For the past few years, I’ve been receiving emails and attachments from a woman with close ties to Iran. Along with this Youtube she wrote the following:
Here is a song gifted to the new Iran emerging from the 2009 election by the one of the greatest musicians of present day Iran, Mohamad Reza Shajarian. And he rightly calls it “Iran, the land of hope.
She indicates that letters are circulating in Iran to weaken the grip of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s government by doing the following:
o Refusing to give ads to the state run TV, and newspapers
serving as the voice of the government.
o Pulling out money invested in banks and financial
institutions run by the government or by the revolutionary
guards.
o Refraining from contributing to the charity boxes scattered
throughout towns all across the country.
Protesting has become incredibly dangerous [1].
More than 2,000 people are still in detention and hundreds more are missing in Iran since a government crackdown on protests over a disputed presidential election, the FIDH human rights group said on Sunday.
Consider also this video of a truck driving into a crowd [2]. Much more detailed information can be found at IranDokht [3]:
IranDokht is an online media platform that connects the global community to Iranian women. It serves as a kaleidoscope of lifestyles, identities, art, and culture, reflecting the tensions between modernity and tradition.
My correspondent also wrote that:
Mr. Mousavi’s Facebook account, which is now his only conduit to the outside world, has posted a message addressed to Iranians living abroad. The message consists of five paragraphs and is calm and confident in its tone. Below, I provide a rough translation of the main points in the letter:
I appreciate your widespread participation in the election. Iran belongs to you as much as those living on its soil.
I am grateful for your vote of confidence and I assure you that, as I promised earlier, I will pursue the issue of cheating in this election to safeguard your legal rights as reflected in your votes.
Unfortunately, as you see in the international media, the Islamic Republic, in clear violation of the Iranian constitution, has blocked my normal channels of communication with you, and the people’s right to peacefully protest.
I thank you for your strong objection to the widespread rigging of the election and ask you – using peaceful legal channels – to make your voices heard by the Iranian officials. I know your legitimate concern is different from the goals of those hostile to the Iranian political system as a whole and ask you to not allow them to take advantage of your protest to advance their goals (my clarification: Mr. Mousavi is here referring to royalists, and other opposition groups who fundamentally oppose the Islamic Republic and would not participate in the Iranian elections but in the past week have participated in demonstrations related to this election.)
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