN's Gov't or the elections illegitimate and, just poses the question "In light of all these discrepancies, would it be possible to accept the legitimacy of elections entirely based on the confirmation of Guardians Council? In current situation, could the government resulted from all these infractions be regarded legitimate?".

But the real powerful top clerical group that has perhaps been innocently presumed as the source of this statement, is the extreme-right Association of Teachers of Quom (a more accurate translation of the name would be: Association of Teachers of Quom's Theological School). The name of both entities in Farsi is exactly the same - except for lack of the word "Researchers" in the latter. Had the second entity actually made a statement in this context, the "KhameneiNejad" show would certainly have been over and done with.

10:57 PM ET -- 30 years later, a family takes to the streets again. A great piece by the L.A. Times: "Three decades ago Mina, an 18-year-old who had recently graduated from high school, took to the streets with her family to protest the injustice and tyranny of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in demonstrations that led to his overthrow. Last month, the 48-year-old professor of physiology again took to the streets, again her with family, to oppose the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amid allegations of massive vote fraud."

Definitely worth checking out the nearly identical photos published by the Times -- one from '79, one from '09 -- showing the same bridge filled with demonstrators.

10:50 PM ET -- New communications crackdown. "The head of the judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi today has issued a directive to Iranian courts allowing them to sentence anyone working with satellite television channels or Internet networking websites to up to 10 years in jail, according to several news agencies."

More here.

10:45 PM ET -- Mousavi said to be planning new political party. CNN reports:

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi plans to form a new political party aimed at reining in the power of the Islamic Republic's leadership, a leading reformist newspaper reported Sunday.

Moussavi told supporters the party will be focused on upholding "the remaining principles of the constitution," according to Etemad-e Melli, a newspaper aligned with fellow opposition candidate Mehdi Karrubi.

He is expected to file papers with Iran's Interior Ministry to establish the party before hard-line incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sworn in for a new term, the newspaper reported.

More coverage in Farsi here.

7:11 PM ET -- More Biden on Iran. Reader Jon sends along the full video from Biden's discussion of Iran on ABC's This Week. The White House really needs to clarify its position on an Israeli strike on Iran -- Biden today implied that the Obama administration would look the other way, while Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen called the prospect of an attack "very destabilizing" (details of both comments are below). Some clarity is needed.

6:54 PM ET -- A hotline for journalists in danger. Reporters Without Borders post information about its hotline to report repression of journalists in Iran: "SOS Presse, a phone hotline for journalists - (33) 1 4777-7414 - is open every day round the clock and, with the help of American Express, a Reporters Without Borders official can be quickly reached."

6:41 PM ET -- Roger Cohen can't give up Iran. And he's written a beautiful column explaining why. I hope you read it all. Here's a piece:

To bear witness means being there -- and that's not free. No search engine gives you the smell of a crime, the tremor in the air, the eyes that smolder, or the cadence of a scream.

No news aggregator tells of the ravaged city exhaling in the dusk, nor summons the defiant cries that rise into the night. No miracle of technology renders the lip-drying taste of fear. No algorithm captures the hush of dignity, nor evokes the adrenalin rush of courage coalescing, nor traces the fresh raw line of a welt.

I confess that, out of Iran, I am bereft. I have been thinking about the responsibility of bearing witness. It can be singular, still. Interconnection is not presence.

A chunk of me is back in Tehran, between Enquelab (Revolution) and Azadi (Freedom), where I saw the Iranian people rise in the millions to reclaim their votes and protest the violation of their Constitution.

We journalists are supposed to move on. Most of the time, like insatiable voyeurs, we do. But once a decade or so, we get undone, as if in love, and our subject has its revenge, turning the tables and refusing to let us be.

3:12 PM ET -- "I must go home to Iran again." I'm very late in posting this op-ed, but wanted to make a point to highlight it because so many Iranian expatriates emailed it to me, saying it represented their own feelings. It's a piece by Marjane Satrapi, whose work includes the book and film Persepolis, that ran in the New York Times. Here's a portion:

Death, torture and prison are part of daily life for the youth of Iran. They are not like us, my friends and I at their age; they are not scared. They are not what we were.

They hold hands and scream: "Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! We are together!"

They understand that no one will give them their rights; they must go get them.

They understand that unlike the generation before them -- my generation, for whom the dream was to leave Iran -- the real dream is not to leave Iran but to fight for it, to free it, to love it and to reconstruct it.

They hold hands and scream: "We will fight! We will die! But we won't be humiliated!"

They went out knowing that going to each demonstration meant signing their death warrants.

Today I read somewhere that "the velvet revolution" of Iran became the "velvet coup," with a little note of irony, but let me tell you something: This generation, with its hopes, dreams, anger and revolt, has forever changed the course of history. Nothing is going to be the same.

Read the whole piece here.

3:05 PM ET -- Mousavi details alleged election fraud evidence.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate in last month's disputed election, released documents Saturday detailing a campaign of alleged fraud by supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that assured his reelection, while an adviser to Iran's supreme leader accused Mousavi of treason. [...]

In a 24-page document posted on his Web site, Mousavi's special committee studying election fraud accused influential Ahmadinejad supporters of handing out cash bonuses and food, increasing wages, printing millions of extra ballots and other acts in the run-up to the vote.

3:00 PM ET -- Iran shows YouTube should change its rating system. Via reader Alex, a good case is made here.

2:58 PM ET -- Iran's young rebels. Reader Michèle passes on a link to a CBC documentary released shortly before the election that's available for viewing online.

1:57 PM ET -- 'New video by Iran's best female rapper.' That's the subject line of an email I just received from Mark Levine, who has traveled through Iran learning about the country's underground metal and hip-hop scenes. Levine's been publishing a running set of messages from Iranian artists about the uprising, and yesterday he highlighted a new video "from Iranian rapper Kalameh (pseudonym) expressing frustration of Iranian youth at the pro-democracy and reform crackdown, which is increasingly a bitter culture war as well."

Full lyrics are in Mark's post -- here's the first verse:

"The greatest sin, must be killing the hope"
It was a murderer who killed my friend's hope,
the friend who just said those words.
Every step in this way was void, so was every speech and every action
Do not muddy the water!
Politics are dirty; it swallows you as down and throws you up brain washed
Behind every person, there is a hidden reason
I wanted to go live on top of a mountain, staying away from politics
But I couldn't, because it is hard to accept what they do

1:50 PM ET -- Chief U.S. general: Iran strike would be "very destabilizing." "Both a US strike on Iran, and the Islamic republic attaining nuclear weapons would be "very destabilizing," chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said on Sunday. He said called both situations 'really, really bad outcomes,' and urged appropriate actions to prevent either eventuality."

This seems far closer to the administration's current policy than Biden's comments (below) may have indicated.

1:46 PM ET -- Iran to free another British embassy worker. "The eighth of nine British embassy employees detained by Iranian authorities is to be released later, the UK foreign secretary has said. David Miliband said 'all of our efforts are now directed' at securing the release of the man still being held - the embassy's chief political analyst."

Also, the lawyer for the last embassy employee still under investigation for subterfuge has "refuted reports that his client had been formally charged, saying he was optimistic the Iranian national would be released in the coming days."

Hossein Rassam, 44, is the top political analyst at Britain's mission in Iran, where he headed a staff of eight or nine who were all arrested on suspicion of promoting or taking part in weeks of unrest that followed the disputed reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which was marred by opposition claims of vote fraud.

"I think his situation will be fixed soon," said Abdul-Samad Khoramshahi, his lawyer, who also represented jailed journalist Roxana Saberi. "I think that in the next few days I will get good news."

Khoramshahi said he visited the Revolutionary Court this morning to discuss the case of Rassam, who remains under investigation. Authorities have not yet formally lodged a complaint against him, but could decide to do so in a week.

1:17 PM ET -- Biden gives green light to Israel? "Vice President Joe Biden seemed to give Israel a green light for military action to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, saying the U.S. 'cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do. ... If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice.'"

How much should this be chalked up to Biden's tendency to go off message?

12:56 PM ET -- Doonesbury on Iran. I'm surprised I missed this: Reader Chas notes that the widely-syndicated U.S. cartoon Doonesbury has largely been devoted to Iran over the last several weeks.

11:39 AM ET -- Creative activism: world's longest petition. A reader emails, "Here's an interesting effort that was also featured on Mousavi's Facebook page - opposition trying to create the longest petition to be featured in the Guinness World Records - the idea is to collect 90 cm long green fabric scrolls and get signatures on it to condemn Iran's Coup d'etat government and to name Ahmadinejad as the world's most despised president. The scrolls will then be collected from around the world and put together in Paris and hung from the Eiffel Tower!"

The petition site is here. Some creative projects like this will succeed, others will not. But they're an important part of making sure that attention stays focused on Iran as the stream of new information from within the country ebbs and flows.

11:37 AM ET -- Video. I'm just catching up with the news and emails from yesterday. Here's a video of people clashing in the streets with the Basij. The caption says it is from July 3.

10:25 AM ET -- Saudis ok with Israeli strike on Iran? The UK Times has published, and some other outlets are picking up, a report that the Saudis have given Israel approval to use their air space for a raid on Iran's nuclear sites.

This may very well be true, I don't know. But the UK Times has a fairly poor track record when it comes to this issue -- it's been running stories for years claiming that an Israeli strike on Iran was just around the corner. So I would look for further confirmation before getting too worried about this piece.

10:02 AM ET -- Clerical group's website blocked. The L.A. Times reports that authorities today "blocked access to the website of a pro-reform group of seminary scholars in the holy city of Qom" -- the Association of Seminary Teachers and Researchers -- "that has joined other reformist clergy in sharply criticizing last month's vote as authorities continued a crackdown against supporters of failed presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who has alleged massive fraud."

9:51 AM ET -- Greek reporter for Washington Times finally released. "Iran's state television is reporting that a Greek journalist that had been held for more than two weeks has been released. State television Sunday quoted a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Hasan Qashqavi, as saying that Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden had been released in, what he described as the framework of Tehran-Athens ties. Athanasiadis-Fowden of The Washington Times was arrested on or around June 19. He has dual Greek and British citizenship and was believed to be the only foreigner being held by Iranian authorities in the post-election crackdown that has swept the country."

Update: Here's the Washington Times report.

3:05 AM ET -- Iran media: Ahmadinejad wants public talks with Obama. Via reader Chas, CNN runs this report:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants to engage President Obama in "negotiations" before international media, a semi-official Iranian news outlet reported on Saturday.

Speaking at a meeting of medical school deans, Ahmadinejad said Iran "will soon pursue a new round of diplomatic activity" amid a new position of strength for the Iranian government, the Iranian Student News Agency quotes him as saying.

"I will go to the United Nations and will invite Obama to negotiations," Ahmadinejad said, adding that such talks would be "in front of the international media, not a sit-down behind closed doors in order to talk about matters."

Ahmadinejad has previously claimed he wanted to debate Obama before an audience at the U.N. This offer appears to be a bit different, but still unserious.

1:31 AM ET -- Reading Independence Day in Iran. A great Iran analyst emails this article by University of Virginia Professor R. K. Ramazani. The attached note: "Ramazani is the dean of Iranian foreign policy. No one in this country knows more about Iran and its foreign policy than Prof. Ramazani (who has been a professor at UVA for almost six decades!)"

Here's an excerpt of the piece, which notes the similarities between the American and Iranian revolutionary traditions on the occasion of America's Independence Day:

This need not be a clash of alien values, of America vs. Iran.

One hundred years ago, Howard Baskerville, a 24-year old missionary educator, became Iran's American martyr while trying to help Iranians then struggling for freedom. He's still admired in Iran; in 2005, former President Mohammed Khatami unveiled a sculpture of Baskerville in Tabriz's Constitutional House museum. Before his death, Baskerville explained to skeptical friends that "The only difference between me and these people is my place of birth, and that is not a big difference."

He was right.

1:02 AM ET -- Top clerical group defies Supreme Leader, calls government illegitimate. This is very significant.

The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country's clerical establishment.

The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult -- if not impossible.

"This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic," said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. "Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei."

Read the whole New York Times story here.

1:00 AM ET -- Great news. Tech guru Austin Heap, whose work on Iran was profiled early on by the San Francisco Chronicle, is set to release a new tool to help Iranians get online. Here's Austin's blog post about the program, called Haystack:

In the upcoming days, Daniel Colascione and I will release a new program to provide unfiltered internet access to the people of Iran. A software package for Windows, Mac and Unix systems, called Haystack, will specifically target the Iranian government's web filtering mechanisms.

Similar to Freegate, the program directed against China's "great firewall," once installed Haystack will provide completely uncensored access to the internet in Iran while simultaneously protecting the user's identity. No more Facebook blocks, no more government warning pages when you try to load Twitter, just unfiltered Internet.

