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News from Iran

LIVE BLOGGING IRAN:

COVERAGE Around the Web

Here at Evans Politics, we are just a one-man news service, doing our best to bring you the truth. We do not have the resources to live our life, report the ordinary, important news, politics and other stories, and live-blog the news on Iran. If, by chance, any volunteer would like to assist me in reporting the news, and has the resources to create web page material and upload it to my server, subject to my approval, and wishes to help me, please email me, and hopefully we can come to an arrangement and then we can provide more coverage. The links below are among the best on the web, please use them as a resource.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria:

There's Been a Military Coup in Iran
by the Revolutionary Guard

June 28, 2009

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Here is a new video of BBC coverage on Neda Agha-Soltan,
and Mousavi's and the Iranian people's direct challenge
to the Iranian usurpers of power, from June 27th:

Very good sources, live-blogging Iran:

Live-blogging Iran, by Guardian.co.uk, keep in mind the times are completely different there:, here.

niacINsight.com (a Word Press site), Live blogging Iran, here.

The Atlantic, The Daily Dish, LIVE BLOGGING IRAN, here (looks like a good source).

The Huffington Post, "Iran Updates (Video): Live-Blogging the Uprising,", also below.

Another great source: Twitter "Tehran Bureau": here, also below.

MEMG: Middle East Monitoring Group, News Links on Iran: Blogs, News Agencies, Live Stream, TV/Radio, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, here.

The Middle East News Summary Page for Telegraph.co.uk, with many articles on Iran, here.

MirHossein Mousavi's Latest Statment, here (on IranFacts, the blog of an Iranian woman).

MirHossein Mousavi's Twitter Channel, here. 

MirHossein Mousavi's Photostream on Flickr, (Yahoo's photosharing website) here.

From Mousavi's Facebook page, Video Posted by Mir Hossein Mousavi: the "Last & Best documentary about Mir Hossein Mousavi & the Green Movement," with English subtitles, here.

BreakingNews (Twitter, here) states that: Iran's police chief warns that it will "decisively confront" any further "illegal activities" after a day of clashes killed at least 19.

AlJazeeraEnglish Live world news TV stream online, here.

Statement from the President on Iran, The White House, June 20th, 2009, the White House:

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples' belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

CONVENTIONAL PRESS

Live-blogging from a time-frame
right after the election is below.

See, The Rooftops and Streets of Tehran, Truthout, June 28, 2009, by Matt Renner, also in my news and politics blog.

See, Los Angles Times Coverage of the day's news in Iran, with many articles and a slideshow of 50 photographs.

See, "Biden-Obama Axis Shifts Biden's Way on Iran," The Huffington Post, June 20, 2009, by Steve Clemons.

See, "Violence in Iran as Police Crack Down," The New York Times, June 20, 2009, about 5 p.m.

See, The Lede: (The New York Times News Blog), "Saturday: Updates on Iran's Disputed Election," updated frequently:

ABC’s Lara Setkarian writes on Twitter that a source tells here “unrest today confirmed in Tehran, Esfahan, Rasht, & Shiraz.”

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Moving Video of Violence in Iran 

Video from June 20, 2009 - 4 minutes
* Viewer Discretion Advised *

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Photo Tribute:
Protests and Violence in Iran
* Viewer Discretion Advised *
June 20, 2009 - 7 minutes

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AlJazeeraEnglish:

As the post-election protests rage in Tehran, the Iranian capital, another power struggle is under way in the revered city of Qom. It is the home of Iran's most powerful clerics, the Assembly of Experts, who have the power to remove Khamenei. Here is video on behind-the-scenes activities in Qom:

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Mousavi Fans in Ardabil

From Huffington Post: June 20, 8:28 PM ET -- Not just in Tehran. Via email, reader Farbod writes: "This is from Ardabil in the northwest. Mousavi's home province. I think it is very important that people see demonstrations from all over Iran, not just Tehran." 

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CNN: Iranian Protests Turn Violent & Deadly
June 20, 2009, about 3 p.m.
(This is pretty lame: CNN ought to be able to do better.)

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Violent Clashes in Tehran:
* Down with the Dictator *
June 20, 2009, about 6 p.m.
See IranWantsFreedom's YouTube Channel

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BBC News Protest in Tehran
(June 20, as of 4 p.m. - 2:33)

WHY NO OUTRAGE???

