I. Top posts from Iranian protesters on Twitter: 6/23/09-6/24/09
just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animalsII. Cyber-War
the city is full of Baseej and Revolutionary Guards and plain closthes militia carrying baton and tear gas
It is just like living under martial law - u cannot go anywhere without being stoped or beaten by militia
travelling thru Tehran now is worse than Bagdad - any moment u can be beaten or arrested
all shops was closed - nowhere to go - they follow ppls with helicopters - smoke and fire is everywhere
yesterday we saw a 10 years old child die from teargas in his face - could not film becos militia everywhere
in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher
they were waiting for us - they all have guns and riot uniforms - it was like a mouse trap - ppl being shot like animals
all hospitals is surrounded by militia to check why ppl going in - if gun or baton injury - they arrest and beat u
some embassys provided protection b4 but now they are all surrounded by militia - also if u are injured then they arrest u
25 journalist working for pro-mousavi newspaper were arrested last night as they prepared to publish
70 members of the Islamic Association of University Teachers arrested after meeting with Mousavi
we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast
thank you ppls [peoples] 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls [please] remember always our martyrs
The Iranian government has stepped up efforts to use the Internet to crush the protest movement. Many regime operatives are now monitoring Twitter in an effort to identify Iranians who are communicating with the rest of the world. They are also using Twitter to spread disinformation (such as the cancellation of protests and the appearance of tanks in Tehran to scare off the protesters). More sophisticated methods are being used to trick Twitter users into downloading malicious software which will allow the regime to closely follow any activities on infected computers. The Internet is also being used to post pictures of protesters and encourage locals to report anyone who can be identified. The website used by the Basij is located here: http://www.gerdab.ir/fa/pages/?cid=407 (in Farsi). It was also reported that two top Iranian Twitter users were reportedly arrested on Wednesday.
However, the regimes tactics have not been isolated to Iran. A number of reports have emerged that the Iranian government is attacking Internet servers in the US. For an example, see: "Pro-Iranian regime hackers invade Oregon computers" here: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9916K9O0&show_article=1.
And a list of websites censored by the Iranian government has emerged (see: http://greenwave-info.org/). The most notable are: Facebook, Twitter, the BBC, and Gmail (Google's email service).
III. Identifying the Basij:
An online grassroots effort has sprung up to identify the Basij thugs who are committing human rights violations against the protesters in Iran. Many have been identified and their names and street addresses have been posted online for all to see. The following links in English and Farsi illustrate this phenomenon:
http://twitpic.com/83uhp (in English)
http://idthebasiji.blogspot.com/ (in English)
http://www.demotix.com/news/faces-basiji (in English)
http://www.goftaniha.org/2009/06/blog-post_15.html (in Farsi)
http://www.goftaniha.org/2009/06/blog-post_18.html (in Farsi)
http://www.goftaniha.org/2009/06/blog-post_20.html (in Farsi)
http://www.goftaniha.org/2009/06/blog-post_22.html (in Farsi)
http://www.goftaniha.org/2009/06/blog-post_7314.html (in Farsi)
IV: Internet Buzz: Did the Russians helped rig the Iranian election?
Mohsen Sazegara is an Iranian who once held several high ranking positions during the early years of the Islamic Revolution. He applied to become a candidate for President in the 2001 election but was refused. Since then, his reformist policies threatened the regime, eventually resulting in his arrest in early-2003. Following his release in August 2003, he moved to the United Kingdom and currently resides in the United States. He is now claiming that he has received first hand information from a Basij / Sepah commander that Russia helped rig the election. Below is a link to the interview in which he makes these claims: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBEM8fIL_mo (in Farsi)
A very brief and imperfect translation follows: "Today one of the commanders of Sepah who is an old friend of mine called me ... and said 'This coup is planned at the top of government with help from Russian advisers.'"
V. The Green Brief #7 / #8
The Green Brief is a daily dispatch that provides a good overview of events on the ground in Iran. Reports #7 and #8 have been published in the past 48 hours and can be found here: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/news-current-events/2202-green-brief-7-niteowl.html and here: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/news-current-events/2327-green-brief-8-a.html
