There is trouble in Iran

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The main story, the short version: There were fixed/sham elections re-electing Ahmedinejad. However, it looks like the people won't stand for it, and there have been widespread protests and violence, and de facto martial law declared in the capital.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/ ... index.html

Some much more interesting primary sources:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bahramks/RiotsInTehran#

http://iran.twazzup.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2 ... g_now.html


Who wants to watch a theocratic dictatorship deal with a revolutionary uprising over twitter feeds and firsthand pictures and video today? It's 2009.

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwri ... 45130.html short NYT piece about CNN's failure and how people are using twitter to bypass the middle man.

Also I've been reading a lot of rumors about all foreign media being kicked out of the country and offices getting raided.
 
Yeah, I've been watching all of this unfold. While an Iranian civil war MIGHT bring a more Western-friendly, democratic system about, there is also a shitload of bad outcomes that are possible as well. Kinda scary. :paranoid:
 
Meh, same thing happened in Moldova a few months back... twitter and everything... then they cut off mobile and internet services and nothing came of it... worlds sucks and all that.
 
If it comes out in the next 20 years that all of this is CIA false flag action, a la 1953, I might have to join Al Queida.

If this is a matter of a populace getting upset at a corrupt government, hopefully they straighten it out, and hopefully at the end of the day it's a more western-friendly nation.

I'll definitely be watching it, at any rate.
 
S

Scarlet Varlet

Been following this steady.

The presidential election was rigged and stolen, with the blessing of the Guardian Council, Council of Experts and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Now that bad old Shah doesn't sound so much different from the new boss, does he?

I really do hope the people toss these bastards out. They really do deserve so much better.
 
A

Alex B.

Isn't the presidential seat in Iran pretty much meaningless? I've just always heard the president is little more than a figurehead. Seems like they're getting all worked up over very little.
 
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Scarlet Varlet

Alex B. said:
Isn't the presidential seat in Iran pretty much meaningless? I've just always heard the president is little more than a figurehead. Seems like they're getting all worked up over very little.
The people wanted a president to take their case. They had very high hopes for Khatami to push for reforms but the theocratic dictators kept him from achieving much. With disillusionment many reformers didn't turn out for voting the election which saw Ahmadinejad come to power, mostly because all reform candidates were barred from running. Corrupt system from the start.

The people are growing extremely restless with the poor way the country is run and how their lives are constantly interfered with by the government and moral police. They'll have had enough at some point and there will be change.
 
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Alex B.

That makes sense. They're making a statement and it looks like that statement has been overridden.
 
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Scarlet Varlet

Alex B. said:
That makes sense. They're making a statement and it looks like that statement has been overridden.
Some peoples are sheep, whilst others are lions.

The sheep will just keep taking it, while they lions will fight back, eventually overthrowing their masters. I think the people of Iran will ultimately prove to be the latter.
 
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Scarlet Varlet

Sure looks like a coup.

An interview with a spokesman for Mousavi, Mohsen Makhbalbaf, says that "in the early hours after voting had ended, the Interior Ministry had called Mr. Mousavi’s campaign headquarters to inform them that Mr. Mousavi would be the winner and, therefore, Mr. Mousavi must prepare a victory statement. Mr. Mousavi was, however, asked by the Ministry not to boast too much, in order not to upset Mr. Ahmadinejad’s supporters. Many of the president’s supporters are among the ranks of the Basij militia, and thus armed.

"According to Mr. Makhbalbaf, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was also informed of the developments. He also recommended a 'good management' of the victory statement, meaning not boasting greatly about the victory, because that would be in Iran’s national interests and stability.

"At the same time, the reformist newspapers were also informed that they can prepare their Saturday edition to declare Mr. Mousavi the winner, but were not allowed to use the word pirouzi (victory) in their articles, in order not to upset Mr. Ahmadinejad’s supporters. One reformist newspaper prepared its front page with the title, “People took back the flag of their country [from Mr. Ahmadinejad].”

"But, just a few hours later, a center that had been set up by Mr. Mousavi in Gheytarieh (in northern Tehran) for monitoring the election and vote counting, was attacked by armed security agents. They ransacked the center, destroyed computers, and attacked the staff. Supporters of Mr. Mousavi intervened and arrested 8 security agents. The police was called to take them to prison, but the police released the attackers."
 
