How Iran's Hackers Killed Big Brother by Douglas Rushkoff

How Iran's Hackers Killed Big Brother

by Douglas Rushkoff

Douglas Rushkoff, a professor of media studies at The New School University and producer and correspondent for the PBS Frontline Digital Nation project, is the author of numerous books, including Cyberia, ScreenAgers, Media Virus, and, most recently, Life Inc., released this month by Random House.

Douglas Rushkoff
BS Top - Rushkoff Iran Twitter Burhan Ozbilici / AP Photo Tehran's streets may be bloody, says Douglas Rushkoff, but the opposition has won the digital war. The battleground: Facebook and Twitter. The weapons: bandwidth and hacking. The prize: the end of totalitarianism.

Perhaps the best indication for Americans that something important is going on in Iran right now is the fact that Twitter has delayed a scheduled downtime for maintenance in order for Iranians and others involved in the post-election digital melee to keep at it. For anyone lacking a Twitter feed and thus missing the intense virtual crossfire, what's happening is nothing short of a test of Internet users' ability to challenge not only a regime's power over an election, but over the network itself. The effort alone constitutes a victory.

Unlike the United States, where Facebook friends, Meetup groups, and other online innovation successfully elected a candidate who (at least initially) lacked top-down support, the Iranian power structure has less compunction about snuffing digital democracy. Incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely believed to have shut down Iranian access to Facebook as soon as it was clear his opponent's supporters were using the social network to organize rallies and motivate voters. Not that Mousavi's 36,000 Facebook friends at that point would have led to the undeniable landslide the opposition leader would have needed to actually win—but the heavy-handed gesture hinted at what was to come. It was the opening salvo in a digital war with global implications, and a blueprint for the democratizing influence of the Internet.

Iran's government counter-attacked with a blockade, closing off the four Internet access routes it controlled, leaving just one pipe through Turkey for messages to breach it.

FINISH THIS ARTICLE HERE

Change_for_Iran Resurfaces! NEW REPORTS

# state TV is now requesting people (armed forces) to go to valiasr st and protest against the outlaws & criminals! (people) #iranelection21 minutes ago from web

# thanks to someone (probably gov) we're are now also spies of israel! and to be shoot on sight30 minutes ago from web

# Kasra is dead & I don't know where is masood, lost him in the crowd yesterday31 minutes ago from web

# 5 killed in the girl's dorm. we saw karoubi in person yesteday and told him about what happened. I guess we made a big mistake #IranElection37 minutes ago from web

# 3:30pm basij is after us. slept in the streets last night. internet is down in most of the city #iranelection43 minutes ago from web

The meaning of the Tehran spring By Pepe Escobar

June 16

Page 1 of 2
THE ROVING EYE
The meaning of the Tehran spring
By Pepe Escobar

It is 1979 in Tehran all over again. From Saturday to Sunday, the deafening sound deep in the night across Tehran's rooftops was a roaring, ubiquitous "Allah-u Akbar" (God is great). Then, in 1979, to hail the Islamic revolution; now, in 2009, to signify what appears to be the hijacking of the Islamic revolution. Then, the revolution was not televised; it was via (Ruhollah Khomeini) radio. Now, it is being broadcast all across the world.

Let's cut to the chase: what Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi qualified as "this dangerous charade" and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "the sweetness of the election", or better yet, a "divine assessment", has all the non-divine markings of intervention by the Iranian Republican Guards Corps (IRGC). This follows President Mahmud Ahmadinejad officially gaining 64% of the vote in defeating Mousavi in what inthe days before Friday's vote had widely been called as a very close race.

Scores of protesters equating Ahmadinejad with Augusto Pinochet in 1973's Chile might not be that far off the mark. Call it the ultra-right wing, military dictatorship of the mullahtariat.

This is emerging as a no-holds-barred civil war at the very top of the Islamic Republic. The undisputed elite is now supposed to be embodied by the Ahmadinejad faction, the IRGC, the intelligence apparatus, the Ministry of the Interior, the Basij volunteer militias, and most of all the Supreme Leader himself.

The elite wants subdued, muzzled, if not destroyed, reformists of all strands: any relatively moderate cleric; the late 1970s clerical/technocratic Revolution Old Guard (which includes Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami and Mousavi); "globalized" students; urban, educated women; and the urban intelligentsia.