BBC video of clashes,
with gunfire, on the Streets of Tehran

June 20, 2009 -- 6 minutes

Below are some URL's to check out so you can follow this breaking news, LIVE:

Police Brutality -- Shiraz University!
(June 20, video slow to load)

Follow developments on Twitter, from user "Changecommaalex," here.

Here's a short video from about 12:50 pm, June 20, Tehran

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Massive Protests in Tehran, June 20

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Twitter @TehranBureau Updated frequently:

Security Forces attacked Khomeini Hospital
to arrest injured protesters - up to 40 dead

* FBsource: Mousavi’s open letter to the people of Iran. Released tonight at 9:21pm (Tehran time): It states that he stands with the people to protect the original aims of the revolution to reach human rights and democracy. He states that what they got instead was fraud, injustice, torture and lies. He states why he will not stand down and why all the security forces of Iran are brothers and sisters that should support the nation. He says the body charged with investigating the elections is not a neutral body. He calls on authorities to pull the security forces and basij out of the streets and allow the people’s voices to be heard peacefully.

* Call from Iran reports severe skin burns due to the unknown liquid dropped from helicopters.

* Multiple reports: more journalists arrested in iran.

* Basij (Ahmedinehad militia) base burned by protesters at Navab St. (South Tehran)

* Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm (Tehran time); 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

* Reports from Tehran, Azadi St., Sanati Sharif University indicate that more than 10 helicopters landed inside the university (see video of initial violence, below).

* Twitter: (name withheld for safety): reports at least 10 protesters shot By Basij, Bassij opened gunfire on people at Haft Hooz SQ.

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The Huffington Post:
"Iran Updates (Video): Live-Blogging the Uprising," June 20, 2009, by Nico Pitney. Here are some selections:

11:49 PM ET -- Parliament Speaker: Majority of Iranians think election was fraudulent. And printed in state-run media no less!

Speaking live on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Channel 2 on Saturday, the speaker said that "a majority of people are of the opinion that the actual election results are different than what was officially announced."

"The opinion of this majority should be respected and a line should be drawn between them and rioters and miscreants," he was quoted as saying by Khabaronline -- a website affiliated with him.

10:05 PM ET -- More on the Assembly of Experts statement. Earlier today, the Tehran Times posted an article claiming that the powerful clerical group, the Assembly of Experts, had on Saturday "expressed its 'strong support' for the Supreme Leader's statements on the presidential elections on Friday." It would have been a major blow to reformists' efforts to win the support of many senior clerics.

But as it turns out, it's not true. Reader Ali writes in:

And reader Majid provides more details:

9:48 PM ET -- Bill Clinton on Iran.

"And the idea is they just don't think they can keep control, if everybody gets to say what they really believe, and go where they really want, and be who they want to be," Clinton said, adding with a chuckle: "And they're right, right there."

7:13 PM ET -- Mousavi's message of reform. Spencer Ackerman helps us understand the relevance of the statement released today by Mousavi.

6:30 PM ET -- "Top cleric may be playing role in Iran unrest." The AP digs into the role that Rafsanjani may be playing in working to undermine Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Former president and influential cleric Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani has made no public comment since Iran erupted into confrontation between backers of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformists who claim he stole re-election through fraud.

But Iranian TV has shown pictures of Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, speaking to hundreds of opposition supporters. And Rafsanjani, who has made no secret of his distaste for Ahmadinejad, was conspicuously absent from an address by the country's supreme leader calling for national unity and siding with the president.

6:00 PM ET -- Where is Rafsanjani? "According to an online reformist news source Rooyeh, Rafsanjani has been in Qom meeting some members of Council of Experts and a representative of Ayatollah Sistani.

A reasonable purpose of these meetings, according to the source, is that Rafsanjani is looking for a majority to possibly call for Ahmadinejad's resignation.

As one reader points out, Sistani is "one of the most respected Grand Ayatollahs within Shia Islam in the world. He's Iranian (from Mashhad, same city as Khamenei), but spends most time in Najaf/Karbala in Iraq."

5:55 PM ET -- Photos. Just updated the front page slideshow with several new wire photos.

4:28 PM ET -- Roger Cohen's latest. Via reader Maher, it begins with an amazing moment:

The Iranian police commander, in green uniform, walked up Komak Hospital Alley with arms raised and his small unit at his side. "I swear to God," he shouted at the protesters facing him, "I have children, I have a wife, I don't want to beat people. Please go home."

