A lot happened today, and can be found under the header "18th of June", as well as the demands from protesters section, now with a video and speech from Mousavi.

It has been confirmed: Reformists leaders are calling on their protesters to boycott tomorrow's prayer session led by Khameini. This is an extremely bold move.

Things are not rosy for the Basij and there are increasing signs that they are starting not only to lose ground, but to fear for their safety. There are many reports that most Basij forces are now hiding their identities with masks for fear of reprisal. There are websites being created featuring images and often identities of Basij who have been violently repressing students, calling for actin to be taken against those men.

More can be read under the entries of the 18th and 19th of June.

I really am trying to cram the most relevant information and speculation only. Everything is updated as events unfold, especially the timeline and what will happen in the future. If you want to link this, here is the website, updated as the situation changes:

https://sites.google.com/site/tatsumairanupdate/

For those wondering, here is the current time in Iran

All twitter posts about the army being involved are false as I am writing this Warning, new twitter feeds are most likely government members trying to spread misinformation, ignore them! They have really stepped-up their efforts in the last day or so. Also, there is a handful of good twitter feeds, but please do not publicize their usernames, they are in enough danger as it is and they don't need more publiclity. Those in the know will c/p their entries. Major timeline overhaul, including what has unfolded in the last few hours.

Suppression of Dissent - The Players

Currently, there are either two or three maybe four groups who are suppressing the students on the ground that you'll read about throughout this thread:


1. The Basij
2. Ansar Hizbullah (which I will refer to as Ansar)
3. Lebanese Hizbullah (Unconfirmed but highly probable. Der Spiegel, based on a Voice of America report, says that 5,000 Hizbullah fighters are currently in Iran masquerading as riot police, confirming the independent reports. Many different independent reports and video point that way. Even in the last hours other independent twitter feeds have declared witnessing thugs beating on people while shouting in Arabic; I will refer to them as Hizbullah)
4. Lebanese Hamas (unconfirmed and doubtful. This rumour has been cropping up all day, with some of the most twitter feeds saying they had visual confirmation of Lebanese Hamas fighters along with Lebanese Hizbullah member. Take with a grain of salt, but it has been mentioned often enough, by sources generally always right, that it deserves of a mention here. I will refer to them as Hamas)

- The Basij are your regular paramilitary organization. They are the armed hand of the clerics. The Basij are a legal group, officially a student union, and are legally under direct orders of the Revolutionary Guard. Their main raison d'être is to quell dissent. They are the ones who go and crack skulls, force people to participate in pro-regime demonstrations, and generally try to stop any demonstrations from even starting. They are located throughout the country, in every mosque, every university, every social club you can think of. They function in a way very similar to the brownshirts.

They were the ones who first started the crackdown after the election, but it wasn't enough. While they are violent and repressive, they are still Persian and attacking fellow citizens. A beating is one thing, mass killings another.

- Another group was working with them, whose members are even more extreme, is Ansar. There is a lot of cross-membership between the Basij and Ansar, though not all are members of the other group and vice-versa. The vast majority of Ansar are Persians (either Basij or ex-military), though a lot of Arab recruits come from Lebanon and train with them under supervision of the Revolutionary Guard. They are not functioning under a legal umbrella, they are considered a vigilante group, but they pledge loyalty directly to the Supreme Leader and most people believe that they are under his control. They are currently helping the Basij to control the riots, but due to the fact that they are Persians and in lower numbers than the Basij, they are not that active.

- The Lebanese Hizbullah is a direct offshoot (and under direct control) of the Iranian Hizbullah (itself under direct control of the Supreme Leader) and cooperates closely with Ansar though Ansar occupies itself only with Iran's domestic policies, while Hizbullah occupies itself only with Iran's foreign policy unless there is a crisis like right now. However, Hizbullah has been called to stop violent riots in Iran in the past.

(the following paragraph includes some speculation based on reports from ground zero) Hizbullah flew in a lot of their members in Iran, most likely a good deal even before the elections in case there were trouble. They are the ones who speak Arabs and are unleashing the biggest level of violence on the Persians so far. Another wave arrived recently and there is chatter that yet another wave of Hizbullah reinforcements are coming in from Lebanon as we speak. According to Iranians on the ground, they are the ones riding motorcycles, beating men women and children indiscriminately and firing live ammunitions at students.

- The Lebanese Hamas is a branch of Hamas set-up in Lebanon. Like Hamas in Gaza, Hamas in Lebanon is directly under the orders of the Hamas council of Damascus known as Majlis al-Shurah. While it is surprising to hear that they might be involved, and as I said take these reports with a grain of salt until we get more confirmations, it is not illogical either. Iran has become the main benefactor of Hamas in the last years, branching out from only supporting Islamic Jihad. They now provide Hamas with the bulk of their budget, with advanced weaponry and training by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Not only do Hamas own them a lot, but if the Republic falls, Hamas finds itself in dire trouble. It is very likely that, at the call of Iran, the Majlis al-Shura would have decided to send fighters from their Lebanese Hamas branch along with Hizbullah fighters if it was requested of them.