Even fighting a cascade of political and economic setbacks, for the past three decades the regime has always been proud of the Islamic Republic's brand of popular democracy, and its alleged legitimacy. Now the revolution enters completely uncharted territory as thousands of people have taken to the streets in protest against the result.

What will be the distinguishing features of the military dictatorship of the mullahtariat? How does the revolution recoup from a coup? A 29-year-old female journalist working in a moderately conservative Tehran newspaper spelled it out for Radio Free Europe: "Coup means that right now they're beating people in the streets. A coup means they didn't even count people's votes. They announced the results without opening the ballot boxes. It was sent as a circular to the state television, which announced it. Is it so difficult for the world to understand this?"

The trillion-dollar-question regarding this new "revolutionary" situation is that as things stand, no pacifying solution can be found within the institutional framework of the Islamic Republic. In a nutshell, Ahmadinejad has made his power play against Mousavi and Rafsanjani. The Supreme Leader fully supported him. Mousavi and Rafsanjani, plus Khatami, need an urgent counterpunch. And their only possible play is to go after Khamenei.

As Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council, among others, has noted, Rafsanjani is now counting his votes at the Council of Experts (86 clerics, no women) - of which he is the chairman - to see if they are able to depose Khamenei. He is in the holy city of Qom for this explicit purpose. To pull it off, the council would imperatively have to be supported by at least some factions within the IRGC. The Ahmadinejad faction will go ballistic. A Supreme Leader implosion is bound to imply the implosion of the whole Khomeini-built edifice.

Null and void
As a prelude, Mousavi has already bypassed the Supreme Leader, sending an open letter to the powerful mullahcracy in Qom asking them to invalidate the election. Hojjatoleslam Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, head of the election vote-monitoring committee, has officially requested that the Council of Guardians void the election and schedule a new, fully monitored one.

One of the stalwarts of Qom power, the moderate Grand Ayatollah Sanei, who had issued a fatwa against vote rigging, calling it a "mortal sin", has already declared the Ahmadinejad presidency "illegitimate". His house and office are now under police siege. Iranians eagerly expect a public pronouncement from Grand Ayatollah Muntazeri, the country's true top religious figure (not Khamenei) and a certified anti-ultra-right wing.

Even more strikingly, a group of Ministry of Interior employees sent an open letter to the chairman of the Council of Experts (Rafsanjani), the president of the parliament (Majlis), former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, the heads of the legislative and the judiciary, and many other government agencies. The crucial paragraph reads: "As dedicated employees of the Ministry of Interior, with experience in management and supervision of several elections such as the elections of Khamenei, Rafsanjani and Khatami, we announce that we fear the 10th presidential elections were not healthy."

The Islamic Combatant Clergy Association (ICCA), close to Khatami and supportive of Mousavi, said on its website that the counting process was "widely engineered [manipulated]", and there was enough evidence to prove it. So for the ICCA, the election should be nullified.

Mohsen Rezai, who ran as a conservative and who is nothing less than a former head of the IRGC, also sent a letter to the Council of Guardians saying the election was illegitimate. This is crucial; it means a serious crack inside the IRGC - because Rezai's former subordinates are still active and will inevitably support him (he remains very influential). "Officially", Rezai had less than 1 million votes. He maintains that according to his own polls, "in a worst-case scenario I should have had between 3.5 and 7 million votes."
Even a former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ayatollah Mohajerani, went on the BBC Persian service to say the Supreme Leader was not infallible, and should be replaced in case of "dishonesty".

How it all evolved
The ultra-right wing maybe has not seen it coming this way - the urban youth of Tehran behaving like it's May 1968 in Paris. But they seem to have prepared themselves accordingly. The only question is when. Was it long-term pre-planning? Did it emerge after the televised presidential debates propelled the "green revolution"? Or was it a last-minute, cooked up in minutes, gambit?

As the election approached, an impartial observation of the Iranian presidential TV debates would signal that Ahmadinejad was virtually freaking out. The public debate in Iran made clear that what mattered most for voters was Ahmadinejad's record of economic incompetence, much more than his foreign policy tirades.

In the debates, Ahmadinejad managed to get away with fanciful figures regarding inflation and unemployment. He went into overdrive on the eve of the election, virtually accusing his three opponents of being Zionist agents. He may have calculated that a second round with Mousavi would be too risky. Ahmadinejad knew Khamenei was on his side. But it's fair to argue neither Ahmadinejad nor the ultra-right wing spectrum may have evaluated the full implication of a dubious electoral victory possibly imploding the whole system as they know it.