The network will be supported by donated high-quality servers outside of Iran. We will be able to provide an individual user with unfettered internet access that costs the donor $0.015 to $0.0375 per month.

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Friday July 3)

2009-07-03T06:17:04Z

Sunday's updates are here.

7:48 PM ET -- Grand Ayatollah Sanei releases another statement supporting demonstrators. A reader writes, "You may have seen this statement from Grand Ayatollah Yousof Sanei -- an Iranian scholar, renowned theologian and Islamic philosopher. He is known as a senior reformist cleric and a Grand Marja (source) of Shia Islam. He is particularly noteworthy for issuing a fatwa in which he declared suicide bombing as haram and a 'terrorist act.' ... Sanei retired as the head of the Guardian Council in 1988 and has not held any political office since."

An English version was posted on his website:

HIS EXCELLENCY GRAND AYATOLLAH SAANEI'S SYMPATHY WITH THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE RECENT DISASTERS

While extending my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the recent tragedies, and wishing a speedy recovery for the injured, particularly for our precious and devoted student body in Esfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, and other cities, who have stood up for their rights and have of late protested against the ambiguities surrounding the election results, seeking clarification which is indeed their right, I hereby express my grave sorrow and grief at the detestable incidents as have taken place and also express my aversion to those who had a hand in those disasters and tragedies. I hope that the wishes of the people will be fulfilled and their demands will be met by those responsible in the system, whose foremost duty should be the protection of people's life and property.

7:45 PM ET -- U2 goes Green. Via reader Jashar, U2 performed last night in Barcelona and played their hit "Sunday Bloody Sunday" -- about British troops who shot and killed civil rights marchers in Ireland -- as green light covered the stage and Farsi lyrics ran across the screens.

A commenter on U2's website described the scene:

First up, the previous song outros with a beautiful lilting vocal piece by (we discover) Iranian-born singer Sussan Deyhim. Then as the rhythmic opening bars of 'Sunday' arrive, the overhead spherical screens turn a luminous shade of green as farsi script script scrolls into sight.

7:40 PM ET -- Iran state media: West 'regretting' its stance. This analysis is...interesting. From Press TV:

A senior Iranian dignitary says Western powers are regretting the inappropriate stance they adopted in the wake of the June 12 presidential election.

"Western countries have now realized their stance on the Iranian elections was undoubtedly out of line," head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Friday.

Boroujerdi said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's recent telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki shows that political heavyweights in Europe are retracting their wrong claims on Iran.

"After three weeks of resentment, [European countries] have a long way to go before rebuilding trust with Iran," said Boroujerdi.

7:38 PM ET -- "My fellow schoolmate." The Revolutionary Road blog has posted a really wonderful video of a student demonstration that reportedly took place in the last few days at Kashan University. The students "form chains and sing 'Yare dabestani' -- 'My Fellow Schoolmate' -- a classic revolutionary song that every Iranian around knows by heart."

Watch it all (and read the song lyrics) here.

7:33 PM ET -- "Ten days of anguish, abuse inside Tehran's prison archipelago." The Los Angeles Times publishes another account of the brutal violence facing people swept up by the Basij:

Ali-Reza said he was near Tehran's Fatemi Square on June 13, a day of riots and unrest just after the election, when he spotted the plainclothes Basiji fighters beating a man "in a very bad way," he said.

"Do not beat him!" he protested to the Basijis.

But instead of laying off, the militiamen came after him. "They started to follow me," he said. "I ran and changed my direction, but in a dead-end street they caught me."

He said they began pummeling him. "The started to beat and beat and beat me, with their batons, feet and cables."

They stuffed him into a van with other young men and women and took them to a holding cell near Horr Square, where they were all beaten for more than two hours, he said.

"You voted for Mousavi," one of the Basijis told them, according to Ali-Reza. "Beating you is our right. We can even kill you."

The violence continued for days.

1:27 PM ET -- The Nation's cover story: "Iran's Green Wave." It is absolutely worth going over and reading Robert Dreyfuss' complete cover story in this week's Nation magazine. He was in Iran for the election and its aftermath, and has a wealth of interesting details. Here's a taste:

[T]here was the Obama factor. Countless Iranians watched his June 4 Cairo speech, and its transcript was parsed word by word. By offering to respect Iran rather than locating it in the "axis of evil," Obama appealed to secular nationalists, activists seeking greater individual freedom and businessmen hungering for an end to the sanctions strangling Iran's economy. Nearly everyone I spoke with during the ten days I was in Iran brought up Obama, whether I asked or not. At a frenzied Moussavi rally in the city of Karaj, west of the capital, I met a campaign organizer, Hojatolislam Akbar Hamidi, 48, a distinguished cleric who's known Moussavi for more than twenty years. "I listened to Obama's speech, and it made me very happy," he told me. "But we're afraid that some Iranian authorities do not understand the positive message of Obama." In interviews at polling places on election day, dozens of voters praised Obama's opening to Iran. At a Tehran mosque where hundreds of people were lined up to vote, several dozen crowded around as I asked an older woman why she supported Moussavi. When I suggested, "Perhaps Moussavi and Obama might meet someday soon?" the crowd, translating for one another, erupted in cheers, laughter and thumbs-up signs.

More prosaically, many plugged-in Iranians told me that nearly the entirety of Iran's business class is fed up with Ahmadinejad's bellicose rhetoric, and they want to put an end to sanctions. Saeed Laylaz, an economist and former official at the Ministry of Industry, said that as a result of sanctions critical sectors of the economy--including computers and information technology, oil and natural gas, and civil aviation--are suffering badly. "Ahmadinejad's is the first right-wing government since the revolution, and it has been a catastrophe," he said. "You cannot run the government with populism. You need experts. You need technocrats. You need planners." (Laylaz was arrested days after the election; he's still in detention.) To get a sense of what the business community thinks, during election week I attended a forum packed with executives at the offices of Etelaat, a liberal newspaper, where eight former ministers of oil, industry and mining slammed the government over its incompetence. Later, at Moussavi's campaign office, one of them, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, who was minister of industry under Khatami, told me that he'd put his business on hold to travel across the country working for Moussavi. "I'm a businessman, and I've been reluctant to get into politics," he told me over several cups of tea. "It's the desire of most of us in the business community to rebuild relations with the United States," he said. "It doesn't mean that we have to give up our independence or our dignity."

Besides reformists, students, women and businessmen, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are losing their core constituency: the clergy. And given that Iran is a state run by the priestly class, that might prove their undoing. I spoke to a dozen or so clerics, from low- to mid-ranking mullahs to a few who'd attained the rank of hojatolislam, just below ayatollah. There are hundreds of thousands of mullahs in Iran, perhaps a hundred or more who have attained the rank of ayatollah, and just two dozen or so who have developed sufficient reputation and following to be called grand ayatollah. And more and more of them, including many grand ayatollahs, have joined the opposition. "After the television debates with Ahmadinejad, a large number of mullahs who'd been undecided went over to Moussavi," one hojatolislam told me. They were offended, he said, by Ahmadinejad's insulting attitude toward Moussavi--particularly his rhetorical assault on his wife, Rahnavard, whom he accused of falsifying her academic credentials--and his accusations against Rafsanjani and Khatami. "A president should be polite," the cleric told me. "Impolite behavior and ugliness cannot be accepted."

1:21 PM ET -- Friday prayers. Some images from today.

Iran's head of the Guardian Council Ahmad Janati delivers his speech at the weekly Friday prayers sermon in Tehran University on June 3, 2009. The powerful Iranian cleric said that some local British embassy staff will be put on trial for allegedly stoking post-election unrest, a move set to plunge already strained ties to a new low.

1:11 PM ET -- New video. Via reader Jenny, this video was uploaded today, but the date of the events is unclear. Given the smaller crowd sizes, it seems very likely to have been filmed at least a few days after the massive demonstration on Saturday.

What's curious is that this video was apparently aired by Iran's state media (notice the PressTV logo). Also, throughout much of the footage, one can hear what sounds to be a photo camera clicking -- perhaps someone capturing images of the people in the streets.

(Warning: some intense images, including a militiaman trying to run over a demonstrator with his motorcycle.)

1:08 PM ET -- Report: U.S. to block Iran sanctions at G8. "The United States is opposed to enacting a new set of financial sanctions against Iran that are due to be discussed in the G8 summit next week, diplomatic officials in New York reported Friday. According to officials, sanctions against Iran are expected to top the G8's agenda. Sources are also predicting a pointed debate between the heads of the industrialized nations over an appropriate response to Iranian authorities' suppression of reformist demonstrations in Iran led by Mir Hossein Mousavi and other Iranian opposition leaders. "

12:49 PM ET -- Iran views: Quiet but not normal. The BBC publishes three first-person accounts from Iranians. One describes being beaten at the hands of Basij paramilitaries and the climate of fear around Internet use. Another offers this observation:

Most of the shouting from the rooftops at night has been coming from the rich and middle class areas of Tehran. There's much less, if any, from the poor areas.

On Monday I was in Niavaran Park, a very expensive area. I heard people shouting 'Allahu Akbar' as you wouldn't believe!

Afterwards I wondered if it's because the rich have satellites and can watch foreign TV, so they are influenced by that. But the poor don't have satellites and just watch the normal government TV.

12:47 PM ET -- Dalton on Iran. The tireless Steve Clemons posts an interview he conducted with Sir Richard Dalton, the UK ambassador to Iran from 2002-06.

Clemons writes, "Despite Dalton's clear concerns about the unprecedented eruption we have seen recently in Iran, he believes that engagement with Iran's regime should be a top priority."

12:42 PM ET -- New UN watchdog: no hard evidence Iran seeking nukes. Some provocative comments from the new IAEA chief: "The incoming head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Friday he did not see any hard evidence that Iran was trying to gain the ability to develop nuclear weapons. 'I don't see any evidence in IAEA official documents about this,' Yukiya Amano told Reuters in his first direct comment on Iran's nuclear program since his election, when asked whether he believed Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability."

12:11 PM ET -- EU summons all Iranian ambassadors in coordinated protest. Tensions are definitely rising.

The EU decided today to summon all Iranian ambassadors in capitals across Europe in a co-ordinated protest over the detention of UK embassy staff. The move came after a senior cleric said some of the staff accused of inciting protests following last month's disputed presidential election would be put on trial.

The head of Iran's guardian council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, said the detained staff members had "made confessions" in connection with the unrest.

The surprise move by the council, Iran's top legislative body, will cause relations between London and Tehran to deteriorate further after tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions last week.

10:01 AM ET -- Iran cleric says British embassy staff to stand trial. The New York Times reports:

Brushing aside British and European efforts to seek the release of local British Embassy staff members held in Tehran, the Iranian authorities indicated Friday that they plannedto put some of them on trial -- a move that deepened a diplomatic crisis and could provoke the withdrawal of ambassadors.

In London, the Foreign Office said it was urgently checking reports that the Iranian authorities planned to put two of its local employees on trial. Nine staff members were seized after the unrest sparked by Iran's disputed presidential elections on June 12.

Hours after the Iranian threat, the European Union seemed to hold back from an out-and-out showdown, resolving to summon Iranian ambassadors in all 27 countries to send "a strong message of protest against the detention of British Embassy local staff and to demand their immediate release," a European diplomat said, speaking in return for anonymity.

Other measures -- such as a ban on issuing visas to Iranian travelers and a pullout of European ambassadors -- would be considered depending on how the crisis unfolded, the diplomat said.

9:35 AM ET -- "In possible signal to Iran, Israel sends sub through Suez canal." The Jerusalem Post, which tends towards sensationalism, offers this report:

After a long hiatus, the Israeli Navy has returned to sailing through the Suez Canal, recently sending one of its advanced Dolphin-class submarines through the waterway to participate in naval maneuvers off the Eilat coast in the Red Sea.

IDF sources said the decision to allow navy vessels to sail through the canal was made recently and was a definite "change of policy" within the service. In 2005, then OC Navy Adm. David Ben-Bashat decided to stop sending Israeli ships through the canal due to growing threats in the area.

In the run-up to Iran's election, there was ample reporting that the Netanyahu-led government in Israel saw an Ahmadinejad victory as the optimal scenario -- he was a better bogeyman to use to rally international support. Since the Green uprising, the commentary from Israeli analysts has been far more divided (many now see Mousavi as a far better option), and there have been demonstrations by ordinary Israelis in support of Iran's reformists.

Yet the rhetoric from Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman continues to seemingly be aimed at injecting Israel into the debate in Iran (both Israeli leaders have, for instance, openly endorsed Mousavi). These are displays of support that only serve to strengthen Ahmadinejad's hand domestically.

