Iran’s opposition movement has called for a third major public rally in Tehran as pressure builds on the Islamic regime over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s fiercely-contested re-election.
Grappling with the biggest wave of public anger since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has lashed out at enemy “plots,” hauling in foreign ambassadors, rounding up scores of reformists and clamping down on the media.
World governments voiced increasing alarm about the situation in Iran, but US President Barack Obama, while raising “deep concerns” over the election, said Washington would not interfere in the affairs of the country.
Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has accused the regime of vote-rigging, said they have called another rally in Tehran this afternoon, despite a ban on such gatherings.
Reformists also reported that another two prominent academics and journalists had been arrested by the authorities. Hamid Reza Jalaipour, a sociologist and Mousavi campaigner, and Saeed Laylaz, a political and economist analyst, were both arrested at homed.
Iran’s most powerful military force has also warned online media of a crackdown over their coverage of the country’s election crisis.
The Revolutionary Guards, an elite body answering to the supreme leader, says Iranian websites and bloggers must remove any materials that “create tension” or face legal action.
[More]
Updates:
11:46 am EDT, June 17th, 2009 — Fifth day of unrest as regime cracks down on critics
3:25 pm EDT, June 17th, 2009 — Iran’s cyber-revolution gets a hand from Canada
4:01 pm EDT, June 17th, 2009 — Stealing the Iranian Election
4:10 pm EDT, June 17th, 2009 — Reformist leaders arrested
5:04 pm EDT, June 17th, 2009 — “There goes the ballgame.”
6:52 pm EDT, June 17th, 2009 — Iranian protesters mostly unfazed by government warnings
Notes:
I’ve come across several web entries today wondering why Obama is remaining largely silent in regards to the Iran situation. Perhaps its because as soon as he sticks “his beak” into things the mullahs will make it all about him and that will end that. Right now I think the people who want freedom in Iran are doing just fine as they get plenty of advertising and other help from friends in the west for their cause. The one sure thing that would take the steam out of this revolt in a hurry would be for Obama to interfere at this critical time.
For constant updates, believe it or not, Fark.com as full as lefties as it is (but still funny) has a rightwing hardcore Israeli supporter (handle Tatsuma) who has been posting tweeter updates since day 1. It appears he has verified input and the comments and tireless work by him are something else. It seems the support for the uprising in Iran does not have a political boundry out this way. At least not in the US.
I doubt (given his interventionist record) Obama is staying out for the right reasons… In all likelihood, He can’t figure out how to respond. After all, Iran’s political chaos isn’t a situation which He can command, buy or charm.