Other Players

Decided to create this section in order to give a wider range of explanations for people who might not be too familiar with Iran's internal politics and structure.

The Police

Iran's police is not dissimilar to your run-of-the-mill law enforcement in other dictatorships, with the difference that they are not generally as brutal and repressive. This is because the Basij are generally in charge of these activities, meaning that Iranian policemen generally concentrate more on the law and order aspect of Iranian daily life.

Today, it is thought that the Iranian police numbers close to 60,000 members, in contrast with up to a million Basij members. This is one of the reasons why we hear much more about the plainclothes militia than we do about the police right now, the other being that the Basij and Ansar are much more willing to violently assault their fellow citizens than even the regular police force. This is not as much a testament to the decency of your average police officers as much as a damning report of what the Basij and Ansar thugs are like.

There are also subdivisions and extra-legal forces attached to the police force. The major subdivision would be the riot police (So-called Unit 110) who are actually much more violent than regular police officers, but also in much, much smaller numbers. There is also VEVAK, the secret police. Very little is known and confirmed about them, except their extreme tactics include murder, kidnapping and torture.

The Army

In Iran, there are actually two armies. They are divided between Artesh and Pasdaran.

Artesh is the regular Military apparatus of the Republic. Their numbers, including reservists, go up to a million members, but only half of them have received anything more than very basic training. As it is often the case in police states, there is very little known and confirmed about the structure of the Army itself.

They were created prior to the Iranian Revolution, in fact this army has existed in one form or another, and is a continuation, for more than 2,500 years. This is not as impressive as it sounds, however, as they often underwent drastic changes, there is no real links between the current incarnations, and the top echelons were most often purged when new rulers took power. In fact, in the last 100 years, those purges happened between two or three times, depending on the count, the last time centered around the time of the Islamic revolution, when most generals were forced to flee, killed, or killed while in exile.

Artesh took the brunt of the military casualties during the Iran-Iraq war, the army is considered to very nationalist and not extremely religious, which explains why they have declared their neutrality and refusal to repress the situation, as they see their purpose to defend the Iranian population.

Everyone agrees they will be the ultimate key to this Revolution when they finally decide to take a side, or alternatively force the Pasdaran to stay on the sidelines with them.

Pasdaran, also known as Iranian Revolutionary Guard

The Iranian Ground forces (I will focus on them, as the Navy and Airforce are currently irrelevant, will update if the situation changes) have been estimated between 100,000 and 130,000 units total. As always, truth most likely resides somewhere in the middle. They are, much like the Basij and Ansar, subservient directly to the Supreme Leader, and ideologically created in the spirit of defending the Islamic Revolution ideals and Republic, not Iran per se. They also control the Basij.

They are a child of the revolution, and they are more geared toward guerilla warfare than they are for military engagements. They are also the force responsible for training the various terrorist groups financed and supported by the Iranian government. They are fanatically devoted to the Republic through intense indoctrination.

The elite troops are called Quds. They are considered the elite of the elite, but they only number between 2000-6000, although rumours say that they are twice or three time as big. They are, however, rumours and quite unlikely.

Ultimately, the Revolutionary Council and the Supreme Leader will call on them if they think they are on the verge of losing power, however it is unlikely that the army will just stay on the sidelines if this happens.

The Guardian Council, formerly known as The Revolutionary Council

The Revolutionary Council was created by Ayatollah Khomeini shortly before the Iranian Revolution. Since then, they have sat as the real authority of Iran. The Guardian Council is made up of 12 Ayatollahs, and they are the ones who dictate every little facet of Iranian life, making the position of President mostly irrelevant, as they do not take any major decisions without first asking permission from Khameini and his cronies. They do not have any qualms about hiding this, as the head of the Council is called "Supreme Leader".

The very goal of this revolution has become not only to elect Moussavi as President, but also elect Grand Ayatollah Montazeri as Supreme Leader. GA Montazeri has been calling for a separation of Mosque and State, and transferring most powers of the Supreme Leader to the President, including control of the Armed Forces.

The Grand Ayatollahs

The Grand Ayatollahs are Shiite clerics who first attained the position of Ayatollahs and then, through their knowledge of Islamic Jurisprudence, attained a supreme position and are regarded as the most important voice in Shia Islam today. They center around the holy Shiite city of Qom, though some live outside Iran.