UPDATE: Here's Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren discussing Iran with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg yesterday at the Aspen Ideas Festival (Iran section starts at 3:00):

9:31 AM ET -- Blogger who claimed Ahmadinejad had Jewish roots reportedly arrested. "The Iranian blogger who claimed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has Jewish roots is being detained by the authorities after he was arrested along with 150 university students earlier this week, according to sources in Teheran. Dr. Mehdi Khazali, who reportedly participated in several recent opposition demonstrations, was reportedly summoned to a special court convened for religious figures, detained and transferred to an unknown location."

3:51 AM ET -- Jordan shuts down Press TV? Sara writes, "According to BBC Persian, Al-Alam has written to the network news offices in Amman ordering the state offices of the English-language Iranian television network of Press TV to be shut down." More Press TV discussion below.

3:43 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad 'facing diplomatic isolation.' The Los Angeles Times' term -- "diplomatic isolation" -- may be too strong for what we've seen thus far. A dozen or so countries have recognized Ahmadinejad'd victory, and even the U.S. provided visas to Iranian officials who visited the UN in New York last week. But as the Times notes today, Ahmadinejad's diplomatic treatment has certainly undergone a significant change since his tainted "victory" in last month's election:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev publicly greeted Ahmadinejad at a recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but did not grant him a private meeting as he had the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Belarus, the Iranian leader was met not by President Alexander Lukashenko, but by the speaker of the upper house of parliament.

A similar pattern has emerged in the Middle East, where Arab regimes have long been wary of Iran's ambitions. Authorities in Jordan withdrew licenses for two Iranian news organizations this week and the sultan of Oman reportedly canceled a trip to Tehran following the unrest after Iran's June 12 election.

Snubs and slights in the diplomatic world are common, sometimes almost imperceptible. But as long as Ahmadinejad remains in power, with the support of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there are concerns about how the messy fallout over his reelection will influence diplomacy regarding Iran's nuclear program, regional stature and relations with the U.S. and Europe.

3:40 AM ET -- "Your breath smells of Allah-o Akbar." A great cartoon via Tehran Bureau, which reports on Iranians' daily battles to keep their satellite dishes.

Basij militiaman to driver: "Your breath smells of Allah o Akbar." The chant of Allah o Akbar, which helped bring down the Shah 30 years ago, is now being chanted every night in protest of the current government.

3:32 AM ET -- Don't negotiate. There has been a notable swing in the pendulum among centrist and progressive Iran analysts -- Trita Parsi (in the call mentioned below), NYT columnist Roger Cohen, and Fareed Zakaria all now advocate a relative freeze in negotiations with Iran. Zakaria explained his position in a new interview with CNN:

CNN: Is this from a position of weakness, because the West has so few options?

Zakaria: Not really, because while it might seem like the West has few options, in reality, Iran has fewer. Its economy is doing badly, the regime is facing its greatest challenge since its founding, and its proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere are all faring worse than it had expected. Let the supreme leader and President Ahmadinejad figure out what they should do first. Time might not be on their side.

3:30 AM ET -- Digg. I try to post these Digg solicitations fairly regularly, and readers have been so supportive. Having Iran news featured on social networks really helps remind people that the uprising continues and still needs their attention. If you'd like to support this post, click here. Thanks.

3:28 AM ET -- Trita Parsi on the Iranian opposition: Nothing is over. Spencer Ackerman reviews a press call that keen Iran analyst Trita Parsi held today:

Parsi further explained, in response to Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress, that the critical constituency would be conservative clerics who feel threatened by Ahmadinejad's consolidation of power. In an irony from the perspective of the American debate about Iran -- which conflates reformism with secularism -- the clerics see Ahmadinejad "as a dangerous element, quite correctly, who tries to undermine the clergy as a whole." That might compel some of them to resist Ahmadinejad, or to place pressure on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to find some compromise with the opposition.

But if a compromise can't be found, then the opposition enters a new phase, having to face a choice between accepting Ahmadinejad and moving to a more radical position. "There are people loyal to the system, who don't want to bring the system down but at the same time believe the system is quite imperfect [and wish to] ensure the system changes through peaceful means," Parsi said. If they fail, "then we face a significantly more radical movement in Iran, with more bloodshed than we've seen."

3:17 AM ET -- Some bad news, and some great news. First the bad: Freegate, an organization formed to help Chinese get around web censors, has cut Iran's access by 75 percent due to the high costs.

The much better news: the excellent Tor Project is still seeing major growth in Iran connections -- but as they explain, the project is always in need of donations.

Meanwhile, there are multiple efforts around the world right now to establish serious funding to help ordinary Iranians break through the government's Internet wall. I'll post details here as soon as they're available.

3:14 AM ET -- Swedish PM speaks on Iran. As readers know, Sweden assumed the presidency of the EU on Wednesday. Video via reader Heather:

3:02 AM ET -- Press TV rep claims network is "impartial." Via reader Heather, the BBC aired a debate on Wednesday between a senior staffer of Iran's state-backed network Press TV and British journalist Martin Bright. At the onset, the BBC noted that Britain's communication department is reviewing Press TV's broadcasting license.

To be honest, the debate is a bit unsatisfying, since neither the BBC host nor Bright seemed to do much research before the segment. But the fact that this propaganda outlet is increasingly coming under scrutiny is certainly good news.

2:45 AM ET -- Charges sought for Mousavi carry 10 year prison sentence. "Iran's embattled opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi, faces a new threat after the Basiji militia accused him of 'offences against the state' and 'disturbing the nation's security', charges which carry a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment."

2:40 AM ET -- Imprisoning an innocent, severely disabled man. Tehran Broadcast publishes an emotional plea for the release of Saeed Hajarian, "a prominent reformist theorist, [who] survived an attempted assassination in March 2000, at the peak of the conflicts between conservatives and reformists in Iran, and has subsequently become severely disabled."

An excerpt from the piece, directed at Hajarian's interrogators:

What did you tell Saeed? How did you ask him to talk? Saeed?

He can't talk. I have seen Saeed. When he wants to talk he has to concentrate all his afflicted and sick body to utter a word. Don't tell him to talk; he can't talk. When he was able to talk, he wasn't talking either. Outside the prison, when he met his friends, he was barely talking. Now what do you expect from him? Him who hardly can speak and even forcing himself is still not able to utter a word.

You have been putting your one hand on his afflicted shoulder and have been pressuring his weak body and have been telling him, "Tell me you were trying to do 'Green Revolution,' Tell me..." Meanwhile, you have been making a fist with the other hand to punch his face. Move away your hand. HE CANNOT TALK!

I had visited Saeed Hajarian when he was at "City Council". With numerous surgeries they had kept him alive and he was still not able to have control over his face and his hands. With great effort, he said," Seyed, I read your piece and I laughed. It's been a while since I've laughed." I was glad I was able to give a smile to his afflicted heart, but I was upset that this smile might have made him suffer more pain in his body. A body which suffered for freedom and was injured for knowing.

2:28 AM ET -- Programming note. I'll be on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning at 8AM ET.

2:25 AM ET -- Doctor who tried to save Neda responds to Iran propaganda. A reader helpfully sent along this link to the blog of Arash Hejazi, the doctor who attempted to save Neda's life, subsequently fled to London, and now is being attacked in state media by Iranian officials. The reader provided a nearly full translation of the blog post:

After my interview on June 25th, 2009, regarding my personal account of the brutal killing of Neda Agha Soltan, I read the news of my arrest warrant by the government of Iran.

As I mentioned in the interview, I was expecting such as action from a government, which is founded on lies and deceit. I was expecting them to deny my statements. This government, instead of bringing justice to the murders of this innocent girl and others and accepting their responsibilities, tries to blame individuals and organizations, which have done nothing wrong.

They have put pressure on my friends and family who have done nothing. They have harassed my father who is 70 years and a university professor.

I did what every human would have done in my situation. I tried to save a victim. When the government tried to cover up the details, I testified what I witnessed.

I have lived my life so that I would have no regret. I was one of the first physicians who went to Bam after the earthquake so that I could be near the victims who had no hope. However this time, this victim was not the victim of a natural disaster.

I am a writer and from my essays and stories, you will realize that I have always been a human rights advocate and I have paid the price.

I have always tired to live honestly and do not betray my principles.

I believe what I did regarding Neda was the right things. I believe that if I have to pay the price, so be it, but I reserve the right to defend my honor.

God is my witness that I told the truth.

This lie questions the entire principles of this government. A government which questions the events of WWII, claims that there is freedom of speech in Iran, claims that there is no censorship, states that there are no political prisoners and that each individual enjoys full rights including regarding their sex, religion and race.

In the past 20 days, the world has come to realize that these are false claims. I know that the world will not believe these new lies and know that this physician has do nothing except following his principles and coming to the help of people who need help and stating the truth.

Neda was not the only victim. Are all the other victims the result of Western conspiracy?

I am only a witness. Why are they pursuing the witness and not the killers? Is there enough bloodshed? Should I have been silent regarding this horrible crime? Is this the message that we want to send to the future generations?

I believe that all the citizens of the world will support me and thousands of other Iranians who have been beaten, murdered and imprisoned, in order to achieve freedom and join the rest of the free people.

I am proud of myself for being a part of this movement. I have done something that every honest human being would have done. This is my crime and this is why they are threatening me.

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Useful Resources

Translations: TehranBroadcast.com | Translate4Iran
Helping Iranians use the web: Tor Project (English & Farsi)IranHelp.org (Farsi)
Demonstrations: Facebook | WhyWeProtest
Activism: Avaaz.org | National Iranian American Council

Iran Uprising Blogging (Thursday July 2)

2009-07-02T03:38:05Z

9:04 PM ET -- Rafsanjani will not lead Friday prayers. The NIAC relays this report from the news site Mowj:

Mowj announced that Hashemi Rafsanjani has "declined" to lead the Friday prayers for a second time. "Temporary Friday prayer Imams" are scheduled to lead the sermons by taking turns. No official reason has been announced on why Rafsanjani has not been present for his last two turns. "The rumors regarding resignation from his position as a temporary Imam have not been confirmed."

The NIAC also notes, "Twitter feeds are reporting that the mothers of the dead demonstrators are organizing a silent demonstration in the 4 major parks of Tehran on Saturday, July 4. This is interesting, as the 4 major parks in Tehran are very large, so they must be expecting a large crowd."

8:44 PM ET -- Iraqi top Shi'ite clerics silent on Iran. The AP's Hamza Hendawi writes a long-overdue story on the silence of top Shi'ite clerics in Iraq on the uprising in Iran. Iran's political-religious leadership, and about two-thirds of its citizens, are Shi'ite Muslims.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani -- who was born in Iran but resides now in Iraq -- became a de facto U.S. ally in Iraq when he repeatedly urged calm during the heights of Sunni-Shi'ite fighting there. He is considered the senior religious leader of Shi'ites worldwide, and Iranians have been waiting with some anticipation for him to weigh in on the violent crackdown, to no avail. Yet many observers say he would be more likely to have conveyed any protests politely and in private correspondence with Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei.

From the AP piece:

There is no place outside Iran that has closer links to Tehran's ruling establishment than Iraq's holy Shiite city of Najaf, where the silence during Iran's post-election crisis says much about the deep complexities of their cross-border bonds.

"Simply put, the whole affair does not concern Najaf," said Sheik Ali al-Najafi, son of and spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Bashir al-Najafi, one of the city's four top Shiite clerics. "We will not interfere in the internal affairs of a dear, next door neighbor."

The four -- who include Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani -- have remained quiet on the upheavals in Iran since the disputed presidential election June 12. The reasons have to do with both religion and politics. [...]

Despite the deep ties between the clerical establishments in Najaf and Iran, there are important differences.

The Najaf strain of Shiite teaching emphasizes that top clerics should be background figures -- though influential -- on most political affairs.

They did not speak out even during the crackdowns on Shiites by Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1990s. Nor have they spoken publicly about U.S. accusations that Iran has been aiding Shiite militias in Iraq as part of indirect pressure on American forces and the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.

Iran's Islamic system, by contrast, bestows all main powers on the non-elected Shiite theocracy.

There had been expectations that the top Najaf clerics could break their traditions and publicly comment on the unrest -- appealing for calm or even coming to the defense of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following the protests over claims that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election was rigged.

But any sign of interference in Iran's affairs by the Najaf clerics, particularly al-Sistani, could prove costly at a time when many Iraqis fear that Iran will try to broaden its influence in their country as the Americans reduce their military presence.

7:56 PM ET -- Ebadi wants UN human rights envoy to Iran. "Iranian Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday to appoint a personal envoy to investigate human rights abuses in Iran. In a letter also signed by the rights groups International Federation for Human Rights and the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Ebadi asked Ban to appoint the envoy to look into abuses in Iran following June's disputed presidential election."

6:55 PM ET -- Has the Green uprising taken the military option off the table? Global Post has an important piece noting something that I've thought from the very beginning: America's new familiarity with ordinary Iranians has made the concept of a preemptive U.S. military strike on Iran untenable.