J

JCM

For the next Iranian elections, I foresee the local telephone company replacing the ringtone with a "Naam (yes) Ahmadinejad!!", after all, it did get Saddam 99% of all "votes"
 
ZenMonkey said:
Because Moldova and Iran are totally comparable.
Meh, you've seen one dictatorship pretending to be a democracy you've seen them all...


Going by precedent most revolutions need either outside help or some sort of fracturing of the people in power to succeed.

But hey, here's hoping it actually works.
 

@Li3n said:
Feels better at the end when i can say "Told you so!"
I join Charlie in being impressed by your insistence that people who didn't watch a TV show should die painfully, but what's going down in Iran only merits a "meh." Those are some...interesting priorities.
 
S

Steven Soderburgin

"Meh." - @Li3n, You Don't Mess With The Privileged Westerner

This is seriously a totally fucked up situation, and reading the tweets, seeing the pictures, and watching the videos has been extremely rough.

It also isn't helped by the shit that CNN has pulled or by the fact that YouTube, for a while at least, was taking down any videos of the protests, riots, and police backlash. The primary media has really done a shitty job of covering this, while certain twitter feeds have been right on top of everything that's happening.

Some amazing and chilling pictures.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi138 ... 4479/show/

EDIT:
oh my god. these pictures are from University of Esfahan. This is horrifying. http://entesabat88.persianblog.ir/post/2/#
 
I wish them luck, and I hope they meet their goals. I don't need a N.Korean campaign medal and an Iran campaign medal too.
 
Weird, i recall this area being called Eastern Europe... though i guess we are to the west of Iran...


And i'm well aware that venting my rage on a forum isn't going to do anything for any situation... same thing applies to taking some sort of moral stand on something in another country you have no influence on...


And most importantly... the Meh was in reference to ZM saying that the situation in Moldova isn't comparable... there might be less pictures, but they're pretty similar (net and mobiles where cut pretty fast and before the police really got into gear so there are less graphic). So close enough.
 

Kissinger said:
"Meh." - @Li3n, You Don't Mess With The Privileged Westerner

This is seriously a totally fucked up situation, and reading the tweets, seeing the pictures, and watching the videos has been extremely rough.

It also isn't helped by the shit that CNN has pulled or by the fact that YouTube, for a while at least, was taking down any videos of the protests, riots, and police backlash. The primary media has really done a shitty job of covering this, while certain twitter feeds have been right on top of everything that's happening.

Some amazing and chilling pictures.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi138 ... 4479/show/

EDIT:
oh my god. these pictures are from University of Esfahan. This is horrifying. http://entesabat88.persianblog.ir/post/2/#
GREAT post, Kissinger! Those pictures are amazing and nothing like what we get from the Western media.
 
I am surprised that it took 30 years for this change to come about again. The original student revolutionaries did not start their struggle to overthrow one tyrannical despot to be replaced by a tyrannical, religious despot. They wanted a democratic Iran and ended up going backwards when the mullahs took over the revolution and invited Lee Iaccoca (sorry, The Ayatollah) back from France.
 
S

Scarlet Varlet

Yes, amazing pictures ... just like the same pictures in the long post with media stuff I posted Sunday, except blown up and fuzzier.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi138 ... 592664479/)

Have you watched this, yet?

http://iranelection.posterous.com/in-es ... way-iranel

Another collection of pictures
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bahramks/RiotsInTehran#
(edit: This didn't take the first go, because Picasa's javascript doesn't seem to like me even copying from the URL window, what gits.)


I particularly appreciate the Wait-And-See of the US. Even though they could tip the tables with a handfull of jets and a cruise missile or two, they'd eventually be in another Iraq. Better for these people to overthrow their demons themselves.

edit: some pictures from today's march

http://i.friendfeed.com/48d860fd22ba06f ... a1a6ea44ee
 

Scarlet Varlet said:
Yes, amazing pictures ... just like the same pictures in the long post with media stuff I posted Sunday, except blown up and fuzzier.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi138 ... 592664479/)

Have you watched this, yet?

http://iranelection.posterous.com/in-es ... way-iranel

Another collection of pictures
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bahramks/RiotsInTehran#
(edit: This didn't take the first go, because Picasa's javascript doesn't seem to like me even copying from the URL window, what gits.)