What will happen

Unless the army decides to intervene in the favor of the Council and to stop the early beginnings of the new Revolution, Ansar & Hizbullah members will be the ones doing the brunt of the killing and repression with Basij as a support while also protecting government buildings and try to do crowd control. The police seems to have for the most part disbanded in centers like Tehran according to all reports, including international media. If the police decides to come back, they will focus less on protection and crowd control, so the Basij will start to crack more skulls).

Currently, this is what is happening. Regarding the repression of dissent.

As for the political scene, the majority of Grand Ayatollahs who expressed an opinion on this have sided with the protesters/against the results of the election. They are GA Ardebili, GA Montazeri, GA Shirazi, GA Golpaygani and GA Sanei. The only Grand Ayatollah who has sided in favor of the election results is Khameini, who is also the Supreme Leader of the Revolutionary Council, and the facto ruler of Iran.

Timeline
note: I built this through both articles and twitter feeds, so I do not claim that this is a 100% factually correct representation of reality, but this is the general narrative.

14th of June - While the previous day had been witness to some protests, they were for the most part peaceful. However, as time grew the protests turned more and more violent. When the first spontaneous riots erupted, the first wave of violence was unleashed. The Iranian Riot Police was called in to support the regular police officers controlling the protests, and shortly after the Basij also took the scene, moving from a passive to active role of repression. The RP concentrated mostly around public buildings and streets while the Basij took position around student groups, especiallly universities.

- As things got more out of hand, more and more Basij troops were called in, as the police started dispersing. The riot police are less inclined (or, rather I should say the Basij are more inclined) to use violence so they retreated and leaving the place to the Basij. The repressive forces concentrated their assault mostly around the main Iranian universities, while the riot police were concentrating on protecting various government buildings such as the Interior Ministry. At least two people had been killed already.

- On the telecommunication front, this is when we started to hear more and more from twitters while videos were being freely updated to youtube (while youtube started to delete the more violent ones a few hours later). This is also the moment where the government realized what was happening, and ordered for the internet, phone lines and cellphones to be cut off, in order to avoid people communicating with the outside world.

late 14th, early 15th of June - This is the second wave of violent repression. At this point, violent riots had spread all over the main cities of Iran. The violence against citizens was not only the fruit of the Basij anymore, but also came from Ansar Hizbullah members. This is the point where firearms started being used. There were reports of a few murders but it was mostly fired in the air or on walls in order to scare away protesters in University dorms. It's also around the same time that the first reports and videos of an important number of non-Persian thugs shouting in Arabic and violently beating people with chains, clubs and electric batons (similar to cattle prods), which led to many speculating that lebanese Hizbullah members were now in Iran. Der Spiegel, through Voice of America, later claimed that 5000 Hizbullah fighters were passing off as Riot Police, validating the claims of many independent sources and twitter feeds.

- Universities have been the hotbed of protests, serving as a hub of anti-government demonstrations and preparations. 120 teachers from the Sharid University resigned in protest over the election results. Perfectly away of this, the Basij, Ansar and possibly Hizbullah members concentrated their attacks on University Dorms all over the country, storming them and beating students, destroying everything, especially computers.

- The end of the second wave came right before the beginning of the current manifestation. Things were getting quieter with only sporadic reports of dissenters being assaulted. Important to note: at this time. the Supreme Leader authorized the plainclothes militias to use live ammunition against the crowd if things were to get out of hands. By the end of the first two waves of protests, hundreds of people had been arrested.

midday, 15th of June - This brings us to the third wave, which just began around 12:30PM for those of us on the East Coast. Plainclothes militia opened fire on civilians protesting peacefully. Possibly up to 2 million protesters took the street. Chaos erupted in the streets, with reports of fighting all over Tehran and spreading over Iran as the news circulated. Pictures of people shot, some to death, finally surfaced and were published in the mainstream media. Violent and murderous repression has started. At least a twenty people had been killed at this by the end of the 15th of June.

- There is a major national crackdown on students, especially those with connections to the outside world going on right now. Students are fighting back in some areas. Telephones are being bugged and everyone twittering and sending videos outside of Iran are being rounded up. ISPs were shut down, government hackers are threatening people who twitter, and some of them have vanished in the last 24 hours.

- Eventually, the people started to fight back. First, they took over and burned down a Basij base, killing its commander. Later, a Basij shot a young man in the face in front of their HQ, at which point a policeman went to confront them. The Basij beat the policeman, at which point students stormed the compound, throwing molotov cocktails, burning it to the ground.

- During the night, the police entered certain neighbourhood to arrest public servants and force them to appear at tomorrow's pro-Ahmadinejad manifestation, but the people went out in the street and forced them out of their neighbourhoods. The Basij have kept on storming dorms. So far the reports are conflicting, but it appears that the death toll could be as high as 40 for the protesters, with two dead on the side of the repressive militias. This is the end of the third wave.

early 16th of June - Supporters of Moussavi have a manifestation planned for 5pm, Tehran time. Roughly the same number or more is expected to attend. People are dressed in black and told to protest silently.