It's worth remembering how intensively the Bush administration worked to portray the nation of Iraq as one man -- Saddam Hussein -- during the lead up to the 2003 invasion. It was a critical part of whipping up the citizenry to support a full-scale war.

Here's some of the Global Post piece:

[T]he discomfort caused by the the dramatic clashes between Iranian moderates and the regime is of a different nature. As long as the vacant stare of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Hilterian rants of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embodied "Iran," Israel could avoid thinking too seriously about what military types call "collateral damage." Many suspected Iranian nuclear facilities were located in busy suburbs, some beneath busy cities.

Now, however, Iran has donned a very different face -- not just that of Neda, the young protester whose tragic death has been watched by millions on YouTube. The new face Iran has turned to the world is a composite. Yes, the mullah and Ahmadinnerjacket are still in there, but so are hundreds of thousands of people risking their skin to repudiate them. [...]

Now, images of street protests vastly complicate that calculus. Imagine the revulsion if such air strikes, as they regularly do in Afghanistan, led to the unintended deaths of dozens or more of the very Iranians who are being cheered in the streets today?

6:54 PM ET -- Greek reporter working for Washington Times 'to be freed.' The Guardian reports:

A Washington Times reporter detained for more than a week by Iranian authorities is to be released within hours, according to a Greek politician.

Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden, a journalist with joint British and Greek nationality also known as Jason Fowden, was arrested as he was attempting to leave the country last Tuesday, 23 June.

The head of a small rightwing Greek party said today he has received assurances that the Iranian government will soon release Athanasiadis-Fowden.

6:04 PM ET -- For the letter-writers amongst us. Middle East analyst Juan Cole blogs:

The regime is already conducting Stalinist show-trials, as in the case of Maziar Bahari, who recently appeared with me on Fareed Zakaria's GPS Sunday interview show. Please politely protest Mr. Bahari's detention and the coerced 'confession' to Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, email address: iran@un.int . While you are at it, demand the release of Greek journalist Iason Athanasiadis and the others listed by Amnesty International. If you can, it is best to write by land mail to: Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh, (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave.,south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran (Salutation: Your Excellency).

5:53 PM ET -- Waterboarding in Iran? Via the Daily Dish, ABC's Lara Setrakian tweets: "Tehrani source close to those detained says some have been beaten heavily and waterboarded with hot water"

5:50 PM ET -- Apologies for the light posting today, an afternoon full of meetings and administrative work. Getting up several updates now.

2:48 PM ET -- "First they kill, then they count." Radio Free Europe's Golnaz Esfandiari, who I had the great pleasure of meeting the other day, has a new interview up with a student leader in Iran:

Student Leader: In Iran we always use this joke to describe this situation: they say that a group sees a fox that is running away, they ask him, "Why are you running away?" The fox says, "The ruler has ordered that all foxes that have three testicles be killed." They note, "But you have two testicles," and the fox responds, "But first they kill and then they count."

This is exactly the situation activists in Iran are facing. Any crisis is an excuse to suppress them; their crimes have been decided beforehand.

2:28 PM ET -- The latest on SMS service on Iran. Yesterday, we noted accounts from Iranians saying that SMS service had mostly returned after being shut off the day before the presidential election. BBC follows up with some additional details:

The conservative Hamshahri newspaper recently supported the cutting off of SMS across Iran, saying the measure had created tranquility.

However, parliamentary deputy Mostafa Kavakabian told the Farda News website that the blocking of SMS services had caused great damage to Iran's economy. He asked the Iranian parliament to investigate.

On Wednesday, Mr Mousavi published a statement on the internet in which he demanded an end to what he called the government's illegal interference in phone and SMS networks and the world wide web.

2:16 PM ET -- Obama comments on Iran in AP interview.

President Barack Obama says he is "not reconciled" to the idea of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon within a year.

The president told The Associated Press in an interview that U.S. government planning is running in precisely the opposite direction. He said a nuclear-armed Iran would likely trigger an arms race in the already volatile Mideast and said that would be "a recipe for potential disaster."

Obama also said Thursday that opposing a nuclear weapons capacity for the Persian Gulf nation isn't simply "a U.S. position." He said "the biggest concern is not simply that Iran can threaten us or our allies, like Israel or its neighbors."

The president said that Iran must not be a nuclear power, although he conceded that the challenge ahead is formidable.

2:15 PM ET -- FIFA won't take action against Iran soccer team. AP reports:

FIFA won't punish Iran's national soccer team for the green wristbands some players wore in solidarity with anti-government protesters during a World Cup qualifier last month.

Soccer's governing body last week said it was reviewing reports from the June 17 game against South Korea to decide whether any rules on player dress were breached.

"We received the match reports and there was no reference to the wristbands," meaning there will be "no further action," FIFA said in a statement Thursday.

2:07 PM ET -- Arab reaction to Iran's election: a view from Beirut. Paul Salem, Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, and Ellen Laipson, president and CEO of the Stimson Center, discuss the fallout of Iran's uprising in the Arab world in an episode of BloggingHeads.

2:01 PM ET -- CNN reports on Newsweek reporter being held by Iran. Video from last night's 'Anderson Cooper 360':

11:43 AM ET -- Fight the propaganda. A Facebook page protesting Iran's state media is growing very quickly.

11:28 AM ET -- Freedom Glory Project. Reader Minoo writes, "Yesterday, I was listening to NPR's Soundcheck program and for the first time heard of this Iranian underground rock band HYPERNOVA, and they have a video on YouTube (there are actually more vidoes from them). They were recently in a protest in New York by Columbus Square. This song is amazing and is related to the unrest in Iran. Please, post it. It is called Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name."

It turns out this song is part of a broader project by Iranian artists called the Freedom Glory Project. Check out their website here. The video is really well done and worth watching:

11:18 AM ET -- A request. The video below is one of the most touching pieces of footage to come out of Iran's recent uprising. An Iranian woman filmed the haunting chants of "Allah-o Akbar!" at night while sharing her own thoughts about her country in heart-breaking poetic form.

When this video surfaced two weeks ago, an Iranian-American reader translated the woman's words into English, and another reader, Chas Danner, placed English captions over the video.

In recent days, Chas has received several additional videos from the same Iranian woman. He would like to translate them and have them captioned like the video below. If you have a few moments to help with this, please email him here, and he'll send along a transcript for you to transcribe. As always, many thanks.

11:14 AM ET -- Sam Sedaei: "The Iranian Revolution Didn't Die With Michael Jackson."

11:11 AM ET -- Iran hardliners urge legal action against Mousavi. "Iranian hardliners pressed on Thursday for legal action against moderate leaders accused of inciting post-election turmoil that has dimmed Western hopes of engaging Tehran on its disputed nuclear program. 'Those who hold illegal rallies and gatherings should be legally pursued,' parliament member Mohammad Taghi Rahbar was quoted as saying by the hardline Javan newspaper."

11:03 AM ET -- Windows on Iran. I wanted to pass on word of this excellent Iran blog "Windows on Iran" run by Fatemeh Keshavarz, Chair of the Dept. of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis.

One recent entry:

I have already told you about all the beautiful songs written in honor of the Green Movement toward a full-fledged democracy in Iran. I would like to open this window with one of my favorites - because it is not about the cruelties that have happened but about hope. It is called "zemestun sar umad" which means "The winter has ended." It is a new arrangement of an old and popular song. The images you see on the clip are from Mr. Mousavi's campaign, his visits to the war front during the eight-year Iran/Iraq war, and some earlier images from the 1979 revolution. One of the goals of the clip is to demonstrate Mr. Mousavi's deep roots in the Iranian social and political tradition. Enjoy!

10:49 AM ET -- Russia opposes Iran sanctions. A reader sends along an English translation of this article in Persian:

The Russian MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) spokesman, Andrei Nesterenko, in a meeting with reporters today Thursday claimed that imposing sanctions on Iran as a result of recent presidential election issues is pointless.

According to RIA Novosti, Nesterenko added: "We see the idea of posing sanctions on Iran because of its internal problems as illegal and pointless, and it can create further internal challenges and difficulties in compliance."

According to Nesterenko, Russia sees Iran's presidential elections issues as an internal problem and adds: "We are certain that the differences of opinion that have come about as a result of the elections must be resolved according to the law and the constitution of the Islamic Republic."

10:46 AM ET -- Congresswoman compares Iranians to New York Dems. Can we stop with these ridiculous comparisons?

"People around the world watched and were inspired as people in Iran risked their lives to vote," [Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)] said. "New Yorkers deserve the same. They deserve the right to vote, the right to make their own decision."

10:06 AM ET -- Roger Cohen's latest. The New York Times columnist whose Iran stories have consistently been must-reads today examines the complicated politics of U.S. engagement in Iran:

Sentiment has shifted radically in Iran as multiple security forces deploy in defense of a lie. For Ayatollah Ali Khamouenei, the supreme leader, the question of how to win back support will in time arise. Enter America, the target of Great-Satanism but dear to most Iranians.

"Relations with the United States are the big taboo, and whoever breaks the taboo will be a hero," Mahmoudi said. "The real fight is over whether the right or the left should rebuild ties."

Referring to the opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, and the former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, the cleric explained: "We would never allow Moussavi or Khatami to restore relations, because they would then have heroic status."

10:01 AM ET -- Iran police fabricated Interpol probe into Neda's death. Surprise, surprise.

The International Police force, or Interpol, has denied a claim by Iran's police chief that it is seeking a doctor who witnessed the shooting death of 26-year-old "Neda."

Head of police Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said, "Arash Hejazi is wanted by Interpol and Iran's Intelligence Ministry" in the murder of Neda, who's shooting fueled what were daily opposition rallies in the capital city of Tehran, according to a Wednesday report by Iran's Press TV, a state-run, English language network.

Speaking by phone to CBSNews.com Thursday morning from her office in Lyon, France, a spokesperson for Interpol flatly denied any involvement whatsoever in an investigation into Sultan's death.

8:23 AM ET -- Washington Post runs op-ed backing Iran military strike. Tuesday's Post includes an op-ed by hard-right hawk John Bolton titled, "Time for an Israeli strike?"

In short, the stolen election and its tumultuous aftermath have dramatically highlighted the strategic and tactical flaws in Obama's game plan. With regime change off the table for the coming critical period in Iran's nuclear program, Israel's decision on using force is both easier and more urgent. Since there is no likelihood that diplomacy will start or finish in time, or even progress far enough to make any real difference, there is no point waiting for negotiations to play out. In fact, given the near certainty of Obama changing his definition of "success," negotiations represent an even more dangerous trap for Israel.

Earlier this week, the Post's own editorial was headlined, "Shouldn't 'realism' mandate regime change?"

7:47 AM ET -- Iran violence condemned in Parliament. Reader Jeff passes along this video of Iran parliament member Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian speaking passionately against government actions. The description posted with the video notes:

Imam Ali is the son in law of Prophet Mohammad and is considered the role model of Iranian citizens. His birthday is celebrated as father's day in Iran. Dr. Pezeshkian in his speech uses Imam Ali's letter to Malek Ashtar that specifically tells him what he should not do just because he is in position of power -- exactly what the government of Iran has been doing these past few days.

You can turn on English captions in the video below by clicking the button on the bottom-right and making sure the (CC) option is red:

7:43 AM ET -- Merkel likens Iran to repressive East Germany. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday likened events in Iran to the oppression at the hands of the Stasi secret police in communist East Germany, where she grew up. 'I know from the time of the GDR (East Germany) how important it was that people around the world made sure that the people stuck in (Stasi prisons) Bautzen and Hohenschoenhausen ... were not forgotten,' Merkel told parliament. 'Iran must know, particularly in the age of modern communications, that we will do everything in our power to ensure that these people (arrested in Iran during the recent turmoil) are not forgotten about,' she said."

7:35 AM ET -- Iran book publisher recalls weeklong ordeal in prison. The Los Angeles Times publishes more awful accounts from Iran's notorious Evin prison:

Older than most of the prisoners, M was designated the cellblock leader, in charge of scheduling four-hour sleeping shifts for the inmates, who had to stand during the rest of the time, share a single toilet or make quick calls to their family on a single phone.

At mealtime, they ate watery bean or noodle soup. To kill time, they debated politics and the nation's future.

Prisoners were frequently singled out and pulled away for interrogation. They came back hours later with bruises or with blood in their urine, he said. Some would be pulled out at 8 a.m. and returned 14 hours later, limping and exhausted.

The full story is here.

7:06 AM ET -- Dates to watch for potential demonstrations. A reader notes this sentence from an op-ed in the Guardian: "Dates to watch include next week's 9 July anniversary of the 1999 student protests and the end of the 40-day mourning period for a young woman the world now knows simply as Neda."

For anyone of Iranian descent, this will not be news. For the rest of us, next week marks the 10-year anniversary of a major set of student demonstrations sparked by the closing of a reformist newspaper. Those rallies were also violently suppressed -- at least one person was killed and hundreds of others imprisoned, according to human rights groups.