By the end of May, Mousavi was ahead of Ahmadinejad in Iran's 10 biggest cities by at least 4%.

Fast forward to this past Friday, when Khamenei met with Rafsanjani, the powerful, actual number two in the regime, who had warned the Supreme Leader three days earlier about the serious possibility of election fraud. Khamenei dismissed it.

Mousavi had also warned of fraud after Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic, Mahdist spiritual mentor, appeared to endorse vote rigging.

Ominous signs were piling up fast. Before the election, the IRGC officially warned it would not tolerate a "velvet revolution" orchestrated by Mousavi's urban sea of green. On election day, ballot papers "disappeared" from thousands of polling places. SMS messages were blocked.

The polls closed at 10pm on Friday, Tehran time. Most main streets then were fully decked out in green. In an absolutely crucial development, the great Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf told Radio Farda how Mousavi's main campaign office in Tehran received a phone call on Saturday at 1am; the Interior Ministry was saying "Don't announce Mr Mousavi's victory yet ... We will gradually prepare the public and then you can proceed." Iranian bloggers broke down the vote at the time as 19.7 million for Mousavi, between 7 and 8 million for Ahmadinejad, 7 million for Karroubi, and 3 million for Rezai.

Then all hell seemed to break loose. Phones, SMS, text messaging, YouTube, political blogs, opposition websites, foreign media websites, all communication networks, in a cascade, were shutting down fast. Military and police forces started to take over Tehran's streets. The Ahmadinejad-controlled Ministry of Interior - doubling as election headquarters - was isolated by concrete barriers. Iranian TV switched to old Iron Curtain-style "messages of national unity". And the mind-boggling semi-final numbers of Ahmadinejad's landslide were announced (Ahmadinejad 64%, Mousavi 32%, Rezai 2% and Karroubi less than 1%).

The fact that the electoral commission had less than three hours to hand-count 81% of 39 million votes is positively a "divine assessment".

Continued 1 2

Page 2 of 2
THE ROVING EYE
The meaning of the Tehran spring
By Pepe Escobar

Masked mobs encircled and attacked the headquarters of both Mousavi and Karroubi. By 3am on Saturday, long military convoys escorted by Basij militias on motorbikes took over the streets of Tehran, crying "Mousavi bye-bye" - the countercoup to the green revolution's chant of "Ahmadi bye-bye". The whole thing started to feel like Tiananmen in Beijing in 1989. Or a plain and simple coup.
On Saturday, Khamenei had to go on the record to stress there was no fraud. And on Sunday, he felt he needed to re-certify the whole thing, describing the election as "an epic and ominous event".

The official breakdown of the vote had Ahmadinejad taking Tehran by over 50%. He may be popular in the rural provinces and in
Page 2 of 2
THE ROVING EYE
The meaning of the Tehran spring
By Pepe Escobar

Masked mobs encircled and attacked the headquarters of both Mousavi and Karroubi. By 3am on Saturday, long military convoys escorted by Basij militias on motorbikes took over the streets of Tehran, crying "Mousavi bye-bye" - the countercoup to the green revolution's chant of "Ahmadi bye-bye". The whole thing started to feel like Tiananmen in Beijing in 1989. Or a plain and simple coup.
On Saturday, Khamenei had to go on the record to stress there was no fraud. And on Sunday, he felt he needed to re-certify the whole thing, describing the election as "an epic and ominous event".

The official breakdown of the vote had Ahmadinejad taking Tehran by over 50%. He may be popular in the rural provinces and in



parts of working-class south Tehran, but not even "divine assessment" could be expected to give him more than 30% in the capital.

Ahmadinejad won in the big city of Tabriz. Tabriz is in Azerbaijan. Mousavi is Azeri. Azeris are an ultra-tight ethnic group, they vote for one of their own. The notion that Mousavi was beaten, four to one, in his home ground borders on fiction.

Karroubi had less than half of Ahmadinejad's vote and came in a distant second in his own hometown of Oligudarz. Karroubi not only didn't win in his home province of Lorestan, he had less votes than volunteers helping in his campaign. The first numbers on election night came from rural villages and small towns
voting Ahmadinejad. Something immediately seemed to be way off when less than 1% of voters in western Iran went for Karroubi, very popular not only in his native Lorestan but also in Kurdistan.

