Marin Forum

I will be updated this entry to the best of my ability with the latest aggregated news coming out of Iran. The Lede from the New York Times has been an incredible source of aggregated news and I will draw heavily on that. Twitter, however, has become the best source for information. I am currently monitoring the Twitter feeds (#iranelection). It’s hard to get completely reliable information as rumors are common and the Iranian government is spreading false information. Also the foreign press has been banned from covering the street protests. I will update this entry continuously so just refresh the page to get updates and all times are Pacific.

5:01pm I can’t get a confirmation on the date of this video. It was posted today, but the evidence from today and yesterday was that the security forces have been able to crack down on any gatherings. There were reports of street clashes in parts of Tehran. What is important though is that they are apparently chanting “death to the Islamic Republic.” If so this would represent a further radicalization of the protesters. Up until this video as far as we could tell while the protesters had become anti-Khamenei they wanted to perserve the Islamic State. Now there appears to be elements that want a completely new form of governance. This is probably a fringe group but it represents a quick radicalization. Opposition like this could make moderates fearful of the protesters and rally them to the State. Or it could give Rafsanjani more leverage to push through his reforms in order to save the state. With that caution, watch the video for yourself.

4:15pm This is extremely speculative and was uncovered last week but I didn’t come across a reliable site reporting the story until today:

There were also unconfirmed reports that Mohammad Asgari, who was responsible for the security of the IT network in Iran’s interior ministry, was killed yesterday in a suspicious car accident in Tehran. Asgari had reportedly leaked evidence that the elections were rigged to alter the votes from the provinces. Asgari was said to have leaked information that showed Mousavi had won almost 19m votes, and should therefore be president.

This was reported by the Guardian.

3:30pm Mousavi’s website has confirmed that tomorrow’s rally will be held and it will not be cancelled under any circumstance.

2:11pm This was just posted by the twitter account linked to Mousavi’s campaign. A call for another rally tomorrow, but will this be any different than the attempt on Monday?

Please come to Baharestan Sq. in Tehran tomorrow at 4pm

2:07pm According to a reliable Iranian twitter the state newspaper, Kayhan, has called for the arrest of Mousavi.

11:07am The calls of “Allahu Akbar” continue tonight. Meanwhile the streets are full of roadblocks and militia.. Security forces definitely have exerted a tight control over the city.

11:04am There has been an extension on the amount of time for the Guardian Council to look into voting irregularities. Iran’s top legislative body requested Khamenei for the extension.

10:07am The state media is airing testimonies of arrested protesters saying that they were influenced by foreign sources (read: BBC and VOA). While some people probably have been influenced by foreign sources, these public testimonies seem awfully convienent. Having done research on this subject, it would seem that the Iranian government is probably using various forms of torture or continuous threats to bodily harm and family (although I would argue that this is also a form of torture) in order to ellicit a response that the interrogator wants. If you create such an intense atmosphere of terror most people will crack and tell whatever the interrogator wants to hear.

10:06am There are reports that many of the store fronts are shuttered in Tehran’s Grand Bizaar. It is unclear whether this is related to the strike or fear of unrest.

9:38am This is an interesting piece written by an Iranian posted on Tehran Bureau. You can read the whole text here.

The biggest post revolutionary horror story has always been the one about the Shah’s secret service, SAVAK; fast forward to Tehran today: The so-called ‘nameless soldiers of the hidden Imam’ (intelligence forces) who are exemplary for their ‘compassion and vigilance in uncovering terrorist plots’ have been unleashed to penetrate the ranks of the people, gather information and make arrests.

My question is, if they are so quick at uncovering “enemy plots” and so great at “controlling borders so that enemy agents cannot infiltrate the country and carry out their evil plots,” and if they are so ‘competent in protecting the country’s stability and security’ and if thanks to their efforts there is no problem regarding the possession of illegal firearms in Iran; how does this correspond with the claims that enemy elements have infiltrated the ranks of the people and are carrying out enemy plots, and that enemy elements are using illegal firearms to shoot protesters and frame the Iranian police.

9:36am Right now it is extremely difficult to figure out what exactly is going on in Iran right now. The claims of a general strike were not offical  and it doesn’t appear that any of the sectors of the economy have gone on strike. Word is floating around to protest in the bazaars. Not only would this shut down the bazaars but the protesters would have the cover of people “shoppers” to explain their presence. There is no word that this was actually carried out. There may be another rally tomorrow where Mousavi will attend. This is not confirmed; however, what we do know is that the next three days are supposed to be days of mourning and there have been calls by the opposition for a rally to mourn the fallen. In the meantime, it seems isolated pockets of protesters continue to take to the streets but security forces are keeping a tight lid on events in Tehrn.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS