Huge protests continue in Iran, leaving the streets are on fire (literally and figuratively)!
Dear All,
I have not had any personal communications from Iran today. This could simply be the result of a slower internet and restriction on movements. I pray that the anonymous e-mailer who wrote earlier has returned safely from today’s protests. Tonight Tehran is under an unofficial curfew — people have been warned to stay at home. Today, the protests continued but few images circulated. At least eight deaths were reported by a hospital in central Tehran. The physicians and nurses went on strike to protest the deaths.
Please see the top of this post for the image of the day.
Harder and Harder to get Videos from Iran
* With fewer foreign journalists left in Iran, cell phones disrupted, and an intentionally slowed internet, it is harder and harder to get videos of rallies in Iran. The foreign journalists who are still there are not permitted to film unauthorized gatherings.
* Mr. Moussavi supporters were supposed to gather in the Valie Asr Square for a peaceful protest but the government denied them the permit. At the same time, it heavily publicized on the national TV a rally in support of Mr. Ahmadinejad supporters in the same spot. Mr. Moussavi supporters rescheduled last minute to avoid any possible clashes and gathered in northern Tehran instead. Still, one eye witness reported their number to be at least four times the size of the gathering for Mr. Ahmadinejad. Here is a very brief clip taken about ten hours ago:
Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri is considered to be one of the most important religious scholars in Iran currently and was once considered to be the designated successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini (before they had a falling out in 1989).
Breaking News
* Massive arrests have taken place in the city of Tabriz of certain religious leaders and human rights activists.
* The Guardian Council’s offer for a Recount has Been Rejected by Moussavi. The reason for his rejection was that there was no specification about who would do the recounting. Furthermore, the Moussavi camp believes there were many other irregularities of which fraudulent counting was only one.
* The Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri issued a Decree condemning the violence against the demonstrators. He called on everyone to allow the protesters to express their demands in a peaceful environment; otherwise, he said, the ”Republic” part of the Islamic Republic would disappear from the picture.
Threatening Anonymous Voice Mails
* According to occasional web posts and e-mails coming out of Iran, people find threatening messages on their answering machines saying “We know you have attended rallies, if you this continues you will be dealt with accordingly!”
Workers Join the Strike
* According to news posted via twitter today most offices were deserted in Tehran indicating that workers have responded to the call from the reformists for strike.
Images from attacks on the Tehran University Dormitory
* Finally, images taken by cell phones are emerging of the horrendous midnight attacks on the Tehran University dormitory.
Iranian Nobel Laureate and Human Rights Activist Reports the Arrest of Fellow Activists
* http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/06/ebadi.html?sc=fb&cc=fp
Hope I can be back with better news.
Best,
Fatemeh
===================================
Fatemeh Keshavarz, Professor and Chair
Dept. of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
Washington University in St. Louis
Honorary Co-Chair, Iranians For Peace
Tel: (314) 935-5156
Fax: (314) 935-4399
==================================