- The pro-Ahmadinejad crowd however are planning a counter-demonstration at the very same place the supporters are supposed to gather at 3pm. Most agree that basically they are simply going to gather for a confrontation. Rumours are that they are taking position in buildings next to the parade and in bunkers to attack. Basij from all over the country are moving to Tehran and supporters are being bused from all over the country. A major showdown is expected to unfold.

- The crackdown on people using telecommunication is as strong as ever. Anyone with a laptop, camera or cellphone is attacked in the street by plainclothes militias. Tehran hotels are under lockdown to prevent the members of the foreign press not yet expulsed from reporting what is happening.

- As for the Iranian Government and different branches, there are rumours that many Army Generals have been arrested for plotting a Coup d'État, but this is still speculation at this point. The Supreme Leader has also called for a 10-day inquiry into the claims of fraud, but it has been widely dismissed as cosmetic. Moussavi and his supporters have rejected this, claiming that they want new elections. Khameini is now using the armed Basij as his own bodyguards, hundreds of them are surround him and his residence to protect from attempted assassinations. Ahmadinejad himself is in Russia right now, for a planned visit, and tries to pretend that everything is good as usual.

midday 16th of June to early 17th of June - The fourth wave of violence has started, and was expected to flare up very soon. It surprisingly was quite mild. Pro-Moussavi supporters said that there were even more people today protesting against the regime, though raw numbers are hard to get. If this is true, it means there are more than 2M protesters in the street right now. They are dressed in black and protesting silently and without violence so far. Other reports that only 250,000 were in the street, possibly scared by the Basij and propaganda.

- The Basij, surprisingly, did not attacking the march itself but rather assaulted dorms again. It looks like they are using the march as a diversion. In Tehran proper, 2000 Basij are waiting to storm the male dorm, and they are backed by IRG helicopters, which seems to send the message that the IRG has broken from their undeclared neutrality toward tacitely supporting the Regime.

- The crackdown on telecommunications is starting to suffocate all of Iran. As of now:

* Gmail and GTalk are shut down
* Yahoo is shut down
* AIM is most likely shut down
* Phone lines are down most of the time
* HTTPS and other such protocols are down most of the time
* Iranian ISPs have been shut down
* They are trying very hard to close down the Iranian connexion to twitter and giving proxies they control in order to track down people
* Cellphones and SMS are shut down
People are also receiving phone calls from the government saying "We know you were in the protests".

- Night fell on Iran, and the Basij were roaming, attacking passerbys at random. They had also surrounded dorms and stormed them once again.

17th of June - With the end of the fourth wave of violence, we have been in a wait and see mode. As of right now, there are many rumors involving clerics and Ayatollahs meeting in the Holy Shiite city of Qom and planning to overthrow Khameini, as well as reports that some in the Army plotting to overthrow the government, semi-confirmations from credible twitterers, but nothing concrete or substantiated so far. These would be extremely big development, so it's better to treat them with caution.

- Nothing much has happened on this day aside of that. There was another mostly peaceful march, with around 500,000 protesters in the street. The Basij and others are still roaming around and beating on the population, as well as dressing in green, destroying buildings and trying to pin the blame on the protesters in order to make them look like a bunch of thugs.

- There have been more than a hundred people arrested in their hospital beds and taken to prison. The number of prisoners right now is estimated between 1,000 and 10,000; possibly more. The Basij are now laying traps into hospitals themselves, trying to snatch up protesters there. There are also reports that they are taking dead bodies before they are identified, stuffing them in vans and leaving to undisclosed locations. Doctors have been setting up outside clinics and fighting back in order to stop the Basij from doing what they do.

18th of June - The protests show no signs of slowing down, and the fact that the government has been less violent so far and concentrating on discrediting the protesters instead shows that they are losing grip and painfully aware of all the attention given to what is happening right now, CNN notwithstanding. It's also a worrying step, because the moment they start feeling they are losing grip even more is the moment where they might begin to unleash brutal waves of violence again, much worse than what we've seen so far.

- Iran Human Rights reports that today alone hundreds of members of the opposition and known Reformists have been arrested, some of them tortured in the basements of government buildings.

- There is a (so far) quiet march going on, where all the protesters are dressed in black and mourning those who have died so far. The crowds are estimated to be as big as they have been for the last few days, so that puts them between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 in Tehran alone.

- Khameini has agreed to a recount of 600 out of the thousands of ballot boxes, but this has been rejected by the opposition, who says that these elections are to be declared null and void, and that new elections have to be rescheduled. Khameini in return rejected this. There are reports that Mousavi went as far as saying that Khameini does not have authority to preside over the state of Iran anymore.