As for Rezai, from Khuzestan, where most of Iran's oilfields are, he expected 2 million votes in his province alone. He polled less than a million nationwide. Everywhere, all over the country, Ahmadinejad got between a steady 66% and 69%, no matter the region, no matter the predominant ethnic group, no matter the demographics.

By law, the Electoral Commission must wait three days before certifying the results. Then they inform Khamenei and he gives his seal of approval. This is to prevent any "irregularities". This time, Khamenei approved the official results in less than four hours.

But could he actually win?
"Landslide" apart, a true Ahmadinejad victory would not be implausible. He could have reasonably scored something like 48%, for instance, ahead of Mousavi, and both would square off in a second round of voting. Ahmadinejad visited every Iranian province at least twice in these past four years. Deep, rural Iran has nothing to do with upscale north Tehran.

He plundered the reserve fund, full of oil money, set up by Khatami, to shower more money to pensioners and distribute more pork. Inflation skyrocketed. The working classes suffered with inflation and unemployment as much as north Tehran. But the average Iranian still seemed to be satisfied that his standard of living under Ahmadinejad was slightly higher.

Ahmadinejad turned the election into a referendum on the whole idea of the Islamic revolution. He literally enveloped himself in the flag - a crowd pleaser in a very religious and nationalistic country.

Mousavi had the urban youth vote, the urban, educated female vote, the intelligentsia vote, the upper middle class, globalized vote, and even the bazaar vote. But that was not enough. In the showdown between SMS and Facebook and the poor, rural and working-class masses - many of whom have a lot of empathy with the pious son of a blacksmith - it's fair to assume he could be the winner. But not in a landslide. Khatami had a real landslide in 2001, when he got no less than 78% of the vote (after 70% in 1997). The notion that an over 70% reformist impulse has been transformed over these past few years into a 62% ultra-right wing fervor is questionable.

See you in the barricades
The biggest winner in all this seems to be the Supreme Leader - who else? This is how it all played out. When Mousavi said in the TV presidential debates that Ahmadinejad was a disgrace to Iran's global image, he did not get away with it. The slap came via the very influential Kayhan newspaper, very close to the Supreme Leader.

Ahmadinejad, on the other hand, went after billionaire Rafsanjani with all guns blazing, accusing him of corruption and nepotism. This still strikes a chord at the popular level, and especially strikes a chord with the IRGC.

Rafsanjani is the de facto number two most powerful player in the Iranian system, and has been so for more than 20 years now. He controls the Expediency Council and the Council of Experts (which has the power to depose the Supreme Leader). The IRGC fear him and are against him. It's no secret that those that really matter in the Iranian system are the top mullahcracy and the IRGC. (The name says it all; they are the guardians of the whole idea of the revolution. And they only respond to the Supreme Leader.)

With the Basij militia working as a kind of military cell in every one of the 90,000 mosques all over the country, and multiplying rapidly (they may number close to 13 million by now), these forces can do no wrong.

Ahmadinejad was very clever in the TV debates to equate Rafsanjani with Khatami and Mousavi. He painted them to his key constituency as a shock to the system. The system had to strike back. Game, set, match. For the Supreme Leader - the constituency that matters the most - Ahmadinejad even served the divine satisfaction of crushing Mousavi, who as prime minister in the 1980s (during the terrible years of the Iran-Iraq war) was played by Khomeini to control the power of then-president Khamenei.

Will Rafsanjani go for broke? As he prepares a Council of Experts counterpunch against the Supreme Leader and Mousavi plots the next resistance steps, the ball is now in the Iranian street's court. Much will depend on this Monday's peaceful march along Vali Asr street in Tehran and in 19 other cities, and a national strike on Tuesday, both called by Mousavi. Everyone remembers how a week ago the green revolution formed a chain down the entire 18 kilometer length of Vali Asr.

Ahmadinejad's show of force was his victory rally this Sunday - attended by a huge mass of true supporters in south Tehran, Basij in civilian dress and rent-a-mobs from all over the place. In a press conference earlier, Ahmadinejad hinted that in his second term he will be "more and more solid".

Ahmadinejad blamed the whole Iranian turmoil on foreign media - which not by accident are now being virtually persecuted by the security apparatus. The crackdown is assuming ultra-hardcore proportions. Yet the revolution continues to be broadcast to the whole world in English and Farsi, although the indispensable Tehran Bureau website was been taken down by the thought police. Riot police have fought students inside the dorms of the University of Tehran.

