Iran Election June 09

[Dreadnought]

He does make a valid point though, no women, no children and most of the faces in that picture appear to be men elligible to serve. The mere fact that there are a few thousand in the pic and none other then the right aged men supports the theory that its a staged act with followers at hand.

[BenRoethig]

He does make a valid point though, no women, no children and most of the faces in that picture appear to be men elligible to serve. The mere fact that there are a few thousand in the pic and none other then the right aged men supports the theory that its a staged act with followers at hand.

Would you take your wife and kids if you lived in a place where there's a good chance the government might open fire?

[Dreadnought]

Would you take your wife and kids if you lived in a place where there's a good chance the government might open fire?

Point taken Ben, and ofcoarse I would not but it does seem very peculiar that there is not a mixed age grouping of men for the number of men. They "seem" to be within a general age range of about 3-7 years. And other pictures of his opponent shown mixed ages and sex's with children and elderly. Doesnt that seem funny to you?

[Guest]

I dont know if this was already posted

Violence Erupts in Iran - June 13, 2009 | TPM Photo Galleries

[zraver]

Would you take your wife and kids if you lived in a place where there's a good chance the government might open fire?

That was a pro-Ajad rally fully approved with official blessing. meanwhile on the other side, those protesting the election you see lots of women, elderly and even kids.

[MIKEMUN]

Apparently another huge rally has been taking place. The BBC says this might even be larger than the first. But since the mullahs have banned foreign journalists, they can't confirm it reliably.

One wonders how this is going to end. If the crowds get bigger and bigger, then it will be difficult for the clerics to control this.

[MIKEMUN]

'Mass opposition rally' in Tehran

Iranian opposition supporters are staging a mass rally in northern Tehran, witnesses have told the BBC.

It comes despite presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi urging supporters not to risk clashes with demonstrators backing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Hundreds of thousands turned up on Monday alleging fraud in the poll which returned Mr Ahmadinejad to office.

Tough new restrictions on the foreign media mean the BBC is unable to confirm reports of Tuesday's opposition rally.

The new restrictions have been imposed amid apparent surprise and concern among authorities at the scale of popular defiance over Friday's official election results.

Correspondents say crowds the size of those at Monday's opposition rally have not been seen in Tehran since the 1979 revolution.

An eyewitness told the BBC Tuesday's rally was even bigger than Monday's - though this cannot be independently confirmed.

It is being held in northern Tehran - an opposition stronghold.

Thousands of supporters of President Ahmadinejad staged their own rally in Vali Asr Square in central Tehran - some busses in from the provinces, correspondents say.

The latest opposition rally comes despite a Mousavi spokesman urging supporters not to take part in another demonstration on Tuesday, amid fears of new violence.

Hospital officials say eight people died in violence which erupted at the end of rally - which authorities blamed on "thugs".


BBC NEWS | Middle East | 'Mass opposition rally' in Tehran

[Castellano]

These are comments from people in Iran writing in the "Have Your Say" section of the BBC site:





I just wanted to thank all the honest and kind people who are supprting the Iranian nation in it's fight for freedom and justice.
Thank you all

Ali, Tehran


Today Iranians taste the bitterness of tyranny and dictatorship more than ever.
This election is definitely infected by fraud.
There was unprecedented turn out just because many people hoped to get rid of Ahmadinejad.
The world must know the result is not what Iranians wanted.
Meanwhile this morning the BBC is suddenly blocked!:S I'm accessing this page via a proxy.

Arya Diba, Tehran, Iran


I am iranian,i know what exactly happend.
There was 2 kind of cheating.
1.Mr.ahmadinejad paid or maid people in rural areas to vote for him,there is no doubt.
And because 30% of irans population are living in rural areas he won.
2.in this election people attendence was about 80%,in the previous election it was 35%,why?
Because many people here hate ahmadinjad and they went to vote for mr.mousavi.but it seems like that they have counted mr.mousavis ballots for mr.ahmadinjad.

Hamid, Yazd,iran



Somebody down here commented on how the Pakistanis and other are supporting Ahmadinedjad. Iranians have nothing in common with the Arab fundamentalism. Iranians have different culture, different people. Our women fight in the streets like you see in the movies published in BBC. We will rather die that to live under a government that promoted a fake election. We have nothing to do with you who promote hate in the name of Allah.

Nazeri, Tehran



Please post my comment. The election has been massively rigged by the ruling government. all the people voted for reformists. They wrote Mousavi on the ballots but the authorities read the ballots Ahmadinejad. A velvet coup is going on. Text message service is not working, internet is disconected in some cities, anti-riot police is battering people with batons, and most probably Karoubi and Mousavi are under home arrest. Please reflect what is going on in the streets of Tehran.

Morteza, shiraz


There is a consensus that elections here were rigged and this is would be the first phase of a coup by IRGC. Bloody purges are b underway. please support the iranian people in ayway you can.
We need your help now more than ever.

Ali, Tehran


The greatest cheat in the world history!
All my friends, family, colleague, and everybody that I knew voted for Mossavi, because we wanted to vote foe CHANGE.