- As a sign of growing tension in the governmental apparatus, fist-fights were said to have broken out in Parliament over who to support, but it seems that the Parliament will ultimately back Ahmadinejad and Khameini to the end. The Interior Ministry has ordered a police investigation into the massacre of 7 civilians by a Basij firing in a crowd. There are also reports of police officers deserting their posts and joining the protesters, while others use their position in the police force as a way to warn protesters from incoming arrests or crack downs. The army is still silent. There are reports that the man who leaked results of the election giving Khatami winner and Ahmadinejad as losing in third position has been killed in a car "accident".

- The State TV has been turned into a full-blown anti-Revolution machine, constantly hammering on how evil the "thugs" who are smashing around private property are. Problem is that those thugs are in fact Basij dressed in green, but IRIB is reporting it as pro-Moussavi supporters. They have also been showing documentaries about the evils of the internet and how the US, UK and Israel are behind the protests. State Radio is not much better, with talking heads calling for the death of those evil thugs destabilizing the country at the behest of external forces. They have also issued false reports that Moussavi was "condeming the rioters".

- The Government has closed Iran to all foreign communication and coverage, according to many reports. It would also seem that the Iranian government has opened an account in the name of Ayatollah Khameini on Twitter. There are reports that senior aides to all reformist candidates have been arrested, but it has yet to be corroborated and this is not the first time we hear such reports.

- According to Reuters, Iranian prosecutors have warned of the death penalty for the rioters who are involved in violence. Islamic cleric have warned that not going to Friday's prayer service makes you worthy of the death penalty. It is unclear yet what isn't worthy of death penalty at this point if you protest against the regime.

- All the violence reported over Iran is now exclusively done by the Basij, Ansar and, if the rumours are true, Hizbullah and Hamas. The police have completely stopped participating in the repression of the population, and both the Army and IRG are standing still and not doing anything. This is good news, but the Basij are sadly not reducing the level of violence they are unleashing on the population, beating up everyone they can get their hands on. It continued all throughout the night and during the day, but due to the mass of people involved it seems that they are restraining themselves when it comes to the mass rallies, preferring to pick isolated targets.

- Universities have cancelled all exams all over the country, and a long list of rebel students was given to all universities and they have to report the students, who are to be arrested on sight.

- There have been a few confirmed cases of people threatened inside the United States for providing proxies for the revolution. Their details were available on the internet so they were passed around pro-Government forces. If you are helping this revolution, be careful to do so as anonymously as you can. It doesn't mean you are risking your life, but it could potentially result in harrassment or vandalism.

19th of June - The day has yet to begin in Iran as I write this (19pm EST), but today looks to be by far the defining moment of this week. Supreme Leader Khameini has called for Friday Prayers where he will be present. There are fears that the IRG has been called in support and that they will have a massive presence, which could possibly be a post-prayers trap. On the other hand, not attending makes the reformists enemies of Islam and worthy of the death penalty according to Khameini. Iranian prosecutors have also warned protesters that violence might be punished with the death penalty, according to Reuters. Supporters of Khameini are expected to flood Tehran from all corners of Iran on Friday, so big clashes are expected. Reformist leaders have called on their supporters to boycott the prayers led by Khameini. This is huge.

- As the Basij, they are cracking down on the population as ever, roaming the streets, vandalizing both pro and anti-Mousavi targets while pretending to be pro-Mousavi forces and trying to crack down on all dissenters.

The revolution lives on. Long live the revolution!

Demands from the protesters

Today, Mousavi gave an important speech. Here's the video, and translation

"I have come due to concerns of current political and social conditions - to defend the rights of the nation. I have come to improve Iran's International relations. I have come to tell the world and return to Iran our pride, our dignity, our future. I have come to bring to Iran a FUTURE of FREEDOM, of HOPE. I have come to represent the poor the helpless the hungry. I have come to be ACCOUNTABLE to you my people and to this world.

"Iran must participate in FAIR elections, it is a matter of national importance. I have come to you because of the corruption in Iran. 25% inflation means IGNORANCE - THIEVING - CORRUPTION - where is the wealth of my nation? What have you done with $300 BILLION in last 4 years - where is the wealth of the nation? The next Government of Iran will be chosen by the people. Why do all our young want to leave this country?"

"I know of no creation who places HIMSELF ahead of 20 million of the nation. We are Muslims - what is happening in Iran's Government is a sin! This Government is not what Imam Khomeini wanted for Iran - I will change all this - This is the SEA of GREEN!!"