Of course, unlike the government-permitted gathering that formed at Ghoba mosque this past Sunday, Iran's leaders will not sanction any events to commemorate this event. And given that Mousavi's movement is trying to emphasize its diverse roots, there may be some political risks in an event focusing exclusively on student activism. But there do seem to be plans for some kind of demonstration on Thursday -- another reader passed along a planned march route that's being distributed by Iranians online.

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Iran Uprising Blogging (Wednesday July 1)

2009-07-01T12:02:46Z

Thursday's updates are here.

10:57 PM ET -- EU considers withdrawing envoys from Tehran. European officials are discussing whether to withdraw the ambassadors of all 27 members nations as a reaction to Iran's arrest of nine employees of the British Embassy in Tehran last weekend.

The Iranian reaction to the possible withdrawal was typically "bellicose," reports the New York Times:

The official, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the armed forces chief of staff, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying that because of the European Union's "interference" in the postelection unrest, the bloc had "totally lost the competence and qualifications needed for holding any kind of talks with Iran."

He added, "We believe that they don't have the right to speak of negotiations before apologizing for their obvious mistakes and showing their regret in practice," Fars said.

8:19 PM ET -- Khatami calls election outcome a "coup" against democracy. The former Iranian president's strong statement today is his latest condemning the disputed election. Voice of America reports:

Former Iranian president and leading reformist Mohammad Khatami says the outcome of Iran's disputed presidential election is a "coup" against democracy.
The New York Times reports that the Iranian reaction to the possible withdrawal was typically beillicose":

The official, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the armed forces chief of staff, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying that because of the European Union's "interference" in the postelection unrest, the bloc had "totally lost the competence and qualifications needed for holding any kind of talks with Iran."

He added, "We believe that they don't have the right to speak of negotiations before apologizing for their obvious mistakes and showing their regret in practice," Fars said.

Khatami also accused Iran's government of suppressing the rights of people to protest the election results...

...Defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi also criticized the election outcome Wednesday, calling the government led by Mr. Ahmadinejad "illegitimate."

6:15 PM ET -- SMS service reportedly reactivated. An Iranian on Twitter reports that text messaging has returned to Iran. "SMS Service Is Reactivited In Iran, After About 3 Weeks," he writes. The Persian-language social network Balatarin has several similar reports.

6:03 PM ET -- Newsweek again calls on Iran to release reporter.

Maziar Bahari has been detained in Iran since June 21 without access to a lawyer. An Iranian state news agency reports that Bahari has said he participated in a Western media effort to promote irresponsible reporting in Iran. NEWSWEEK strongly disputes that charge, and defends Bahari's work. Maziar Bahari is a veteran journalist whose long career, both in print and in documentary filmmaking, has been accurate, even-handed, and widely respected. NEWSWEEK again calls for his immediate release.

5:21 PM ET -- Iran to be 'front and center' during Obama's Russia trip. "Responding to Iran's political crackdown and nuclear program will be 'at front and center' of President Barack Obama's visit to Russia and the G8 summit in Italy next week, a US official said. ... [Senior Obama aide Denis] McDonough said that Obama was "quite gratified" at the role played by Russia in forging the G8 foreign ministers' statement. Moscow had previously commented that the demonstrations were an internal affair. On Friday, the G8 expressed full respect for Iran's sovereignty but deplored post-election violence there and urged Iran to respect fundamental human rights."

5:08 PM ET -- Mousavi to release documents 'proving election fraud.' Iran's state-backed PressTV reports on the next stages of Mousavi's work to remain a viable opposition leader, including a new organization focused on citizens' rights. This is a crucial step for the Green movement to remain organized and active despite Iran's crackdown on demonstrations.

As the Iranian opposition continues to express skepticism about the election result, defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says he will present documents that prove electoral fraud.

Mousavi, who has rejected the result of Iran's presidential election as fraudulent, said on Wednesday that a number of Iranian scholars are set to form a committee to preserve the vote of the people.

The committee aims to "make public documents proving fraud and irregularities in the election," Mousavi said in his latest statement issued on Wednesday.

The opposition leader added that the committee would pursue its objections to the vote result through the judiciary.

"I will join this committee as well," Mousavi confirmed.

The AFP has a related report, focusing on the new organization that Mousavi will form:

Iranian presidential election runner up Mir Hossein Mousavi on Wednesday renewed a demand for a complete re-run of the vote and pledged to help set up a new group to defend citizen's rights.

Another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, saw his reformist newspaper Etemad Melli shut down after he denounced the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as invalid and the new government as not legitimate. [...]

Mousavi said a group of politicians including himself have decided to create "a legal political body to defend citizen's rights and votes that were crushed in the election, to publish documents about the frauds and irregularities and to start legal action."

5:07 PM ET -- Britain turns up the heat on Iran. "Gordon Brown today expressed 'deep disappointment' at the behaviour of the regime in Tehran following the expulsion of British diplomats and the detention of Embassy staff. The Prime Minister said Tehran's actions were 'unjustified' and 'unacceptable' and he condemned the suppression of protests following the disputed election. Mr Brown told MPs the regime was attempting to blame Britain for the 'legitimate Iranian voices' calling for greater openness and democracy."

4:50 PM ET -- Solidarity. A fun video of Dutch youth spreading signs and art about Iran.

The caption posted with the video is, "Support the Iranian people in their desire for freedom and democracy! You can spread the voice of the Iranian people too. Download the poster at SupportDemocracyInIran.com and spread their slogan: WHERE IS MY VOTE?"

4:44 PM ET -- Iran activist released from Evin prison. On the website of his organization 'Stop Child Executions,' Mohammad Mostafaei posts a message titled, "Free after 7 days."

This afternoon after paying 1 billion Rials (about $100,000 USD) , being accused of conspiracy against the security of the government and propaganda against the regime, I was released from section 209 of the Evin prison (in Tehran)

I greatly am thankful to all of those who had a role in gaining my freedom.

My imprisonment made me more determined than ever to solidly stand for human rights

Remain strong and standing

Mohammad Mostafaei

4:30 PM ET -- Arrested, beaten and raped: an Iran protester's tale. The UK Guardian runs a disturbing piece:

Afshin, a shopkeeper from south-west Iran, alleges that one of his friends was beaten and repeatedly raped after being arrested at an opposition rally after last month's disputed election. He gave this account to Esfandiar Poorgiv, a journalist and academic. It is published here as part of the Guardian's project to trace those killed and detained during the unrest. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the account.

1:54 PM ET -- L.A. Times sees shift in tactics by reformists.

... Now that it appears Ahmadinejad is on his way to being sworn in as president, they are trying to tarnish the government's reputation and credibility.

Observers said the reformist camp appeared to be trying to gather public momentum for a national strike or another day of mass protests in defiance of Khamenei, who the opposition says broke tradition and made himself fair game for political criticism by openly siding with Ahmadinejad.

"The supreme leader has confronted the emerging opposition and has lost his fatherly role for the nation," said one analyst, who spoke on condition he not be identified. "Thanks to the rigging of the election, for the first time in the past 30 years an opposition group from both the grass-roots and the educated and well-off walks of society has emerged and asserted itself."

The letter by the Islamic Participation Front, Iran's main reformist political alliance, blasted Ahmadinejad and his supporters as "the conductors of a coup against the republic with the worst and most violent methods."

1:47 PM ET -- Oil ministry official reportedly arrested. According to Jahan News (sent by a reader), a high-ranking Petroleum Ministry official was arrested in a "rioter cell house" on charges of attempting to instigate a strike in one of the refineries of Iran.

12:34 PM ET -- Mousavis' Facebook pages call for strike.

The Facebook pages of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard called for an Islamic National Strike late Tuesday night.

Mousavi's page updated first, about 7 p.m. local time, stating, "Strike: The manner of a man is better than his goverance. Help to bring this message back to IRAN." Three hours later the status updated to "Dont underestimate the power of National islamic Strike."

And early Wednesday, around 2 a.m. local time, both he and his wife's pages updated to "Islamic Strike, help to spread the Voice out to fight the Bullets." The message was posted twice in a row on both accounts.

12:01 PM ET -- 'My brother was only 18.' A journalist interviews the sister of an 18-year-old Iranian named Ashkan Sohrabi who was reportedly killed by the Basij on Saturday, June 20. One eerie exchange:

Rooz: Were you easily able to retrieve Ashkan's body from the hospital?

Sohrabi: It's better not to talk about that.

11:59 AM ET -- Blood or politics: What next for Iran? Fintan Dunne interviews Prof. Scott Lucas, who has been blogging on Iran here.

11:57 AM ET -- Iran releases 3 more British embassy officials. "Iran has released three more local employees of the British Embassy but is still holding one member for what has been described as playing a significant role in post-election violence."

11:52 AM ET -- Hangings reported in Iran. The Jerusalem Post is running a story today headlined, "6 Mousavi supporters reportedly hanged." State media in Iran have several reports of the hangings today, but officials say the executed prisoners had committed crimes unrelated to the election (some of the men were convicted of killing their wives). The Post says it has no confirmation that the executions were of Mousavi supporters, and until I see more evidence, I'm disinclined to believe their story.

11:50 AM ET -- Some Mousavi newspaper employees released. From the Committee to Protect Journalists:

Ayande News, a self-described independent news Web site, reported that 22 of the 25 jailed employees of Kalameh Sabz, the reformist newspaper owned by defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, were released on Monday. Alireza Hosseini Beheshti, manager of Kalameh Sabz, told the site that three editorial staffers remain behind bars. Over the weekend, authorities also released Life.com photographer Amir Sadeghi, who was arrested about a week earlier.

"We welcome the news of the release of the Kalameh Sabz staffers and Amir Sadeghi," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's program coordinator ‎for the Middle East and North Africa. "The Iranian authorities should now release the rest of Kalame Sabz's employees and the many other journalists who are being held."

11:43 AM ET -- Group urges people to contact Russian, Chinese, EU envoys. The National Iranian American Council today published this action alert:

We at NIAC have been asking ourselves everyday: What more can we do to stop the violence in Iran? We recognize that there just isn't a whole lot that the United States can do in this situation-our history with Iran and the absence of formal diplomatic relations makes it difficult for Americans to get involved in a productive fashion.

But that doesn't mean that other countries can just sit on the sidelines.

Russia, China, and many European countries all have close ties to Iran, either through commercial trade or political relations. They have a responsibility to use their influence with the government of Iran to stop the bloodshed.

We are asking people to send a letter to the Russian, Chinese, and EU delegations in Washington, telling them to leverage their relationships with Iran to ensure an end to the violence against the Iranian people.

Click here to send this letter - and forward it on to your friends, family, and anyone else concerned about the violence.

11:38 AM ET -- Basij want Mousavi arrested. The Guardian reports, "Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi today became the target of the notorious Basij militia as it called for him to be prosecuted for his role in the greatest political unrest in Iran since the Islamic revolution. In a letter to the country's chief prosecutor, the Basij accuse Mousavi of involvement in nine offences against the state, including 'disturbing the nation's security'. That charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence."

10:59 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad cancels Africa visit. "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled his trip to an African Union summit in Libya, officials in Tehran say. Mr Ahmadinejad's office did not give any reason for the decision. His visit would have been one of his first major public appearances abroad since his re-election in Iran's disputed poll last month."

10:34 AM ET -- Mousavi's new statement. Translated by the excellent National Iranian American Council:

Mir Hussein Mousavi issued a statement today in response to Guardian Council certifying the election results. Mousavi said the majority of the people including him do not recognize the legitimacy of the current government. He expressed his fears about a grave danger facing the country because people no longer trust the government. According to Mousavi, it is not too late to regain people's trust and reinstate the rule of the law. Denying the fact that people have lost their trust in the government is not beneficial, he said. He requested an end to the militarization of the society, revising the election laws, honoring the article 27 of the constitution (freedom of assembly), freedom of media, reactivating news websites, and a ban of illegal government intervention in restricting communication and monitoring people's activities among other things.

9:55 AM ET -- Human Rights Watch: Iran holding reformist in need of serious medical attention.

Harsh interrogation conditions and inadequate medical care are threatening the life of the detained prominent Iranian reformist Saeed Hajjarian, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the Iranian authorities to immediately transfer Hajjarian, who has been severely disabled and ill since a 2000 assassination attempt, to a competent medical facility for the specialized care he needs, or to release him into the care of his family.

"It's bad enough that the authorities would detain a man as ill as Saeed Hajjarian in their crackdown in the protests," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "But the conditions, harsh treatment, and intense pressure to make a false confession are putting his life at risk."