The Ministry of Interior is now protected by tanks. Many in Tehran believe that a lot of the motorbiked Basij are in fact Arabs doing the "dirty work" true nationalist Persians would refuse. Basij have been fighting hard for hours to subdue throngs of protesters. There are widespread reports of a "staggering" number of injured in Tehran hospitals. A Basiji center in north Tehran seems to have been captured by protesters on Sunday night. This means the green revolution having access to weapons.

This has nothing to do with the US-supported color-coded revolutions in Eurasia. This is about Iran. An election was stolen in the United States in 2000 and Americans didn't do a thing about it. Iranians are willing to die to have their votes counted. There is now an opening for a true Iranian people-power movement not specifically to the benefit of Mousavi, but with Mousavi as the catalyst in a wider struggle for real democratic legitimacy. The die is cast; now it's people power against "divine assessment".

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).

He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.

(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

VIGIL FOR IRAN TWEEPS @Change_for_Iran -- NO WORD for 24 hours!

Many of us trying to use Twitter to support the #Green Revolution in Iran right now were following the courageous updates of a student (?) or group of students in Tehran. The last news was before they set out for the big protest yesterday, were at least 8 are confirmed killed by Basij and many accounts of innumerable wounded spreading across the Twitterverse and Blogosphere.

I am reposting Change_for_Iran's TWITTER posts in hopes that more people will mobilize to keep the flow of information coming out and going into Iran.

Got to TWITTER, you don't even need an account to see posts. But ideally sign up and help RETWEET (RT) important news about the escalating crisis and burgeoning civil war there. People's lives are on the line and I have been moved and humbled by the courage and integrity of the Iranian people, who have stood up in the face of death threats on national television to dispute a baldly fraudulent election, while we in a America did nothing when Dubya and his cronies stole the 2000 and 2004 elections. Shame on us. We obviously have a few things to learn about participatory democracy from our friends who have taken to the streets across Iran.

Please support them in any way you can. This is not about whether you like Mousavi or think his policies are in the US or whatever nation's "interests," this is about the people reclaiming their rights to be heard and counted, and to determine their leaders for themselves. We must stand by them!

SOLIDARITY with the Green Revolution!

TWITTER:
Change_for_Iran

You follow Change_for_Iran
Change_for_Iran's updates appear in your timeline.

1. it's worth taking the risk, we're going. I won't be able to update until I'm back. again thanks for your kind support and wish us luckabout 24 hours ago from web

2. government is now playing a masterpiece mind game, all people here are so confused about what is real and who to trustabout 24 hours ago from web

3. there are now rumors of mousavi's site being hacked and the whole rally is IRG's trap. gun placements at azadi square confirmed2:37 PM Jun 15th from web

4. State TV right now: rally is illegal and Police will use iron fist against law breakers2:32 PM Jun 15th from web

5. whatever it's a trap or not we're agreed to go trying to speak with mousavi & karoubi in person.2:18 PM Jun 15th from web

6. @danrlewis it is complicated, mousavi's official site said it is cancelled but he will be there with karoubi!2:06 PM Jun 15th from web in reply to danrlewis

7. I'm not sure about going to mousavi's rally anymore, we're talking about possibilities.2:00 PM Jun 15th from web

8. IRG threaten to open fire at people if they try to participate in Mousavi's rally1:51 PM Jun 15th from web

9. http://25khordad.wordpress.... more pictures, we will upload more if internet speed gets better #Iranelection12:29 PM Jun 15th from web

10. I will update from over there, we really need to see other students & think of something. #iranelection12:01 PM Jun 15th from web

11. Masood came to say Police forces are moving outside of complex! we're going to take the chance & run to other buildings #iranelection11:57 AM Jun 15th from web

12. http://bit.ly/Aw5zA (in farsi) the news is spreading!11:53 AM Jun 15th from web

13. @VoiceofIran 23 was captured by ansar around 3am, we're in 22 right now11:47 AM Jun 15th from web in reply to VoiceofIran

14. very calm outside people just passing by looking at the police & remnants of doors & windows. #iranelection11:36 AM Jun 15th from web

15. accourding to BBC persian the weapon Ansar used was winchester hunting rifles, looks like the same at Esfahan #iranelection11:31 AM Jun 15th from web