This is a major landmark. Here are the 7 demands that are distributed by pamphlets to protesters:

1. Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leader
2. Dismissal of Ahmadinejad for his illegal acts
3. Temporary appointment of Ayatollah Montazeri as the Supreme Leader
4. Recognition of Mousavi as the President
5. Forming the Cabinet by Mousavi to prepare for revising the Constitution
6. unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners
7. Dissolution of all organs of repression, public or secret.

Who is Grand Ayatollah Montazeri?

Ayatollah Montazeri is a pro-Democracy, pro-Human Rights Ayatollah who was at one point on the short list of possible successors of Khomeini, but became marginalized as he adopted what was seen as a too pro-Western, pro-Democracy stance.

Since the beginning of the Revolution, he has been one of the fiercest critics of the Regime, and one of the biggest proponents of women and civil rights for ALL Iranians, including much-maligned minorities like the Baha'is. In fact he goes further than the protections afforded to them under Sharia.

He is also a big critic of Ahmadinejad and has been seen for years as the best hope for Iran if he ever was to come to power, something that was unthinkable a mere week ago.

He has also come out with a statement saying that policemen who beat on protesters and follow orders will not be forgiven under Islam, and that even if the government cuts the lines of communication with the outside world, that it was too late and the truth was getting out

Links

For further information on the Basij, Global Security has a good article about the history of the Basij.

CNN has a good article where eyewitnesses describe the type of violence usually unleashed by the Basij.

Here is another good article from GS again giving more background information on the ruthless Ansar thugs.

BBC profile of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri

important: The Iranian government is looking for dissident twitterers, so if you have an account, change your location and timezone to tehran!

regarding the supposed numbers received by all three candidates giving Moussavi the winner and Ahmadinejad third with 7M votes: The only confirmation is an Iranian journalist. We don't have any external data confirming those numbers. 7M for Ahmadinejad seems quite low, so treat this as an unsubstantiated rumour for the moment

he dust revolution - how Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's jibe backfired
Buzz up!
Digg it
Robert Tait
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 June 2009 21.57 BST
Article history

When it was uttered it was meant as a biting put-down to the thousands who dared to question his re-election as president of Iran.

"The nation's huge river would not leave any opportunity for the expression of dirt and dust," said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a rather elliptical reference to the surging protests on the streets of Tehran.

For good measure he followed up with some more earthy language comparing claims of massive election fraud in last week's poll to the passions of supporters of a beaten football team after a match.

He then went on to accuse his opponents of "officially recognising thieves, homosexuals and scumbags" in exchange for their votes.

But, just as street protests the world over seize upon a poignant image to convey their message, so Ahmadinejad's contemptuous phrase "dirt and dust" has entered folklore and provided a focus for the rage of the protesters.

So far it has inspired pithy slogans, blog headlines, posters and a litany of insults throwing the president's words back in his face. "Dirt and dust is you, it is you who are the enemy of Iran," one chant goes. Another frequently-heard slogan has been: "We are not dirt and dust, we are Iran's nation."

The phrase (khas o khashak in Farsi) has become a badge of pride. Etemad-e Melli, a reformist newspaper, carried a huge picture on yesterday's front page showing marchers carrying a banner bearing the slogan, Epic of Dirt and Dust. The offending words were written in green, the colour adopted by Mousavi's campaign.

It has also prompted a high-profile protest from one of Iran's most famous singers, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, who asked the state broadcaster IRIB - controlled by Ahmadinejad supporters - to stop playing his songs because he believed the insulting reference included him.

"I emphatically ask IRIB not to broadcast my voice because this is the voice of dirt and dust and will always remain so," he told BBC Persian.

Yesterday another huge crowd - estimated to be hundreds of thousands strong - rallied, this time in Southern Tehran, to protest against the killing of marchers in previous days.

Today Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will give what is being seen as a critical address at Friday prayers that will be scrutinised for clues as to how the Islamic regime plans to deal with the massive unrest in the country.

Besides the chants, the protests have become defined by instantly recognisable green emblems - including green wristbands and ribbons wrapped round the fingers. Many protesters have also appeared in T-shirts and headbands bearing the slogan: "Where is my vote?"

At least one other famous Ahmadinejad quote has also been used against him during the demonstrations. One green-clad pro-Mousavi protester was photographed wearing a mock halo around his head; a gesture apparently aimed at Ahmadinejad's claims, made to a conservative cleric, to have been engulfed by a halo of light while addressing the UN general assembly four years ago.

In a potentially ominous sign for Ahmadinejad, even senior fundamentalists appear to have been alienated by the "dirt and dust" putdown.

Ahmad Tavakoli, the conservative director of the research centre of Iran's parliament, said it would be more appropriately applied to the plainclothes security forces who have brutally attacked protesting students at Tehran university and other institutions in recent days.