Hajjarian, 55, was detained without charge on June 15, 2009, one of scores of prominent reformist politicians, intellectuals, journalists, clerics, student leaders, and others whom the authorities have arrested in a coordinated and continuing effort to stamp out nationwide protests against the disputed results of the June 12 elections in Iran. He requires constant medical care, and his wife, a physician, said after a visit that his condition is seriously deteriorating.

8:29 AM ET -- Iran seeking to prosecute doctor who tried to save Neda.

Fars News Agency in Persian on 1 July 2009 reports that the commander of the Law Enforcement Force said: Arash Hejazi who as the witness of the murder of Neda Aqa-Soltan has created uproar is being prosecuted by the International Police (Interpol).

Speaking to a gathering of reporters, General Esma'il Ahmadi-Moqaddam added: Arash Hejazi is being prosecuted by the Ministry of Intelligence and Interpol forces.

He stressed: The murder of Neda Aqa-Soltan is a scenario which has no links to Tehran's riots.

Arash Hejazi, the doctor who was present at Neda Aqa-Soltan's murder scene, has held certain sensational interviews with foreign media on this murder case after departing the country.

Hejazi fled to London shortly after Neda's murder. He conducted a lengthy interview with the BBC last week, acknowledging he would probably never be able to return to Iran.

Update: More on this topic from Iran's state-backed PressTV:

Iran's Police Chief says the mysterious death of Neda Aqa-Soltan, who became a symbol of post-election street rallies in Iran, was a 'prearranged scenario'. [...]

Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam, commander of the Iranian Police, said Wednesday that the unfortunate incident --which has been hyped and dramatized by Western media outlets--, was in fact a 'premeditated act of murder'.

The Iranian police chief said Arash Hejazi, a doctor who claims he tried to save Neda's life in her final moments, has fanned the flames of the western media hype.

Ahmadi-Moqadam said the Iranian Intelligence Ministry is making every effort to discover the whereabouts of Hejazi. "He has fled the country and is working against the Iranian government abroad."

8:27 AM ET -- Iran orders end to election activity. From state media: "Following the conclusion of a probe into the complaints into the 10th presidential elections in Iran, the Interior Ministry has ordered all election headquarters to end their activities. 'Any activities by the election headquarters in provinces, cities and districts will no longer have a legal basis,' warned the ministry."

8:16 AM ET -- Audio of Mousavi. Reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi spoke with 70 university professors last week (66 of whom were reportedly arrested after the meeting ended). Someone has posted the alleged audio of Mousavi's speech to them here.

8:05 AM ET -- Iran says 20 people killed post-election.

Twenty people were killed and more than 1,000 arrested in the protests that swept Tehran after the disputed re-election of President Ahmadinejad last month, the country's police chief said Wednesday.

"No policeman was killed in the Tehran riots but 20 rioters were killed," police chief Ahmadi Moghaddam was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

"Police arrested 1,032 people in the recent riots. Many have been released and the rest are being prosecuted in Tehran's public and revolutionary courts," he added.

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Iran Uprising Live-Blogging (Tuesday June 30)

2009-06-30T12:56:26Z

Wednesday's updates are here.

6:09 PM ET -- Israel's grand Twitter conspiracy. Via NIAC, a major hard-right newspaper in Iran, Kayhan, "reports" that Israel posted 18,000 Twitter messages urging people to complain about voter fraud two days before Iran's presidential election.

Also today, from Iran's state-backed PressTV:

A senior advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says US President Barack Obama's recent remarks about Iran's election show that he is under pressure from the Zionists.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Tuesday night, Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi said that Obama originally took a soft stance on the results of Iran's presidential election but then was forced by the Zionists and the US neoconservatives to make tough comments about Iran.

Hashemi, who ran Ahmadinejad's most recent presidential election campaign, stated that a president should be strong enough to follow his own principles.

5:34 PM ET -- New photos. SocialDocumentary.net publishes new photos taken in Iran in recent days.

5:16 PM ET -- Host quits Iran's Press TV over 'bias' after election. "It is called Press TV, is funded by the Iranian regime, and opponents say that from its nondescript offices off Hanger Lane in northwest London the 24-hour news station is beaming pro-Tehran propaganda into homes across Britain. Nick Ferrari, a leading British radio presenter, quit his show on the station yesterday in protest at the regime crushing dissent after the Iranian elections, but Press TV continues to employ plenty of other Britons -- including MPs and Cherie Blair's sister."

5:06 PM ET -- "Silicon Valley should step up, help Iranians." An op-ed today in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Silicon Valley minds and money should pool resources as a way to help Iranians get around this information blockade by providing easier-to-use proxies, anonymizers and maybe even unfiltered Internet access through hardware.

Long-range Wi-Fi, 3G, satellite or other wireless communications devices from Iran's neighboring countries or even the Persian Gulf could be used to get faster and better information in and out of Iran. One Arizona company, Space Data, even advertises the capability to use helium-filled balloons to provide Internet and mobile phone access. Much of Iran could theoretically be covered with one or two such balloons.

All of that may sound crazy, but not helping Iranian reformers at their darkest hour would be even crazier.

4:59 PM ET -- Sweden: No decision on EU action yet. "The European Union is taking a wait-and-see attitude to the post-election violence in Iran. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt says the EU 'will have to assess (a reaction) in close consultation with the Americans.' He says it's 'too early' for the EU to impose retaliatory measures. Sweden takes over the EU presidency on Wednesday. Bildt said Tuesday that 'repression is the order of the day in Iran.' But he announced no specific steps in the wake of Iran's crackdown on protesters and its detention of nine local British Embassy employees."

4:55 PM ET -- After the crackdown. Time magazine: "Iran's Opposition Down But Hardly Out."

3:55 PM ET -- EU states set to recall Iran ambassadors.

Most of the European Union's 27 member states will recall their ambassadors from Tehran as early as this weekend if the Iranian authorities refuse to free four local employees of the British embassy who were arrested last Saturday.

Amid continuing anger across Europe over the arrests of the employees - linked by Tehran to the opposition protests over the disputed outcome of the June 12 presidential election - senior EU diplomats said a co-ordinated diplomatic protest would take place "within days".

"Member states are now very focused on the idea of conducting a co-ordinated withdrawal of ambassadors this weekend if there has been no movement on the side of the Iranians," said one EU diplomat. "We need to see these [four] set free by Friday at the latest."

Also, via the NIAC, here's a list of countries that Ahmadinejad's website claims have recognized his re-election:

-India -Tunisia -Malaysia -Lebanon -North Korea -Kuwait -Nicaragua -Comoros -Cambodia -Senegal -Cuba -Belarus -Sudan -Syria -Libya -Algeria -Turkmenistan -Iraq -Kazakhstan -Indonesia -Bahrain -Yemen -Sri Lanka -Ecuador -Russia -Azerbaijan -Qatar -Tajikistan -Armenia -Oman -Turkey -Afghanistan -Pakistan -China -Venezuela

3:49 PM ET -- Iran state media cover Khatami's call for impartial election probe. PressTV's Englsh write-up is here.

3:39 PM ET -- Digg. You can support this post on Digg here.

3:37 PM ET -- Suspicious ballot photos posted by Iran state media? A reader writes, "I believe this is well worth reporting: many interesting photos are being put on the web as I write, a good number of them published by IRNA itself (see here). These are images from the recent Guardians Council TV broadcast session where they 'recounted' some ballot boxes and found out that indeed Ahmadinejad's votes were higher than previously counted. These pictures show two things very clearly: 1) that a whole lot of the ballots that are being recounted are fresh, crisp, unfolded sheets - which makes no sense, given that people typically had to fold these sheets before they can slip them into the ballot boxes, and 2) that the handwriting on so many of the sheets which are votes for 'Ahmadinejad' are the same handwriting (and very clearly so)."

3:31 PM ET -- "Allah-o Akbar!" It's 11PM in Iran right now. An Iranian-American friend writes, "I'm on the skype with Iran and could hear the Alah-o akbar in the background about 20 min ago."

Here's new video from last night's chants, via reader Jenny:

3:21 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad's post-"victory" remarks. "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed on Tuesday his re-election as a victory for the Iranian people and a defeat for the Islamic Republic's enemies. 'This election was actually a referendum. The Iranian nation were the victors and the enemies, despite their ... plots of a soft toppling of the system, failed and couldn't reach their aims,' the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying."

Scott Lucas observes:

The significance is not in Ahmadinejad's words, but in their low-key presentation. Both in a national broadcast the night after the election and in a press conference the day after that, the President was loudly celebrating his win, even taunting the opposition as "dust". Now, the day after the Guardian Council has re-affirmed his victory, his public appearance is limited to a brief statement repeating the "foreign threat" theme.

Interpretation? After his over-enthusiasm in the first 48 hours beyond the vote, Ahmadinejad has been reined in by other leaders. The President's "victory" is looking decidedly Pyrrhic in the wider context of the Iranian system.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad today dropped in unexpectedly at a summit of African leaders, the invited guest of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. "Diplomats expressed surprise at Ahmadinejad's visit, indicating Kadhafi had extended the invitation without consulting the bloc's 53 members," AFP reported. "'It's a little strange to invite him, unless you consider who made the invitation,' one west African diplomat said. 'We will do what we can to calm things down.'"

3:05 PM ET -- 'Obama urged to punish US firms for aiding internet censorship.'

Internet activists are urging Barack Obama to pass legislation that would make it illegal for technology companies to collaborate with authoritarian countries that censor the internet.

Leading companies earn hundreds of millions of pounds every year through their relationship with governments in repressive countries. Campaigners are agitating for the US president to put his weight behind the Global Online Freedom Act (Gofa), a law that would see US companies fined if they profit from involvement in online censorship.

The issue has taken on added resonance after recent events in Iran, where questions about western complicity have been raised after a post-election crackdown by the government that has included throttling internet access and blocking websites to prevent information from spreading.

2:38 PM ET -- "A view apart." Chas Danner has created two photo galleries -- here and here -- showing the Iran that most of us haven't seen in the midst of all the rallies and government violence.

For a few days I have been looking for images of Tehran that showed it in a more ordinary light, images that could behave as a control group against the ones we have been seeing. I have compiled them in two parts comprising about 60 total images. Some are of places where we have seen demonstrations, but many are just slices of life or images I somehow reacted to. Iran seems like a very modern place with a fascinating culture that somehow straddles two worlds - I have tried to capture that essence with these selections. BTW 12 million people live in Tehran, which is the combined population of New York and Los Angeles.

It's a great collection of photos -- you can start here.

1:27 PM ET -- Mousavi's political future. Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a conservative cleric and member of Iran's Guardian Council, claims that the Council will not approve Mousavi as a candidate for any future presidential race.

1:15 PM ET -- German companies 'fleeing Iran.'

The recent unrest in Iran following the disputed presidential election results have shaken German companies' confidence as to continuing their activity in the Iranian market, says Felix Neugart, a German expert in the business field, who is responsible for the Middle East region in the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce.

Neugart told a Kuwaiti news agency that "the riots have caused confusion among German companies as to the future of the Iranian market."

Neugart noted that according to information he had, a significant number of German companies operating in the Iranian market have decided at this stage to freeze all their plans in the Islamic republic until the picture became clear.

1:11 PM ET -- Solidarity. CalTech student Evans Boney writes, "I wanted to mention our solidarity e-vigils, recently covered here by the American Islamic Congress. We're trying to get the word out to as many as students as possible to continue to recognize the plight of students (and professors) in Iran, who are being condemned as terrorists working for foreign countries just for expressing their opinions peaceably. Our student group for Friends of Iranian Culture inspired our vigils as a way to hearten students abroad who may have had their spirits broken from days in jail or too many missing friends. Our Facebook group is here, and we'd really appreciate your help spreading the word."

1:06 PM ET -- Rezai's spokesman claims ballots had similar handwriting. Mohsen Rezai, the most conservative of the three 'defeated' presidential candidates in Iran's election, agreed to drop his official election complaints several days ago. But Rezai's unofficial spokesman Omidvar Rasai charges in an interview here that "between 70 to 80 percent of the votes in some constituencies was written with the same pen and with the handwriting of a single individual."

12:43 PM ET -- Beating up motorcycles. More video emerges of the brave government security officials who roam around attacking inanimate objects:

12:40 PM ET -- Revolutionary Guard "to counter organized web crimes." "Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had set up a new unit to counter organized crimes on websites, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. The new IRGC unit which has been named 'anti-cyber system' would engaged in campaigns against organized crimes, espionage, economic and social corruption, money laundering and cultural inroad through the internet, IRNA cited an announcement the source of which was not specified."

12:18 PM ET -- Senior cleric releases statement defending Mousavi. Sara at the 'Where Is My Vote?' blog reports:

Tehran Iranian Labor News Agency in Persian on June 30, 2009 carried a report quoting a statement issued the same day by Esfahan's former Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Jalaleddin Taheri-Esfahani, in support of the defeated presidential candidate, Mirhoseyn Mousavi.