16. @Kellye9 please RT it to me if possible.11:26 AM Jun 15th from web in reply to Kellye9

17. police still prevent us from going to other dorm buildings or attempting to exit the complex. #iranelection11:23 AM Jun 15th from web

18. Ansar troops left about an hour ago & we managed to give Reza some first aid, I guess he is OK for now. #iranelection11:19 AM Jun 15th from web

19. NOT SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE UNDER 18 ---> university of Esfahan http://bit.ly/3whaZV #iranelection11:16 AM Jun 15th from web

20. I'm not sure it's wise to share them here or not, they are absolutely +1811:09 AM Jun 15th from web

21. University of Esfahan was also under attack last night, I got some pictures from students over there but they are terrifying #iranelection11:06 AM Jun 15th from web

22. http://bit.ly/nCF2j #iranelection11:00 AM Jun 15th from web

23. I'm really out of energy & don't know when I will able to twit again. sorry I didn't answer to all of your questions & please wish us luck6:32 AM Jun 15th from web

24. sorry I can't answer to all twits. my head is spinning and Masood is killing me with the importance of his thesis files #iranelection6:28 AM Jun 15th from web

25. @RandyInman Mr.Potato lover is a lunatic selfish man think of himself as a God. so yes it does!6:26 AM Jun 15th from web in reply to RandyInman

26. it's calm now outside. no more sound of sirens or chants guess people are going to work & have no more time for revolting #iranelection6:21 AM Jun 15th from web

27. I really want to sleep right now, it's more than 48hours of rapid incidents. I wonder what mousavi is doing does he know? #iranelection6:12 AM Jun 15th from web

28. unlike Masood and others I really don't think capturing them can help us in any way. #iranelection6:10 AM Jun 15th from web

29. just received news about forging department students captured 2 Ansar troopers and moving them to another building! #iranelection6:04 AM Jun 15th from web

30. Masood says at least we can call it 25khordad and be more famous than 18tir students. I'm too much sleepy for laughing #iranelection5:54 AM Jun 15th from web

31. it's near 6am! come on amirabad people! wake up #iranelection5:47 AM Jun 15th from web

32. Reza is looking very bad & they will shoot at us again if we try to leave here. #iranelection5:44 AM Jun 15th from web

33. if what gooyanews reported is true, the situation in other buildings are far worst than us #iranelection5:40 AM Jun 15th from web

34. according to gooyanews : in whole complex: 15 badly wounded, more than 100 arrested or missing. #iranelection5:38 AM Jun 15th from web

35. 5:26AM I'm praying to GOD they leave us be! we should get Reza to a hospital Asap, he has some bad wounds. #iranelections5:28 AM Jun 15th from web

36. http://news.gooya.com/polit... (in farsi) Finally we are being seen! #iranelection5:23 AM Jun 15th from web

37. 5:17am people outside are burning Saderat bank building or as it seems from this far #iranelection5:20 AM Jun 15th from web

38. Masood is going outside & I'm shaking & feeling useless #iranelection5:11 AM Jun 15th from web

39. The KingKong (Masood named him & well deserved) is now speaking with his radio outside. probably giving or getting some orders #iranelection5:03 AM Jun 15th from web

40. the other buildings are now chanting "Ey Iran" song. #iranelection5:00 AM Jun 15th from web

41. We're trying to stop Masood from going outside! there is no way they will listen to us right now. #iranelection4:56 AM Jun 15th from web

42. Stop burning tires & trash cans! come to our aid it's getting worse than 18tir already! #iranelection4:55 AM Jun 15th from web

43. For some unknown reason there is still power in here and DSL line is working. but there is no dial tone. #iranelection4:53 AM Jun 15th from web

44. typing as fastest as I can in both English & Farsi, Still we need outside help, I really don't want to be captured by Ansar #iranelection4:49 AM Jun 15th from web

45. unfortunately the entrance door is completely destroyed and there is no way of barricading it. #iranelection4:47 AM Jun 15th from web

46. to other sources: this isn't the police! police is still outside! we're under attack by Ansar-Hezbolah. #iranelection4:42 AM Jun 15th from web

47. they used some kind of riot control gun in their last attack, never seen it before #iranelection4:41 AM Jun 15th from web

48. my friend saying more than 100 students arrested, I can't confirm this but the numbers are high #iranelection4:38 AM Jun 15th from web