"We have to accept that 14 million have not voted for Mr Ahmadinejad and, rightly or wrongly, they now have a question and feel insulted," he told IRIB's Channel Five. "They are neither dirt and dust nor hooligans and thugs. Dirt and dust are those who attack university campuses and students and commit crimes there."

The Guardian (UK) (new window)

Huzzah

/pops if fark mangles the size

Thanks tats.

Can I toss in some Person Hip Hop (new window)?

*sigh*

Persian

Dammit Tats, with your great article about hot Persian women drinking and using drugs. That's way better than my lame Biz Markie attempt at a thread.

Tatsuma: Hey mate, how's your evening/morning shaping up? Been away most of the evening here. Jennyz caught me up on things.

Any update from Persepolis?

shameless self-promotion aside, here's the Tatsuma News Network badge (new window) for anyone that wants it.

Allow me to state that at no point, have I thought that the claim that "all Iranian women are gorgeous" was a lie.

That is all.

Long time lurker; TF for a year because of the green. Thanks Drew.

Day 6 of Iran crisis

* In an attempt to defuse calls for a rerun, Iran's Governing Council promised to listen to the candidates "express their ideas" about the election. It also said it was examining 646 complaints.

* Meanwhile, it was clear where President Ahmadinejad wanted to place the blame for the crisis. He told his cabinet that the vote's legitimacy was being questioned because it was a "challenge to the West's democracy."

* Also focusing on foreign elements, the Intelligence Ministry said that it had uncovered proof of a bomb plot backed by American elements. The bombs were apparently supposed to go off in polling stations on election day.

* Iranian television showed former president Hashemi Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, rallying protesters. Hardliners accused her and her brother, Mahdi, of treason. The two were later barred from leaving Iran.

* In an echo of Twitter's decision to cancel planned maintenance to help protesters, YouTube broke from its usual policy of barring violent videos so that Iranians could "capture their experiences for the world to see".

The Independent (UK) (new window)

I like sleep.
Im gonna get sleep now.

this post is in no way a tag for tomorrow, even though I know we'll be on thread 30 by the time I wake up.


F*ckin A, man.. I dont think ive ever been this interested in anything that didn't have nipples and a vagina attached..

JesusGaveMuhammadAFacial: F*ckin A, man.. I dont think ive ever been this interested in anything that didn't have nipples and a vagina attached..

you and me both.

I guess we've moved. I hope that this time someone can answer my question without a minimum of ad hominem and WHARRGARBL.

Has anyone been able to verify the VoA/Der Spiegel claims of Lebanese Hezbollah involvement? I've seen just as many rebuttals from Iranian Twitterers as anything remotely resembling "corroboration".

Although the MSM got caught with its pants down at the beginning and are still largely reliant on non-journo sources, no one else seems to be considering this as credible as Fark. More disconcertingly, none of the serious foreign affairs writers seem to be.

THIS SITE has some pretty good info...(new window)

"How much for de wimmin?"

Id also like to make a call to anyone good with PhootoShoop to make a badge for us..

32nd Mechanized Heavy Farktillary Division
"Baffle them with brilliance, or bombard them with bullshiat."

we have 2 so far, but not that one.

no clue whatsll go on it, i dunno, im tired.

bonus points if you email it to me when yer done. ultrafark email is in profile.

gnite folks. Tats, try not to drink all the booze.. you might need some tomorrow

Thoroughly smashed, you say?

But at night, and in private, the shawls were off. The same girls - with their brothers and cousins - joined me in underground raves, fuelled by smuggled alcohol and copious amounts of cannabis.



So that's why it's being called the green revolution....

/they're hot and they like pot
//checks price on Farsi Rosetta Stone...

I'm just posting this link to try and attempt to stop the Lebanese Hezbollah fight.

Overall I came to the conclusion that while there is no hard proof of their involvement, there have been rumors (but nothing more than rumors).

If asked, there is a good chance they would assist Iran considering the relationship between the two.

oh, and in before images disable:

JesusGaveMuhammadAFacial: I dont think ive ever been this interested in anything that didn't have nipples and a vagina attached..

farkied

Benevolent Misanthrope: "How much for de wimmin?"

Awesome!

drew46n2: oh, and in before images disable:

HAH! *click* *save image*


Anaxphone: JesusGaveMuhammadAFacial: I dont think ive ever been this interested in anything that didn't have nipples and a vagina attached..

farkied

woo!

Fjornir this (new window) is what I meant.

I have always had a thing for Persians. They are gorgeous.

Anaxphone: JesusGaveMuhammadAFacial: I dont think ive ever been this interested in anything that didn't have nipples and a vagina attached..

farkied

Benevolent Misanthrope: "How much for de wimmin?"

Awesome!

Thank you for the heads-up, m'dear.