Omid, Iran


Whoever claims the voters turnout at the polling stations were to support IRAN's gov, is lying. People wanted a change. They mostly loath Ahmadinejad and turnout was to make sure he does not win to ruin the country for another four years.

And the official announcement has stunned every single Iranian I know.

Samira Kashani, Tehran


Hey world! this is NOT our president. we want you all to know, don't call him President, don't let him come to your country, don't invite him to meetings, here a Kudeta has happened by regime, here mas of fakes has happened in the election, the condition is extremely fragile and people are so angry.
Current situation in Iran on Saturday night: Cell phone network is down. Facebook, Youtube, and news websites are censored (filtered) and police agents are beating people in streets.

Sirwan, Tehran


We have no doubt about the fraud in elections, most educated and mid-social level families have voted for change, Mir Hossain Mousavi was not the goal but he was just a tool for expression of believes and aspirations.
people here wanted change; change in the way of governing country, change in foreign policy, change in economic system and change in political structure of the country.
people here had to protest, because there is no other civilized way of request and aspiration expressing.

Sirwan, Tehran



My name is mehdi from iran
I want the world and international community know that, that was a BIG CHEAT.
We don't elect ahmadinejad, he elected by himself.
If you was here you will see the confused people who just think of crying.
World have to know that Ahmadinejd is not our elected president.
We've elected Mousavi.
That just was a movie to show the world that how Iranian peoples love their leader and regime.
Even in my little city we saw the SWAT to control the crowd

Mahdi, khorasan




I'm so angry about this election,and really I'm not able to explain my sadness about what happened in my country, Pray for us please! Goodbye Freedom & Human Rights ... Hello Jail And Execution !!!!

Mehdi



Enough is enough! we want our country back! Ahmadinejad lost the election. BBC must have the courage to tell the truth!

Amir, Tehran



Dear Friends,

Iranian leaders are totally liers , they do not count people.
ofcourse they cheated.
everyone in iran knows this.
but how can we disappoint withi this ? they are strong , they have all money , power , and what ever that you think.

If you you know something which can help us , please let us know.
Thank you,

Mahdi
MAHDI, TEHRAN



Iran's election was a real fraud.And ahmadinejad is a lier.There has been a cue in iran.W ask all european countries to cut diplomatic relations with this governement and support iranians in this way

arash, tabriz



I ask from all liberal people to show their unity against dictatorship. Dictatorship is epidemic able disease c an even effect your freedom. Don’t think what is going on in Iran won’t affect your life.

Arman, Tehran


This election result is embarrassing Iran in front of the world community.

Muhammed Aghili, Shahrekord,Iran


No way Ahmadinejad won this election by a "landslide".They announced him the "winner"even before the enitre votes were counted.How can you hand count all these millions of votes by hand?Simply impossible.Mousavi is the real President.Khamanei would be wise to call for a recount,or else the entire Islamci Republic is in jeopardy.

Dore, Velenjak,North Tehran,Iran


i am really sorry for myself as iranian
all this election was a big cheating & we were really fool that took part in that election they abused the crowd to show that all people want the same thing as before but it was really opposit.
most of us vote for mosavi who wanted change but......

mani, mashhad



I'm from Iran.
it is Sunday and we cant send SMS from Friday(election day) morning.
after result specified many newspaper banned.
BBC and many other internal and external news agencies filtered from Friday. ( I'm writing these from a proxy site)
...
judge yurself

saeed, tabriz



To all free people,

We don't have any kind of communication devices. we cant text to each other, we can't call each other, internet connections are either disconnected or extremely slow! Don't all of these have any meaning? We just want European countries not to accept Ahmadinejad's election.

United Nations has to come to the game, please don't leave us alone, now it is the time for you to come and help us. We have the courage and motivation to do anything to kick this guy out...

Mahsa, Tehran


My family and I voted to mousavi, and I am sure that most majority of Iranian did the same. You watch TV and see how Ahmadi nejad gunmen hit people. They attack and hit Iranian (however they are Iranian too),let alone if they reach nuclear weapon you guess what they will do to the world. Please help us. Please help us to get rid of them. UN must help us

laleh, tehran



With special regards

I am one of the people of Iran
First I want to thank you because of reflecting the news of Tehran

I want to ask you to reflect the events of these days in all around Iran More powerful than what you did in last days.
This is obvious that there was a BIG fraud in the presidential election in Iran.
In this condition we expect from international media to reflect the suffering of the people of Iran like a mirror.

tehran iran, tehran, Iran


If the Iranian regime is so sure that there was no fraud, why don't they produce the votes that Ahmadinejad got for inspection or accept an audit? Why do they forbid monitors? Instead they are beating up anyone and everyone who asks any related questions. No honest person would feel the need to react in such a manner!