49. bastards just attacked us for no reason, I lost count of how much tear gas they launched at us! #iranelection4:35 AM Jun 15th from web

50. all university's own security and personnel already evacuated by police, there are only us students in here right now. #iranelection4:30 AM Jun 15th from web

51. we have now some students with urgent need of medical attention I'm calling out to all ppl who can come here don't leave us #iranelection4:26 AM Jun 15th from web

52. trying hard to sleep, there are rumors about karoubi's march toward here! if it is true there is still hope for us! #iranelection4:18 AM Jun 15th from web

53. 4:09am from dormitory building of university of Tehran, we will wait for day light and hoping people of amirabad help us out #iranelection4:12 AM Jun 15th from web

54. there is nothing we can't do right now, police & basij forces are waiting outside blocking anyone from getting in or out #iranelection4:07 AM Jun 15th from web

55. using freegate now, nothing else working. no power in most of the buildings & cellphones & land lines are out again. #iranelection4:00 AM Jun 15th from web

56. http://bit.ly/vnz0l police will break in if you give shelter to people! #iranelection1:57 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox

57. @monshi thanks for confirming it! I don't believe they have the courage to arrest khatami1:19 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox in reply to monshi

58. http://bit.ly/ZV2As #iranelection12:55 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox

59. @Robot117 IRG is not shah! it's a complete lunatic military organization! let's pray that will never happen.12:54 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox

60. http://bit.ly/4AZ7zw Tehran Valiasr st 5:30pm after President Potato's speech #iranelection12:37 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox

61. http://www.iranuon.net23.ne... in this photo: our beloved ex president Khatam arrested; I really hope this is fake12:04 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox

62. @joergheber we're backed by other universities and local people of Koy district and yes we want to try again12:00 AM Jun 15th from TwitterFox in reply to joergheber

63. sorry for the name change, Guess I'm being overprotective11:39 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

64. Basij bastards waving Iron chains at us, my back hurts but I'm OK, we will try again around 2~3AM #iranelection11:34 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

65. I'm sorry people of koy for not being able to do anything, never saw so many basij forces in my life! #iranelection10:58 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

66. tired & beaten. we couldn't break through their wall, they were too many & we were no match for an entire army of special forces10:51 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

67. Students & people fighting back a large group of police & Basij right now at university of physics! I'm going to join them. #iranelection9:04 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

68. is there any end to police's motorcycles?! how much more we should burn?! #iranelection8:38 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

69. Karoubi speaking right now with people in front of his office. I hope nothing bad happens #iranelection8:36 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

70. http://bit.ly/2temyZ God! I really hate him! #iranelection8:32 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

71. @jeff_w44 we called the "lebas shakhsi" (wearing no uniforms) ,you could say they are regime's undercover agents.8:24 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox in reply to jeff_w44

72. From Enghelab square my friend just called me, Police & unknown forces beating everybody for no apparent reason! #iranelection8:16 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

73. Gordanhaye Ashora (IRG's Elite infantry division) seen at Narmak in standby & fully armed with military equipment. #iranelection8:12 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox

74. @Olive648 it was impossible to reach there! it is near ministry of national security & they have a small army protecting it!8:08 PM Jun 14th from TwitterFox in reply to Olive648

75. Security forces are now gathering a large force near university of physics #iranelection7:54 PM Jun 14th from web

76. I'm feeling angry & also depressed seeing him lying so easlly & wearing OUR COLOR on TV #iranelection6:52 PM Jun 14th from web

77. Ahmadynezad now calls himself "seyed" (bloodline of prophet mohammad) & wearing a green shawl on state TV! unbelievable! #IranElection6:43 PM Jun 14th from web

78. http://i40.tinypic.com/oiha... Vali-Asr street #IranElection6:33 PM Jun 14th from web

79. From Qom: Reformist grand ayatolah Saneyi is in house arrest and his office phones lines answered by ministry of Intel #iranelection6:29 PM Jun 14th from web

80. Karoubi does NOT recognize Ahmadinejad as President, and declares the election VOID & urges people to stand #iranelection6:27 PM Jun 14th from web

81. President Potato showing his evil powers on national TV right now! speaking of peace & justice! #iranelection6:24 PM Jun 14th from web

82. IRG's helicopter flying low on yousefabadad Amirabad Gisha right now creating a devastating sound and making windows shake #IranElection6:12 PM Jun 14th from web