A man at my side threw a rock at him. The commander, unflinching, continued to plead. There were chants of "Join us! Join us!" The unit retreated toward Revolution Street, where vast crowds eddied back and forth confronted by baton-wielding Basij militia and black-clad riot police officers on motorbikes.

Full piece is here.

4:04 PM ET -- Freeway overtaken by battle with the basij. Reported to be from today, near Azadi Square. It's a bit difficult to tell what's happening here but it seems that the basij are the smaller crowd on the right hand side, being confronted by the much larger crowd of demonstrators.

3:42 PM ET -- Embassies helping protect victims. Here is a full list, for those who need it, and here's a helpful map.

Also: "Thousands rally across globe for Iran protesters."

3:31 PM ET -- "It was a war." Another email from a contact in Iran:

2:40 PM ET -- Out in full force. The latest dispatch from a BBC correspondent:

Security forces were everywhere in central Tehran in the late afternoon and early evening.

As I spent a couple of hours driving around in heavy traffic I could see thousands of men, some uniformed members of the military riot squads, some units of revolutionary guard, and everywhere basijis - militiamen who look like street toughs.

The security men were deployed on every street corner, in long lines down the sides of the roads, and in all the main squares.

The basijis wore riot helmets and carried big clubs. It was designed to intimidate, and while I was there, it was working.

2:20 PM ET -- Robert Worth in Iran. The excellent New York Times reporter just published a fantastic week in review piece.

1:05 PM ET -- Photos. Getty is pushing out the first professional wire photos of the scenes today, here.

12:42 PM ET -- The world is watching. The people fight back against the Basiji. Here is another video -- extremely, extremely graphic (viewer discretion) -- shows what is apparently a young woman shot in the street from today.

12:35 PM ET -- "U.S. behind the attacks." A reader sends in this unverified note: "Hi I'm located in Dubai but we have access to Iranian State T.V. here. I just witnessed a program on official state television depicting young Iranians with there faces blurred 'testifying' to visiting the U.S. and being trained and told by the americans to cause unrest and chaos in Iran."

12:26 PM ET -- Mousavi martyrdom. A message on Mousavi's official Facebook page "confirms he is on the streets and has 'washed in readiness to be martyred,'" a Persian speaker emails.

12:10 PM ET -- Reports: Embassies accepting injured Iranians. Several reports on Twitter report that the Australian, British, and Dutch embassies are taking in Iranians injured during today's violence.

12:08 PM ET -- Gridlock. CNN reporting that metro stations have been shut down to block additional people from reaching central Tehran.

12:02 Video

12:00 PM ET -- Mousavi issues letter. Guardian: "Mousavi has sent a letter to the guardian council alleging that there were plans to rig the election months in advance, according to his website. Here's the Farsi version, and there is a very rough Google translation here."

11:53 AM ET -- "Death to Khamenei!" The NIAC translates the video posted at 10:34AM, and notes: "If this is true, and it corresponds to other things we have heard since Khamenei's sermon, we are entering a very different phase."

11:47 AM ET -- More from Twitter: "Crowd rushing to Jihoun St, where people are saying Mousavi is there and talking with protesters"

11:20 AM ET -- More reports of killings. Via Voice of American Iran:

-- "Mahsa from Tehran:I was in the rally today and police forces in Azadi square cruelly killed people and all my body is wounded"

-- "From Iran: I am home since 10 minute and Basij forces and police were killing young people like animals"

11:18 AM ET -- Report: Mousavi giving speech. "Mousavi is giving a speech to the protesters," reports Lily Mazahery, a DC based Iranian-American lawyer.

11:03 AM ET -- Many photos, coming in from Twitter, here.

10:40 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad building set on fire. Reuters, via reader Larry: "Supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi on Saturday set on fire a building in southern Tehran used by backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a witness said. The witness also said police shot into the air to disperse rival supporters in Tehran's south Karegar street."

*****

One of the slicker videos of the protests on YouTube,
apparently an altered CNN production (Iranian Rap),
Nonetheless, this is good :

*****

The little guy, Brandon, is all over YouTube
with his videos of the protests. Here's one
from just before the crackdown, late Friday, June 19:

"All We are Saying, Is Give Peace a Chance"

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LISTEN TO THE LIES of KHAMENEI
(Iran's Supreme Leader Dictator Murderer)
(Speech and rally at Tehran University, 1 day ago)

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