ReTweet: “Appliance Protest”

This is clever. Via Sully:

Iranian twitterers are claiming victory in a coordinated series of blackouts during Ahmadinejad’s televised speech yesterday:

The protesters had earlier pre-arranged a call for Iranians to plug in heavy power load household devices such as dryers, irons and toasters at 9:45pm local time, as Ahmadinejad’s speech began. Online Twitter feeds claimed blackouts were achieved in East Tehran, Sari, Tabriz, Isfehan, Rodehen, Saghez, Lavasan, Ahvaz, Khoramshahr, Dezfol, Jahrom, Khomini Shahr, Shahin Shar, Folad Shahr, Kashan and some of Rasht.

Some sample tweets:

Iron Tactic tonight: Call for Black Out During Ahmadinejad Live at TV, Tehran Time 21.30…

Yes It Worked!

Ghazvin went in Black Out, People Chanting” Death to Dictator” on the roofs in many cities…

Neda’s last moments

Helpful breakdown of Islamist governance

The embed code is giving me trouble. So I’ll send you there instead.

(Danke: Hillary L.)

The BBC killed Neda

Or so claims the Iran State Media:

12.20pm:
The Iranian authorities and their lackeys in the state-controlled media are trying to launch a counter-offensive on the Neda phenomenon, writes Robert Tait.

Jomhouri Islami newspaper is blaming her shooting on snipers from the MKO (a militant group calling for the overthrow of the republic). It said the group exploited the lack of security created by the demonstrations.

Javan, another pro-regime paper, blamed an even more unlikely source – my friend and recently expelled BBC correspondent Jon Leyne. It claims that Leyne hired “thugs” to shoot her so he could then make a documentary film.

Meanwhile, the government has forbidden hospitals from releasing deaths certificates that give shooting as the cause of death.

More on Neda here and here. Also Paulo Coelho has been in correspondence with the Doctor who tried to save Neda.

(Danke: Sully)

ReTweet: “This Is What Fascism Looks Like, Ctd”

By Sullivan:

Khamenei’s storm-troopers vandalize cars and property – either to intimidate or fabricate evidence of rioters and terrorists:

On Neda Soltani

Via The Department of Homegirl Security:

Uncut video of Neda’s murder is available in a previous post. Be warned… it’s quite disturbing.

Pray for them.

More incredible photos

At The Big Picture.

Must see footage

It appears to be from today, and it looks like the protesters are winning.

Today’s rally

“Have no fear, we are all together,” and then “Down with dictator.”

(Danke: Lede)

The internal politics of the Iranian clerics

(Danke: Sully)

Know hope

Images from the Revolution: a bloody day. They are chanting louder than ever tonight:

[F]rom rooftops across the city, the defiant sound of “Allah-u-Akbar” — “God is Great” — went up yet again, as it has every night since the fraudulent election. But on Saturday it seemed stronger. The same cry was heard in 1979, only for one form of absolutism to yield to another. Iran has waited long enough to be free.

Click any image to be taken to the Gooya News website Google translation:

“Why are you doing this? Are you not an Iranian?”

From Lede:

Update | 3:09 p.m. The BBC has posted accounts from several eyewitnesses of today’s events in Tehran, including this one, from someone identified as Siavash:

I was part of the protest in Valiasr Square. When we got there, there were riot police and plain clothes guards shooting at people, I could see that people had been shot and were on the ground. There were also water cannons. We decided to head towards Azadi Square, and there were guards on motorbikes and attacking people with batons.

There were thousands of people out on the streets the police were using tear gas – the whole experience was terrifying. Towhid (Unity) Square looked like a battle ground.

There were lots of female protestors – I saw a guard attack one women and then she went back up to him and grabbed him by the collar and said ‘why are you doing this? Are you not an Iranian?’ – he was totally disarmed and didn’t know what to do but her actions stopped him.

There were no ambulances around – people were helping each other – helping the wounded – taking them to safety away from further attacks.

Another opposition supporter who contacted the BBC said:

We will continue to protest and we have several reasons to do so. First because we demand our rights. Second because were not afraid. Third – we will not be fooled. And fourth – in this way, the true face of this regime will be revealed to the whole world.

Courage.

Bloody day in Iran, cont.

Pray for them:

Via Lede:

Update | 1:45p.m. CNN has aired a very graphic and disturbing video clip which was uploaded to YouTube and Facebook on Saturday, showing a young woman who has been shot, bleeding profusely. On both Facebook and YouTube, the horrific video comes with this explanation, written by someone who says that he was present when this video was shot and describes what it shows:

Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran’s Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.

Again, we have no way of knowing when or where the video was shot, or if this reader’s account is accurate, due to the intense restrictions on first-hand reporting imposed on the press inside Iran.

Iran

Pray for them.

Bloody day in Iran

From Lede:

Update | 12:19 p.m. Demotix, a photo agency for citizen journalists, has more photographs of today’s events in Tehran, including this image, which we found earlier on TwitPic after it has already been posted online by Demotix:

Demotix has posted several more images of today’s clashes in Tehran shot by the same citizen journalist, including this one:

From Sullivan:

1.44 pm. Via NIAC, translation of the chants:

“I welcome death
I welcome death
But not subjugation
But not subjugation”