83. http://gharinaz.persianblog... #Iranelection6:08 PM Jun 14th from web

84. We can't just risk loosing mousavi because it could be a trap! his core support was always us students! #IranElection11:05 AM Jun 14th from web

85. I'm going inside the building to inform the others, I hope we can get out peacefully with university's bus, we must be there at 12:3010:42 AM Jun 14th from web

86. I guess we should all go, after all he is the real president #iranelection10:26 AM Jun 14th from web

87. according to rumor mousavi requested all people to gather near his office at 12:30 pm today.10:25 AM Jun 14th from web

88. there is a rumor now in Farsi twitting community about mousavi being seen after 12h of no known location #iranelection10:20 AM Jun 14th from web

89. still no working cellphones here and wireless speed is awful #iranelection10:17 AM Jun 14th from web

90. it's 9:54 AM -Amirabad street near Pasargad bank and to be honest I don't have the courage to leave the roof right now #iranelection9:57 AM Jun 14th from web

91. @ahmadinejad no wonder you are OK Mr president 24.5M9:43 AM Jun 14th from TwitterFox in reply to ahmadinejad

92. I'm dizzy but ok. some people are getting shelter in the nearby unfinished bank building. police arresting a middle aged man9:41 AM Jun 14th from web

93. my eyes are burning hard to keep them open #iranelection9:16 AM Jun 14th from web

94. tear gas #iranelection9:01 AM Jun 14th from web

95. Down with the dictator! Mousavi, Karoubi; support us! #iranelection9:00 AM Jun 14th from web

96. police demanding people to move their cars and start crashing car windows. more people are coming. I will try to get a better view8:48 AM Jun 14th from web

97. some people are now parking their cars in middle of the street trying to block the vans. #iranelection8:46 AM Jun 14th from web

98. from the looks of it they are waiting to arrest all the students! it's also explains the vans8:44 AM Jun 14th from web

99. Police is trying to stop people from gathering around while Intel guys still holding a line in front of the gates #iranelection8:35 AM Jun 14th from web

100. http://twitpic.com/7c85l #iranelection8:32 AM Jun 14th from web

101. just receive http://bit.ly/17SDk4 from a friend. can't check it out myself. hope it's not fake. #Iranelection8:20 AM Jun 14th from web

102. they are starting their motorbikes now. I can't see where they are going. #iranelection8:14 AM Jun 14th from web

103. my brother thinks they are after a student council activist. the council known as Tahkime Vahdat and belongs to president era. #iranelection8:05 AM Jun 14th from web

104. I guess the Intel ministry guy is trying to convince university's security to open the gates #iranelection7:56 AM Jun 14th from web

105. I'm currently on rooftop with my laptop, most of the city is now looking calm except university of Economy building. #IranElection7:53 AM Jun 14th from web

106. there were more troops inside the vans and now starting to create a line in front of the only entrance of the building #iranelection7:48 AM Jun 14th from web

107. no reports from any other part of Tehran, we're all waiting for a move from mousavi or karoubi. #iranelection7:42 AM Jun 14th from web

108. Internet barely works, Speed is near 2kbps #iranelection7:34 AM Jun 14th from web

109. they are joining with police motorcycles in front of student's dormitory buildings firefighters are leaving the area right now #iranelection7:33 AM Jun 14th from web

110. black riot guards with black vans, it's my first time seeing this people, no badges! probably Intel ministry #iranelection7:25 AM Jun 14th from web

111. 7am news, still nothing about protests & clashes on TV. #iranelection7:09 AM Jun 14th from web

112. all cellphones now read: Emergency only - No Service! #iranelection6:57 AM Jun 14th from web

113. 6:47 am, police is speaking with students inside dormitory buildings of university of Tehran with speaker. #iranelection6:49 AM Jun 14th from web

114. @matthew951 we're using twitterfox! thanks for the note!6:40 AM Jun 14th from web in reply to matthew951

115. Ahmadinejad & his supporters will celebrate their victory today at 5pm local time in Valiasr square & we will try to ruin his party!6:37 AM Jun 14th from web

116. Major General Jafari, commander of IRG said he will not let mousavi's green movement to harm Islamic revolution's ethics #iranelection6:27 AM Jun 14th from web

117. @LovLesmile Internet access in Iran is based on land lines not sat dishes!6:12 AM Jun 14th from web in reply to LovLesmile