The agency said the senior cleric had condemned "making instrumental use" of the Islamic founder's remarks. In his statement, he asks: "Is it a case of justice to see that an honorable and modest Seyyed [one who is a descendant of the household of the prophet, Muhammad] who until the last moments of Khomeini's life, had been a dear and close companion of that grand leader, is now considered to be a rioter and an agent of arrogance who must be punished?"

11:39 AM ET -- Newsweek journalist reportedly "confesses" to aiding protests. A reader sends along this report in the state-backed outlet Fars stating that imprisoned Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari has "confessed" to "lying" and helping the demonstrations.

Update: A reader sends along a rough translation of the first few paragraphs:

Recent events are a classic and defeated example of a color revolution, the colleague/cooperator of the American and the British Media said.

The movement believing in a color revolution always announces itself a winner in every election and emphasizes that whatever happens except for the victory of this movement is a sign of fraud, and the Western media supporting the movement try to induce this idea as reality to the people.

According to Fars news political reporter, Maziyar Bahari, the 42 year old Britain's Channel 4 correspondent who also works with BBC and is currently the official representative of the American weekly magazine, Newsweek, in Iran, has sent out one-sided and untrue reports to his respective media during the recent election developments. As he admits, because of neglecting the components of true and fast reportage, he was effected by the atmosphere and avarice.

11:30 AM ET -- 'American people smarter than the neocons.' Adam Blickstein from the National Security Network highlights a new poll by CNN:

A new national poll suggests that that nearly three out of four Americans don't want the U.S. directly intervene in the election crisis in Iran even though most Americans are upset by how the Iranian government has dealt with protests over controversial election results.

Most Americans approve of how President Obama's handled the situation. And 74 percent think the U.S. government should not directly intervene in the post-election crisis, with one out of four feeling that Washington should openly support the demonstrators who are protesting the election results.

10:41 AM ET -- Amnesty Int'l warns of torture-induced confessions.

Amnesty International is gravely concerned that several opposition leaders detained in the wake of the 12 June elections may be facing torture, possibly to force them to make televised "confessions" as a prelude to unfair trials in which they could face the death penalty. [...]

According to the Iranian authorities, eight members of the Basij militia, a volunteer paramilitary force under the control of the Revolutionary Guards which has been used to crack down on protesters, have died in the demonstrations. While the authorities have not revealed any information about these deaths or named any suspect, Amnesty International is worried that if these deaths are ultimately attributed to detained opposition leaders, it would pave the way to them being sentenced to death and would make more likely their eventual execution".

Televised "confessions" have repeatedly been used by the authorities to incriminate political activists in their custody. Many have later retracted these "confessions", stating that they were coerced to make them, sometimes after torture or other ill-treatment.

10:09 AM ET -- Khatami urges impartial panel to address election problems. Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami has laid out his proposals to address Iran's post-election unrest. The article, in Persian, is here.

Khatami said that the election complaints must be investigated by an impartial group of experts to restore the nation's trust. Also, he said that Iranians needed to be able to express themselves freely, requiring a change in the atmosphere created by the military and security forces.

Update: A reader sends along a transcript of the article:

Sayyid Mohammad Khatami in a meeting with the Parliamentary Commission of National Security and Foreign Affairs expressed his concern about the damage to public trust among a noticeable portion of the population, demanded the formation of a neutral committee to resolve the problems that have arisen, and emphasized [the need for] a change in the current security and military situation.

According to "The Third Wave", quoting the public relations office of Sayyid Mohammad Khatami, he said to the elected board of the Parliamentary Commission of National Security and Foreign Affairs, which has been meeting with officials and political and religious notables of the country in recent days for the problems that have arisen, "I am certain that all of you will work hard and with sympathy for the system of government, Islam, and the revolution."

He added, "Let me express a few points. My opinions are very clear and transparent. I consider myself a child and devotee of he revolution. I have always loved the Imam (Khomeini) and have worked hard to the best of my ability. After the revolution, I took action any time I felt I had to be involved. It's the same thing now." The reformist president continued, "For me, the system of government is a holy thing that was the fruit of the pure religious and popular revolution for which we have paid a cost...the reform movement has been present in our society for over a hundred years and which culminated in our revolution. The fruit of the Islamic Republic is the same thing." He continued, "what distinguished our Imam [Khomeini] and our revolution from other movements is that the Islamic Revolution brought forth the Islamic Republic. I believe that one thing that will weaken our system of government is deviation from the principles of the Islamic Republic within the country. Naturally foreign countries too intend to damage this very achievement." [...]

Our former president reminded us that, "The excitement that existed in this election had never existed in a previous election. I too played a role in creating this excitement. When I stepped off the political stage, many friends complained but in this fourth decade of the of the revolution, a great atmosphere has been created, and we either did not hear the call for electoral boycott or noticed that it was quite lifeless."

Khatami considered one of reason for the present unrest is the damage to public trust among a noticeable portion of the society and said, "We have to prevent harming the public's trust so that the system of government is not damaged. The real loss in this situation is much greater than the person of the president. The answer to the logical protest and civil action of the society and large portions who criticize this election is not to create a security atmosphere, enact force, make arrests, and make inappropriate charges against people and respectable personalities in order to derail the problem. The solution to returning public trust has been expressed already. You should struggle to make that solution a reality."

He continued, "In any event, an incident has occurred. Many people are protesting it. The problems must be cured and the people must be convinced that the solution to this problem can be obtained through the formation of an unbiased committee." The former president emphasized, "The present military and security atmosphere must be changed in order to move society towards calm. I believe that not all the roads are blocked yet." Khatami also stated, "we love the Supreme leader and have affection toward him. I wish I could express what took place in the meeting between me and him in the days before my decision to become a candidate."

He also said, "for us the essence of our governmental system and the revolution is what matters most. There should exist an atmosphere in which every person can express their opinion freely. The atmosphere should be one in which the people would come forward more." The reformist president emphasized, "We must redefine principle-ism and reformist. Our [intellectuals] can certainly reach common consensus." Mr. Khatami reminded us, "We can make preparations [?] and provide new definitions of our situation in the world. We can create balance among the forces that exist in society. We can reach more logical solutions and thus take steps towards serving the revolution, Islam, and our system of government."

10:00 AM ET -- Emotions in Tehran. One conversation relayed by the Washington Post's reporters in Iran:

At a small gathering in the house of an Iranian writer, people appeared resigned about the news.

"What difference was the council going to make?" one young woman asked a group of depressed-looking friends. No one offered an answer. Instead, people listed colleagues who have been arrested since the election.

"Why would they bring him in?" one man said of a journalist who was picked up in recent days. "I don't care if I am next," another man said defiantly. "What will they do to me?"

The uncertainty of the future dominated the conversation in the smoke-filled room. Some talked about spending time in the countryside. Others were thinking of leaving Iran altogether.

"There is no future here for independent-thinking, cultured people," the writer said. "Things are going to change very rapidly from now on, for the worse."

9:43 AM ET -- Debating the election on state TV. Will Ward at Iran in the Gulf writes, "Here is an interesting debate show in three parts on the election results from Iran's English-language Press TV featuring Ali Ansari, Kaveh Afrasiabi, and Seyed Mohammad Marandi. Angered by Afrasiabi's insinuations that he is a British agent, Ansari walks off the set in segment 2." Here's that video -- more here.

9:30 AM ET -- How Iraq is reacting to Iran. Newsweek examines:

It's been hard not to laugh at some Iraqi officials' poses of complete indifference to the upheaval in Tehran. They're trying their best to pretend they don't know or care what's happening there, unwilling to commit themselves until they know which side will prevail--but the act isn't very convincing. "Nothing is going on in Iran," says Sheik Jalal al-Deen al-Sagheer, a senior parliamentarian from Iraq's ruling Shiite coalition, the Unified Iraqi Alliance. And he says it with almost perfect seriousness. [...]

No matter what Iraq's leaders may think of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they don't want to antagonize Iran's Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the man who makes the big decisions, and after six years of war and insurgency, Iraq is in no condition to challenge him and his armed forces. "The government has no interest in rocking the boat by supporting one side or the other in Iran," says Joost R. Hiltermann of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. "They still have to live with whatever emerges there." For now, senior Iraqi officials are just waiting quietly to see how things shake out in Tehran. Still, says a Western adviser to the Baghdad government, who declines to be identified commenting on sensitive issues, the Iraqis aren't all that sorry for Ahmadinejad and Khamenei: "Some are secretly gloating because they don't like the way the Iranian regime has behaved in the region."

Full story is here.

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Translations: TehranBroadcast.com | Translate4Iran
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Activism: Avaaz.org

Iran Uprising Live-Blogging (Monday June 29)

2009-06-29T04:55:32Z

Tuesday's updates are here.

7:08 PM ET -- Clinton declines comment on Ahmadinejad reelection.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refrained from comment Monday on the reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but pointed to a "credibility" gap for Iran's leadership.

"I'm not going to speculate on, you know, what happens with their internal regime," the top US diplomat said.

"Obviously, they have a huge credibility gap with their own people as to the election process, and I don't think that's going to disappear by any finding of a limited review of a relatively small number of ballots," Clinton added. [...]

"We're going to take this a day at a time. We're going to watch, and carefully assess what we see happening," she said.

"This is a historic moment for Iran and for the Iranian people, and I don't want to, you know, speculate on how it's going to turn out," Clinton added.

6:37 PM ET -- Mousavi being blocked from appearing on TV. From the National Iranian American Council's great blog:

Amir Kabir newsletter (Amir Kabir Polytechnic University) reports that several supporters of Ahmadinejad in the parliament are trying to prevent Mousavi from attending a live TV program. According to this newsletter, one MP has reported that several Ahmadinejad supporters are writing letters to the IRIB, the Guardian Council and the Secretary of the National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran to prevent Mousavi's appearance on TV. MPs such as Gholamali Haddad-Adel, Hussein Fadaei, and Ruhollah Hosseinian are trying to collect signatures for this letter.

6:21 PM ET -- "Allah-o Akbar!" Many reports tonight of people reacting to the evening news of Ahmadinejad's "official" victory by heading to their roofs and chanting. It's "like the stars were calling out Allah-o Akbar," one person told me earlier, relaying a comment from Iran.

6:13 PM ET -- From the UK's Guardian: Faces of the dead and detained in Iran.

3:58 PM ET -- Clinton condemns Iran's treatment of British envoys. AFP: "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday decried Iran's 'deplorable' treatment of British embassy staff arrested on accusations they stoked post-election unrest. Clinton said she was carefully monitoring the situation and condemned Iran's 'harassment' of the diplomats. 'We are following the situation with great concern,' Washington's top envoy said. 'We have noted the statements from the (European Union). We find that the harassment of embassy staff is deplorable and we will continue to support the (United Kingdom) in calling for their release,' she said."

3:56 PM ET -- Solidarity. New photos from Iran rallies in the U.S.

3:54 PM ET -- Police out in force in Tehran. ABC's Lara Setrakian reports on Twitter, "Clashes reported in Tehran after people take to the streets protesting the Guardian Council's ruling on #Iranelection." More from the AP:

Iranian police were out in force across the capital Tehran on Monday as the authorities upheld the official results of this month's fiercely-disputed presidential election over opposition protests. [...]

Witnesses said hundreds of policemen and Basij militiamen carrying sticks were deployed in Tehran's main public squares to prevent any recurrence of the opposition protests over the conduct of the election that have broken out since the June 12 poll.

They said security forces were also randomly checking the boots of cars and vehicles, and checking the identification cards of drivers.

2:09 PM ET -- Egypt shuts down Iran solidarity march. "An attempt by Egyptians to march in solidarity with Iranian protesters and to honor Neda-Agha Soltan -- whose death earlier this month made her the icon of Iran's opposition movement -- was halted by security forces in Cairo over the weekend."

1:55 PM ET -- 'US forces attempt to hijack Iranian oil field.' An anonymously sourced story out today by Iran's state media, via reader Jenny.

1:35 PM ET -- Reaction to the Guardian Council's election ruling. Iranians on Twitter say people have begun protesting news that Iran's main election body had affirmed Ahmadinejad's victory. People have "come out on the streets... [they] are in the various city squares," one writes.

1:30 PM ET -- Reporters Without Borders: What is going on in the silence of Iran's notorious Evin prison?

1:26 PM ET -- Military officials push Khatami to intervene. An interesting report in state media, sent by a reader, about how the government is trying to get reformist former president Khatami to help alleviate tensions.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Head of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission told ISNA that the committee's governing board held a meeting with former president Mohammad Khatami on Sunday and discussed the latest situation in the country.

According to Boroujerdi, officials attending the meeting expressed grave concern about the political damages brought about on a domestic and international scale in the course of recent protests in Iran.

"The lawmakers asked Mr. Khatami to help resolve the current issues and he vowed support," the Majlis official said.