Fark It: But at night, and in private, the shawls were off. The same girls - with their brothers and cousins - joined me in underground raves, fuelled by smuggled alcohol and copious amounts of cannabis.



So that's why it's being called the green revolution....

/they're hot and they like pot
//checks price on Farsi Rosetta Stone...

او گرم است

Jon Snow: Has anyone been able to verify the VoA/Der Spiegel claims of Lebanese Hezbollah involvement? I've seen just as many rebuttals from Iranian Twitterers as anything remotely resembling "corroboration".

Iranian twitters are essentially eye-witness accounts. They've also been corroborated by personal emails people are receiving from Iranian family and friends.

They've carried the common theme of "Arabic speaking" or "Arabic accented" members of militia. They're usually identified as "Hamas" or "Hezbollah" however, this is from the point of view of an individual on the street.

For perspective if you were to be accosted by one person who spoke Spanish in Texas, you might think it's an isolated incident. However, when you hear multiple accounts from people all over about Spanish-speaking or Spanish-sounding thugs, you'll probably suspect Mexican involvement.

Jon Snow: Although the MSM got caught with its pants down at the beginning and are still largely reliant on non-journo sources, no one else seems to be considering this as credible as Fark. More disconcertingly, none of the serious foreign affairs writers seem to be.

The only thing that is 100% confirmed is that some of the Basij were speaking arabic. Now, its possible that, since some (albiet a VERY SMALL MINORITY) speak arabic as a native language in Iran, they might be Iraninan. However, Iran is home to a specific ethnic group of Persians. Persians are white-skinned, looking more like the Spanish, than any other group. The Arab-speaking Basij were very dark in color, and with different facial features. (on twitter, it was said " They look arab," and "they don't look like iranians")

They could be foreigners who already lived in Iran. The twitterers, however, were convinced they were not native.

TejanoCharmander: I have always had a thing for Persians. They are gorgeous.

Same here.

Clip of people getting shot at.
Link (new window)

Clip of Mousavi and protesters.
Link (new window)

Tatsuma: It has been confirmed: Reformists leaders are calling on their protesters to boycott tomorrow's prayer session led by Khameini. This is an extremely bold move.

netweavr: However, when you hear multiple accounts from people all over about Spanish-speaking or Spanish-sounding thugs, you'll probably suspect Mexican involvement.

Spanish speaking thugs in Texas? It's more likely than you think.

Benevolent Misanthrope: Thank you for the heads-up, m'dear.

De nada. That image is too funny not to share with everyone here.

TejanoCharmander: I have always had a thing for Persians. They are gorgeous.

Why thank you, we try.

tallguywithglasseson: netweavr: However, when you hear multiple accounts from people all over about Spanish-speaking or Spanish-sounding thugs, you'll probably suspect Mexican involvement.

Spanish speaking thugs in Texas? It's more likely than you think.

And do people suspect Mexican gangs?

I didn't know Google translate didn't have Farsi, but now they do. That is awesome.

Link (new window)

I cant believe we got Tatsuma fahsnickered.

Tat, email me so we can talk on an instant messenger, I'm bored as shiat.

There are some damned hot women there.

Jon Snow: I guess we've moved. I hope that this time someone can answer my question without a minimum of ad hominem and WHARRGARBL.

Has anyone been able to verify the VoA/Der Spiegel claims of Lebanese Hezbollah involvement? I've seen just as many rebuttals from Iranian Twitterers as anything remotely resembling "corroboration".

I tried to, there is no VOA article on the topic of Iran around the time of the elections and after to Lebanon Hezbollah. Spiegel Online was just that one statement with the 5,000 figure and mostly the "our reporter heard them speak Arabic" connection.


My post on the subject (I tried).

demonfaerie: I didn't know Google translate didn't have Farsi, but now they do. That is awesome.

Link (new window)

Awesome. That had to be a hell of a job for some poor linguistics programmer.

finally, new thread


before the dawn breaks and the tweeting resumes for another glorious day in paradise, heres the twitter grid

Iranian Twitter Feed Following Grid (new window)

Off to bed. I hate not being able to be nocturnal. Oh well, we'll see what happens in the next 8 hours.

mfaby: There are some damned hot women there.

Yeah there is, I would so switch teams for any of them.

All of the badges/patches that I could find up to this point:

101st Chairborne Infantry
1337th Mechanized "The Fighting Keyboards"
Special Anonymous Forces
58008 SAC Division
Tatsuma News Network

Thanks to daddakamabb, UNC_samurai, and stickmangrit

could someone re-link the big twitter grid thing?

I've been following OG as one source. She can no longer log on as such and has been using another

By the way, you can download cell phone and other homemade videos of the protests on the torrents. Be careful, there's some graphic stuff.