I particularly appreciate the Wait-And-See of the US. Even though they could tip the tables with a handfull of jets and a cruise missile or two, they'd eventually be in another Iraq. Better for these people to overthrow their demons themselves.

edit: some pictures from today's march

http://i.friendfeed.com/48d860fd22ba06f ... a1a6ea44ee
Sorry about that, SV. I didn't click on all your links because I was busy. I didn't get to really sit down and look at stuff until this morning.
 
A

Alex B.

Has anyone else read or seen Persepolis? It's a great read (and solid film adaptation) with a pretty interesting perspective on all the political turmoil in Iran in the '70s and '80s.
 
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Singularity.EXE

This video was on Reddit and I am honestly proud of what happens towards the end.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSECAvBTanQ:12d2m5j1][/youtube:12d2m5j1]

I'm not one to lose faith in humanity, but this video would help to restore it.
 

The way that the crowd was, that guy is lucky to be alive. There's pictures of him in Kissinger's (and possibly SV's) that show the guy being beaten and then they shield him and get him to safety.

More Americans need to see stuff like this. Those who think that the people in the Middle East are animals and should be "turned into a parking lot" should see that they are people just like us. Iran is not a backwards third-world country but you never see this side here in the US unless you are searching it out.
 
Is it just me or looking at those 2 guys riding around per bike randomly hitting people with their batons completely causing the opposing reaction of what they are hoping to achieve? Instead of pacifying and calming the people, they are trying to intimidate and infuriating them.

To be brutally honest, this is the BEST thing to have happen in Iran, despite the unfortunate bloodshed. Instead of a mediocre and slow change of power with weak results that will build the years, they have sparked a bonfire revolution. Whatever they have feared to lose, has already been long lost and now they (being those who didn't want change) will regret what they have done.
 
I was listening to the BBC a bit ago, and for the last 15 minutes of the hour they decide to... run another Susan Boyle story. Granted they touched on the Iran situation a good bit in the previous 45 minutes (along with the latest Israel controversy, but that's another thread), but come on. History is on the verge of happening before our very eyes, and this is what you think of your listeners?

When I'm watching this, I'm reminded a bit of Corazon Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos back in the 80s. The Filipino people took to the streets to protest an obviously blatant theft of an election. Will Iran go the same way? Do the protesters have the numbers to overcome the security forces and the mullahs? What of the radicals throughout the Arab world that look to Iran's leaders as justification for their cause? What will they do? Will they give up the fight? Will they rush to Iran to kill in the mullahs' name?
 
Singularity.EXE said:
This video was on Reddit and I am honestly proud of what happens towards the end.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSECAvBTanQ:3hawvzao][/youtube:3hawvzao]

I'm not one to lose faith in humanity, but this video would help to restore it.
Wow. I was not expecting that. But that adds a hundred more layers of legitimacy to the riots.

When I think of rioters, my mind immediately calls up images of anarchist punks who want to see the city burn. But it's clear here that these people are rioting for a reason. And even more incredible than that: they know who the enemy is. It's not the individual: it's the system.

You have no idea how much that video inspired me.
 
Looking through those pictures and listening to the Faunts I Think I'll Start a Fire, deeply moving. I for one have to say good luck to all of them, it takes balls to do what they're doing.
 
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Steven Soderburgin

Reports are coming in that gunfire has broken out at the pro-Mousavi rally in Tehran where hundreds of thousands of people were protesting

EDIT

Breaking News: BULLETIN -- AT LEAST ONE DEAD AFTER PRO-GOVERNMENT MILITIA OPEN FIRE AT OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS IN TEHRAN.

URGENT -- A photographer with AP says at least 1 person dead after pro-government militia open fire at opposition protesters in Tehran.

persiankiwi: reliable soure from Ahvaz. Situation there is bad - violent clashes in streets. #Iranelection

Bassej are out in force in darkness. this is when they operate best. Streets are dangerous now for young people. #Iranelection
 
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