1:18 PM ET -- EU envoys may be pulled from Iran. "European Union states are considering recalling their ambassadors from Iran in an attempt to secure the release of the British embassy employees being held in Tehran. EU diplomats said the envoys could be recalled temporarily in solidarity with locally engaged staff from the British mission in Tehran who have been accused of involvement in post-election rioting. The British government insists the accusations are false."

1:10 PM ET -- Guardian Council certifies election results. It's official, according to Iran state media. Here's a very rough translation:

The Guardian Council...in a letter to Interior Ministry announced that the council. after studying the presidential election, has confirmed the accuracy of the results. A full statement by the Guardian Council will be released shortly.

For Persian speakers, here's a PressTV video news report.

Update: Here's a piece in English by state-backed PressTV.

1:02 PM ET -- "Freeze for freeze." Mohamed ElBaradei, the savvy outgoing head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, is pushing a trade-off to advance nuclear negotiations with Iran:

The secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, is trying to break the deadlock by suggesting the "freeze-freeze" formula again. Under this formula, Iran would freeze enrichment in return for a freeze on any further sanctions.

Mr ElBaradei is arguing that Iran now has the expertise to enrich anyway so it would not lose anything by a suspension.

He said on 15 June: "With the new overture coming from Washington, why can't we go for a freeze-for-freeze? Why is there a rush now for Iran to build its enrichment capability in terms of industrial capacity? ...And there is also, if we are going into a negotiation, no reason to have additional sanctions applied."

12:42 PM ET -- Today in Tehran. The latest posts from a reliable Iranian online:

# On Parkway right now people are beeping their horns, and basij has responded by smashing their windscreens and slashing their tires

# People had announced that they will form a human chain from Tajrish sq to Railway Today

# The cellphones are down in Valieasr street and surronding area.

# Police and plain clothes forces are settled across the Valiasr street to disallow the protesters to make a human-chain.

# Daneshju Park is full of Basij and special gaurds and militia forces are being organized in the park for dealing with the possible protest or human chain.

# Students of Science and Technology university put a photo of martyr Kianoosh Asa on the university's academic staff board..

12:40 PM ET -- "So far from me as a normal Iranian girl..." The site NYC For Iran publishes an interview conducted over Skype with a 28-year-old Iranian.

"The situation itself is strange for me," she notes. "I was here every summer. I have never seen this situation. There are military people and police on the streets. You really don't know who they are. They are divided into four groups, with different clothes and ideas about how to behave with people. I really don't know who are with the people and who are against."

Gina has also seen things that no one should ever see.

"Yesterday they were carrying around a half of one of the victims," she said. "They start shooting people again. They don't let families have funerals for their children and people who are dying, because they think they are calling people to come again in the streets. I'm afraid of walking in the street after 4 or 5 p.m. Tehran wasn't like this two years ago - it was like a modern city."

But this is not normal for the Tehran of 2009 either.

"I just can't believe that this is happening in Tehran," she said. "This is normal for Iraq and stuff, so far from me as a normal Iranian girl. Now I'm seeing it in front of my eyes and I can't believe it. Everyone is in shock. It isn't finishing. I don't know how its going to end but its not finishing at all."

11:46 AM ET -- Debate reportedly turns physical in Iran's parliament. The news site Baztab reports that Iranian MP Pezeshkian was physically confronted while urging the regime to show tolerance towards critics.

11:24 AM ET -- Mousavi camp says he didn't give in. We noted reports earlier that Iran's Guardian Council, "a 12-member clerical panel charged with vetting and authenticating the June 12 vote, said on Monday that Mr. Moussavi had offered proposals to 'rebuilt public trust' after more than two weeks of rallies and protests by the opposition that have drawn a broad and violent crackdown from government security forces."

A message just posted on Mousavi's Facebook page seems aimed at squashing any rumors that he is caving to the government:

No results in meeting between Mousavi's representative and the guardian council, he didnt give up to them: 'Mir Hossein Mousavi is not under house arrest, he is not about to leave the country, he is under strong pressure to end this. but he always said he will stand for the people's will to the end ! He is from and with the people ...'

10:50 AM -- Adventures in propaganda: Basiji "impostors." From Iran's state media: "Iranian police officials have reportedly arrested the armed imposters [sic] who posed as security forces during post-election violence in the country. Iran's Basij commander, Hossein Taeb, said Monday that the imposters [sic] had worn police and Basij uniforms to infiltrate the rallies and create havoc."

10:40 AM ET -- Mousavi's choices. I don't think this analysis in the Washington Post offers the full range of options open to Mousavi, but it does highlight the extremely difficult choices Mousavi now has in front of him.

"Everything now depends on Mousavi," said Amir Mohebbian, a political analyst. "If he decreases the tension, politicians can manage this. If he increases pressure, the influence of the military and security forces will grow."

Should he continue to fight, other analysts say, Mousavi and many of his advisers could be jailed, which would mean the end of their political influence within Iran's ruling system. The exclusion of such a large group would end Iran's traditional power-sharing system. Authority would rest in the hands of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, and his supporters, leaving the parliament as the lone outpost of opposition voices.

On the other hand, accepting defeat might allow Mousavi to create a political party that, although unable to challenge the rule of Khamenei, could give him an opposition role during Ahmadinejad's second term. Mousavi's supporters, who are still enraged over post-election violence that they blame on the government, would be extremely disappointed by such a move.

10:20 AM ET -- Persepolis 2.0. Via BoingBoing, here's a fan-art story about Iran's election in the style of the famous graphic novel/movie Persepolis.

10:17 AM ET -- Iran protests at CNN headquarters. Some excellent photos here.

10:04 AM ET -- Raising funds to help Iranians get online. The global online activism group Avaaz.org, which was co-founded by MoveOn.org, is holding a fundraiser:

One small donation of $15 can fund enough bandwidth for Iranians to send hundreds of secure emails. If 5,000 or more of us can donate, we can scale up these services massively -- with more servers, bandwidth and advanced technical support. The next two weeks will be crucial -- donate now to break the blackout.

More information here.

9:53 AM ET -- Iran extends deadline to investigate voter fraud again. Also, the Guardian Council says Mousavi has offered some "positive" proposals:

As officials began a limited recount of Iran's disputed presidential ballot on Monday, authorities in Tehran said they had extended by five days their deadline to investigate opposition claims of electoral fraud. The move could postpone the final certification of the ballot, which Iranian leaders insist was fair.

The Guardian Council, a 12-member clerical panel charged with vetting and authenticating the June 12 vote, said on Monday that Mr. Moussavi had offered proposals to "rebuilt public trust" after more than two weeks of rallies and protests by the opposition that have drawn a broad and violent crackdown from government security forces.

Press TV, the English-language state satellite broadcaster, said the council had found Mr. Moussavi's proposals to be "positive." It did not say what they were. Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the council spokesman, was quoted as saying the panel has "given another opportunity to Moussavi" to substantiate his grievances about the election.

Reuters notes, "In a sign that the process would not put into question Ahmadinejad's victory, IRNA news agency said recounting so far in one Tehran district gave him more votes" than in the original count.

9:30 AM ET -- Iran releases 5 British embassy officials. "Iran has said it has freed five local British embassy staff arrested on accusations of stoking post-election unrest, a move that further threatened tense ties with London and the West. ... Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie accused the British embassy of sending its staff to 'escalate the riots'... British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said London had protested strongly over the arrests, which he described as 'harassment and intimidation' and dismissed as baseless the claims the embassy was behind the unrest."

9:20 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad looking for Neda's real killer. Oh brother. "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...asked a top judge Monday to investigate the killing of Neda Agha Soltan, who became an icon of Iran's ragtag opposition after gruesome video of her bleeding to death on a Tehran street was circulated worldwide. Ahmadinejad's Web site said Soltan was slain by 'unknown agents and in a suspicious' way, convincing him that 'enemies of the nation' were responsible."

9:14 AM ET -- Iran: Soccer players weren't punished. From Iran's state media:

Iran's manager Afshin Qotbi says no player has been punished for sporting green wristbands during a recent World Cup qualifier with South Korea.

A number of foreign media outlets, spearheaded by CNN, claimed that the four footballers -- Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Ka'abi, and Vahid Hashemian -- were banned for life over showing 'a display of political support' for Mousavi.

In an e-mail message sent to The New York Times, the team's manager Afshin Qotbi rejected the media reports as "false and rumors."

"The IFF (Iranian Football Federation) has not taken any official stand on this issue. We only saw the story in the international media," he said on Friday.

8:39 AM ET -- More focus on the Revolutionary Guard. We noted some analysis yesterday pointing to the key role of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the post-election unrest. Crooks & Liars has video of Fareed Zakaria speaking on the topic (posted below). And Bloomberg News looks at the Guard's consolidation of power under Ahmadinejad:

Eight of the 21 posts in the president's cabinet are held by former members, according to Ali Alfoneh, an analyst at Washington's American Enterprise Institute. Among them are Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, whose agency ran the election, and Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.

Another five places are occupied by past Basij commanders. The state broadcasting arm is headed by Ezzatollah Zarghami, a former guard. At least one-third of Iran's parliament members are former guards, according to Nader.

Under Ahmadinejad's predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, 65, only three ministers had belonged to the guards or Basij.

A smart Iranian expat I speak to repeatedly presses the important role that the Guard now plays in the economy, a point that Bloomberg's piece makes as well: "Under Ahmadinejad, the government has favored the guards by offering its companies no-bid contracts, especially in oil and natural-gas extraction, pipeline construction and large-scale infrastructure development."

8:30 AM ET -- Solidarity. Dozens turn out for Iran in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dozens more in Cincinnati.

2:17 AM ET -- Video from inside the mosque rally yesterday. We posted several videos yesterday of the vibrant demonstration outside Tehran's Ghoba mosque -- this was the scene inside:

1:53 AM ET -- Touring Tehran. This fascinating, sometimes eerie compilation of scenes from Tehran, apparently shot yesterday, has an almost cinematic quality.

1:45 AM ET -- Something in between? David Sanger explores the Obama administration's thinking:

In background conversations last week, several [U.S. officials] cautioned that it was not clear what the Iranians had in mind. "The students in Tiananmen wanted real democracy, the Poles wanted regime change, but the Iranians might be looking for something in between," one of Mr. Obama's top advisers said. "But the more the supreme leader cracks down, the more radicalized the opposition may become."

Robert Litwak, the author of "Regime Change," a study of how modern regimes have fallen, said last week: "The truth here is that a soft landing for Iranian society is not a soft landing for the leadership." So far, he observed last week, "the Iranians are not as sufficiently united against the regime as the Poles were in the late '80s." Moreover, the Polish regime was more fragile: Because it was considered a Soviet tool, the opposition could play to nationalist emotions.

Not so in Iran. The clerics may be repressive hardliners, but they are authentically Iranian. And so far, the Revolutionary Guard seems completely on the side of the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

1:34 AM ET -- BBC Persia. A powerful new media voice in Iran is profiled by the New York Times.

1:20 AM ET -- California to seek Iran investment data from insurers. "California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is initiating a review of insurance companies doing business in California to determine their level of Iran-related investments." I'm unfamiliar with this

1:16 AM ET -- Rights group suggests at least 2,000 arrests. From the AP: "The Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights said its information suggests at least 2,000 arrests have been made -- 'not just (people) arrested and later released, but who are locked up in prison,' the group's vice president, Abdol Karim Lahidji, told the AP. He said his information came from members of human rights groups in Iran and other contacts inside the country."

1:10 AM ET -- Poetry from Iran. "One Tweet at a time."

1:07 AM ET -- Solidarity. HuffPost reader James Stevenson sends along these images from a demonstration in Westwood, California on Sunday:

Thousands more rallied in Paris yesterday. A bunch of excellent photos are here, and more video (including of Bernard-Henri Levy's speech) is here.

1:05 AM ET -- Decision day? "Iran's powerful Guardian Council is due to give its verdict on the result of the disputed presidential election, two weeks after the poll was held."

1:03 AM ET -- Wall Street Journal op-ed calls for U.S. to topple Iran's government. In the Journal, conservative writer Gabriel Schoenfeld advocates a CIA-led regime change effort, opining that "In a better world, toppling this vicious regime and altering the tide of history would be a primary objective of U.S. foreign policy." Because that worked so well for Iran when the United States did it the first time.

As for legality, Schoenfeld scoffs. "As a matter of law, the critics are right. Such covert action is indeed illegal. But legality is beside the point."

12:45 AM ET -- "Allah-o Akbar!" Their voices are still being heard from the rooftops... this video was apparently taken on Saturday evening:

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE-BLOGGING ARCHIVES

Useful Resources

Translations: TehranBroadcast.com | Translate4Iran
Helping Iranians use the web: Tor Project (English & Farsi)IranHelp.org (Farsi)
Demonstrations: Facebook | WhyWeProtest
Activism: Avaaz.org