Amir, Tehran


I am a sharif student in Tehran, I voted for Musavi along with nearly all people I know closley. a lot of people say they voted for Musavi and some people says there are some people in the interior ministry who know that Musavi has won the election with more than 19 milion votes.
there has been a condition since saturday here that looks like a real coup, the riot polis is on patrol in large number in the streets of Tehran dispersing any gathering. there has been harsh attacks to Dorms by Basij

Mani Irannejad, Tehran


The Pro Ahmadinejad people on the streets supporting his victory are not from the capital or major towns, they are brought in from more rural parts of the country where he has more support.... As Its an organized process, it dose not requires much notice for the elements of the state to join the gatherings in minimal time This practice happens often in Iran to glamorize Sate events and celebrations! its a motion that is used to maximize the national support in front of int'l & local cameras

Mo, Teharn

[Castellano]

A bit of humor:

[Castellano]

Iranian cartoonist Nikahang Kosar. (The sign says "Recount?")

[Guest]

Basiji getting his ass kicked by a girl

Amateur footage of Iranian protestor fighting back | The Observers

[Guest]

US asks Twitter to stay online because of Iran vote

US asks Twitter to stay online because of Iran vote - Yahoo! Canada News

NEW YORK (AFP) - The Obama administration took the unusual step of asking Twitter to delay a planned maintenance outage because of the social blogging site's use as a communications tool by Iranians following their disputed election, a senior official said Tuesday.

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The request highlighted the administration's Web-savvy ways and the power of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook in organizing protests over the election results in the face of a ban by Iranian authorities on other media.


But it also seemed to run counter to President Barack Obama's public efforts not to appear to be meddling in Iran's internal affairs.


Twitter delayed Monday's scheduled tuneup, which would have taken place during daylight hours in Iran, and rescheduled it for Tuesday. The site went down around 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) for what was expected to be about an hour.


A State Department official in Washington said Twitter had been asked to delay Monday's shutdown because the micro-blogging service was being used as "an important means of communications" in Iran.


The official told reporters on condition of anonymity that Twitter was all the more important because the Iranian government had shut down other websites, cell phones, and newspapers.


"One of the areas where people are able to get out the word is through Twitter," the official said. "They announced they were going to shut down their system for maintenance and we asked them not to."


The US official said he did not know who at the State Department called Twitter but it was not Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.


Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in a blog post that Twitter had delayed plans to temporarily shut down the service for "critical" maintenance but did not mention any State Department intervention.


Another Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, speaking at a two-day conference in New York on Tuesday about the micro-blogging service, did not mention the State Department request but said Twitter was "delaying much overdue scheduled downtime so we would not interrupt what's currently unfolding in Iran."


Dorsey described the usage of Twitter by Iranians as "amazing."


"Just think about what's occurring over there and the accessibility that we all have to see this unfold in real time," he said. "It's amazing. It's huge."


"Suddenly everything that's happening over there feels extremely close," he said. "It feels approachable. And that's really important and that is really the greatest success of what Twitter is."


"If ever there was a time that Twitter mattered it was this past weekend in Iran," added Jeff Pulver, organizer of the 140 Character Conference.


Protestors in Iran on Monday used Twitter for battle cries and to spread word about clashes with police and hardline supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.


Messages posted on the micro-blogging service, some with links to pictures, streamed from Iran despite reported efforts by authorities there to block news of protests over Ahmadinejad's claim of having been fairly re-elected.


Pictures of wounded or dead people that senders claim were Iranian protestors ricocheted about Twitter and wound up posted at online photo-sharing websites such as Flickr as well as on YouTube.


State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that officials at the State Department had been in contact with Twitter throughout the weekend, but did not make clear that it was about the aftermath of the Iranian elections.

When asked if such talks with Twitter could be seen as interference in Iran's affairs, he said Obama and other officials were very clear they want to stay out of Iranian politics.

"We don't want to be seen as interfering," he said.

Obama himself issued the same message Tuesday, saying, "It is not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling -- the US president, meddling in Iranian elections."

Kelly went on to say that the new media provided a good source of information for the US government, which has had no diplomatic relations with Iran for three decades.

"We're of course monitoring the situation through a number of different media, including social media networks like Facebook and Twitter," Kelly said

[zraver]

If twitter had gone down, it might have inflamed things more because the street would have blamed the regime. Or the regime would have blamed the Americans for causing the outage so the regime would be blamed. Keeping the network up simply keeps America out of the situation.

[Merlin]

He gets the respect from the people of many lands for holding on to this stand.

Iran election: Barack Obama refuses to 'meddle' over protests

17 June [Telegraph] Barack Obama, the US President, is refusing to 'meddle' in the disputed Iranian elections, despite mass protests over the result which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. ....

[Oscar]

The regime is doing his utmost to censor all informations available about the protests currently happening in Iran. But according to witnesses inside the pro Ahmadinedjad rally the demonstrations numbered no more than a few thousands...Ahmadinedjad looks completely discredited. Even if we don't know the results of the elections. I think it goes far beyond who really won friday....

Aryajet and Castellano are right I guess Musavi (even if he's part of the nomenklatura) is the troyan horse that confronts the Islamic Repbulic to its lies and its thuggish attempts to repress any dissents. I think lots of Iranians are not cynical about the Islamic Republic and genuinely think they live in some sort of democracy hence their violent reactions.

Hundreds of thousands of people continue to demonstrate daily in the streets I think its time for Sarkozy, Obama and the others to publicly denounce the regime and offer their support to the Iranian youth.

The problem is that they are still disorganized, and the regime keeps the upper hand in this confrontation.