With many of the diaries on the Reclist approaching 800+ comments I'm offering this one up to continue the great tradition of liveblogging here at DKos in an attempt to consolidate and help organize Reclist coverage of the continuing 'Crisis in Iran.'
Recommend this up and follow below the fold for a round up of today's important developments out of the Persian state. You'll also find a resource center with links to other websites covering the story as well as Twitter feeds from Iran that you should be reading. There are also ways details on how to help set up proxy servers (via Huffington Post) to allow Iranian dissidents to get around the government's blocking and filtering of the internet.
And... if it becomes necessary, we can solicit for child blogs. Wanted to get this up as reports begin to pour in from around Iran early this morning.
JUMP...
Significant developments today in Iran.
-)Mousavi supporters marched on Freedom Square in the heart of Tehran. The crowd was estimated by journalists who were harassed and hamstrung by police to measure into the hundreds of thousands.
-)After the march began to break up, suspected members of Basij militia (paramilitary thugs loyal to Ahmadinejad and the Revolutionary Guard) fired into the air and into the crowd from the rooftop of one of their compounds. At least one was killed, others were injured. An AP photographer captured the aftermath in this picture (WARNING GRAPHIC). Independent Television News/Channel 4 (ITV/ITN) captured the moment on film (WARNING GRAPHIC).
-)The Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Khamenei read Mousavi's letter of complaint and demand for investigation to the entire country, promising an investigation into the election fraud. Four important notes about the announcement: He demanded Mousavi supporters obey the law (stop protesting). He demanded Mousavi produce specific evidence (all such evidence is under government control at the Interior ministry). The person who leads the investigating council is an Ahmadinejad backer, and Khamenei himself appointed 6 of the 12 members. The Supreme Leader has already said the current election results were 'divine.'
-)There have been sporadic reports from local reporters on the ground confirming a good deal of what has been twittered, that hardline paramilitary forces sacked many of the universities and university dormitories in and around Tehran, including the University of Tehran. See video of a caller reporting that to CNN International late last night here. (Apologies for the crappy quality I was trying to get it off my TiVo). Images of the violence: here, here,here and here. The last link is to photos of the ransacking of another university in Tehran.
-)Brave students at the University of Tehran continue to demonstrate against the government in the face of violent reprisals against government thugs. BBC video.
-)There has been a general strike called for tomorrow as well as a protest in "black" for 5pm local time. From Twitters in Iran.
-)Mahmoud Ahmad was going to go to a meeting of regional powers in Russia, and then he wasn't going to go, and now he has apparently landed in Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.
-)BREAKING: At this hour, according to Twitter feeds and unverified reports from various British newspapers (some of whom are notorious for sensationalistic reporting) there are indications that a significant crackdown might be underway across parts of Iran. Details are very sketchy and include drive by shootings courtesy of the Basij militia. Again, this is all unconfirmed by the news organizations, but collalating reports from around the country, being independently reported are starting to draw a rather complementary picture that something significant might be underway. Again, unconfirmed, and unverified reports that happen to overlap.
-)BREAKINGBBC and CNN report the Guardian Council has okayed a recount of the vote from Friday. The Guardian Council is made up of 12 members, 6 who were appointed by Khamenei who said the vote results were 'divine,' and 6 legal scholars elected from the highly conservative Parliament. This is ONLY a partial recount of the vote. Unconfirmed reports from inside Iran say the council has taken annulling the results off the table. Opposition declares any recount insufficient because it solve ballot tampering or rigging.
Resource Center
- Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish - has been all over the story and is an excellent resource
- National Iranian American Committee's NIACBlog - providing translations from Farsi to English of Twitter and Facebook reports of what's happening in the country. Fantastic resource for on the ground reporting.
- Tehran Bureau - A project of the Harvard School of Journalism in an attempt to provide in-depth coverage of Iran. There spot reporting has been invaluable.
- NYTimes The Lede - Have provided constant updates from NYTimes reporters on the ground in Tehran. They've also compiled other reports from around the internet.
- BBCNews - Another great resource for on the ground reports from the Western hemisphere's premier broadcast organization.
- DKos Clifflyon's Diary - It's been ahead of the curve today and contains many of the important developments so far today
- Images of Tehran Rising Provided by Al Rodgers yesterday
7.5) Al Rodgers moving photo tribute to the protests and violence of today.
- Huffington Post Live Blog Has been all over the story compiling the best of traditional reporting and tweets coming live from the country.
The Revolution will be Twittered Live
- Student Twitterfrom the opposition live from Tehran. Detailing attacks on the university and reformist strongholds by government thugs. Can't vouch for accuracy but it seems like it's authentic and has been linked to by other blogs.
- Mousavi Campaign Twitter - Some of it is in Farsi (Persian) and some of it is in English. We believe this is the official campaign Twitter.
- Other Twitters to read include: Search Twitter #IranElection. My choices include: Jim Sciutto (ABCNews), Tehran Bureau, y_shar, Iran09, Change_for_Iran, Mirriaam, IranElection09
How can you help?
Iranian dissidents and reformists are using proxy servers to get around the governments web filters and blocking software. The government is blocking proxy servers when they find them. People inside Iran are asking for help establishing proxies so they can get around the Government's efforts to silence them. HuffingtonPost blogged about it today on their liveblog. Link from Huffington Post with Proxy Info.
We Could Need Your Diary so we can better organize the discussion and information available here at DKos and for whoever might be in Iran reading the discussion here on DKos. Will be solicited if a need arises. Right now this should take care of much of the chatting in the overnight hours (stateside).
- Your Screenname Here
- Your Screenname Here
- Your Screenname Here
- Your Screenname Here
You know the drill. REC this up.