These are the important happenings that I can positively confirm from Sunday, June 28 in Iran.
1. URGENT: Rumors of Mousavi’s arrest are being spread around the blogosphere and twitter. So far, no reliable source has confirmed this. At the time of the writing of this brief – 9:27 PM ET – he is still free.
2. Thousands of people gathered in Tehran's Ghoba Mosque today at a rally planned to coincide with the 7 Tir bombing that killed Ayatollah Beheshti and 70 other prominent clerics in 1981. The mosque was filled and the streets and alleys leading up to the mosque were completely crowded by protesters chanting "Where's our vote?" Reports indicate that the number was somewhere between 3 and 10 thousand. Beheshti's son addressed the crowd and said that the current regime was pushing people backwards and was not in touch with current realities of the world. He said that the Sea of Green could stand this and were protesting.
3. Mahdi Karoubi was able to join the protests spoke to protesters. Mousavi wasn't able to make it to the center of the crowd and was forced to deliver his message by calling a cell phone as the receiving phone was put on a loudspeaker. Other prominent members of the reform movement were also present, including the wife and daughter of Rafsanjani. Mousavi urged people to continue fighting for their legitimate demands and announced that he would not stop pursuing their collective goals. Rezaei also issued an open letter to the GC today asking them to investigate the whole election & all protests & complaints.
4. Later, intense clashes broke out between the security forces and protesters. Several shots were heard from the vicinity of the mosque. Fires were started in the area and smoke could be seen coming out of some streets from afar. Police violently beat some protesters in order to disperse them. Although the protesters had received a permit by the government, they were still attacked by the police under the pretense that people were only allowed to be inside the mosque. Protesters were beaten, tear gas was used and many protesters were hauled away and arrested by the security forces. Some of the high-profile arrests today included Reza Ataraan - a movie star and filmmaker -, Shokoofeh Azar, reporter for Sarmaye Emrooz, and Kambiz Norouzi, legal secretary of journalists' union. The actual number of protesters arrested today could not be confirmed, but several dozens people were likely arrested, reliable sources indicated. There were also reports of protests in other parts of the city and clashes as well, yet they could only be partially confirmed.
5. Rafsanjani today spoke to reporters today and said that the election had created a complex situation and that enemies were trying to create a divide between the regime and people. He praised Khamenei's decision to extend the period for complaints to the Guardian Council about the election. Khamenei today said that people shouldn’t stoke emotions and both sides should not create tensions and inflame the youth. He also accused the world of meddling with the affairs of Iran and warned them to back off of Iranian affairs.
6. In a letter addressed to the Guardian Council, Karoubi said that the election was engineered in such a way that people's presence was only a pre-designed show. Karoubi: For every candidate a share of the vote was previously defined. He added that before the election a member of GC said that the leader had chosen Ahmadinezhad and it's not wise to cross him and that the small share of the votes assigned to him will not stop the pursuit of people’s demands.
7. Yesterday, it was reported that 9 UK Embassy staff from Tehran were arrested. Today, reports have surfaced that at least 4 of them have been released. It is being reported that the rest are not being kept at Evin, but rather at an undisclosed location. They were all accused by the Iranian government of having a hand in the protests which they claim are 'riots'.
8. A representative of Tabriz spoke in the Parliament today and said that it was not fair to listen to only one-side of the dispute and ignore the cries of the other side completely. He called upon the government to not act against the country’s laws when dealing with people. Ahmadinejad's supporters in the parliament tried to force him from continuing his speech by yelling and shouting at him.
9. A government spokesperson today said that there have been no serious incidents during the protests and that people should go to courts to complain if they’ve been beaten with sticks. The bodies of some protesters who've been killed so far are being released to their relatives if they quietly bury them. Mousavi's head of campaign, Ghorban Behzadian Nezhad and all but three staff members of his newspaper were released today.
10. A selected team of the parliament's security commission will meet with Mohammad Khatami regarding the recent events. The team will meet Ahmadinezhad as well. Previously they met Ayatollas Javadi Amoli, Mousavi Ardebili and Sobhani. Amoli said today that the separation of powers was not a recent phenomenon and it had existed before in Islam and called for it. Ayatollah Javadi Amoli previously criticized the government in Friday prayer in Qom. Amoli said that if someone's the judge, jury and executioner, then there was a problem.
11. Insurance companies are shunning people. They're being told that the government has told them not to talk to rioters. This is after people went to insurance companies after the destruction of property or death of a loved one.
12. The Min. of Interior has been asked to cancel the permits of IIPF, the Combatant Clerics and Mojahedin-Enghelab parties. They are going to legally pursue them and if found guilty of a crime - the protests have been called law-breaking and a crime - their permits will be cancelled. It is being reported that the online results of the election released by the Ministry of Interior are continuously being changed.
13. Tonight people are continuing their chants of Allah o Akbar as Basijis have started to harass them. During past days plain cloths went door to door and warned people to stop chanting. Website of ministry of internal affairs which uploaded election statistics keeps updating files as people find more errors in the results.
Read this if you want to help or get help!
The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:
English: Tor and the Iranian Election - Bring down the Iran Curtain | Ian's Brain
Farsi: Tor: ?????? Tor
Help us set up more bridges on Tor here: Torrents list � Rivolta in Iran
Images and vids and instructions on how to send them to us:
Helpers with expertise in the field of medicine, translation and such:
“Medici Cu Internet is a collaboration between piratbyran.org, HackersWithoutBorders and werebuild.eu trying to organize contacts with medical expertise online since there are problems in Iran with hospitals being monitored by the government. Join the IRC-channel at #mci-ir - WebIRC - AnonNet or send an email to us at embassy [at] piratbyran.org for more info. Medical experts, Farsi-translators and people who know the medical situation in iran are welcome to join and collaboratively set up an index with common injuries and their best treatments.”
People Outside Iran: This is as clear and concise as I can be. I have not included ANYTHING that I have sensed to be remotely fishy, but humans always err.
People Inside Iran: Don't believe a WORD of what I am telling you. Do what you think is best, keeping everything in mind. I know LITTLE of what you know so make your decisions based on your OWN judgment.
P.S. Please post this around and tweet and retweet.
(Reposted from the original site.)
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