Aristotle

Its been a long time since I have been a visitor to this site. Mainly because I got bored from the lack of news from VH, but also because life has been tough here in Iran, similar to the rest of he world.

During the past few weeks people here experienced a surge in Hope because they believed that change could be effected through semi-democratic means. The streets of Iran and its media were witness to debate and demonstration (always peaceful) which were unprecedented since the Revolution 30 years back.

Yesterday almost EVERYBODY voted, even the most disenchanted (like myself). Think back to how hopeful some of you (even the non-Americans) felt in November of 2008. People here thought that they would be witness to a similar miracle. But this morning we all woke up to see that we are living in a big lie. A 46 million strong electorate has been had.

I cant describe to you how frustrating that is. I doubt that many of those reading would understand how it feels to be governed by those who lie to your face and punish you for doubting them.

For me its a fact of life. At 36 I am digesting it slowly and moving on. But some 60% of the country that is below 30 years old, is not accepting it. And the reaction could be seen on the streets all through the day. Its quite unsettling. I don't know how much coverage its all getting in your particular parts of the World. I thought that you would be interested to know that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his rhetoric has as much opposition within Iran as it does abroad.

I will keep updating.

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Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

edwardv

Thanks for posting that insight. I'am not surprised that the election was rigged and I hope the good people of Iran rise up and overthrow this evil human being. I'am afraid it will come at a high price. Peace brother.

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Charvel2

I've been watching this on the news. Foreign journalists are being stopped by police and their cameras taken from them, but some are managing to get reports through. Things are looking rough. Hang in there.

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VanHalenRules

Sounded like things were getting ugly yesterday, from what I was seeing in the media. Thanks for an update from the "inside."

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Rebel

Appreciate the update. I'd love to hear any info you can provide.

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"Man cannot live by bread alone. He must have peanut butter." - Brother Dave

Aristotle

Its in the residential areas now.

I live in a good area in North Tehran called Fereshteh, but a 10 minute walk would take me to one of the major protest areas. Plastic bullets are being used on cars to keep them away from the area. The people are coming back with rocks and bricks directed towards all Govt buildings especially banks. But the riots are quite isolated to some specific gathering points. This is why I was shocked only 20 minutes ago to hear the sounds of violence echoing within my apartment block. I looked outside my bedroom window and there were something like 15 motorbikes ridden by fully geared riot police who had chased a few kids into our cul-de-sac. One of the kids was severely beaten with wooden clubs and police trunchens, another which was dragged into our block by my neighbours was bruised around the neck.

It was shocking to have it come onto my doorstep. I went down to the gate to see how the kid was doing and I saw people standing by every window surrounding my street, shouting "Death to the Dictator." It was an amazing sight.

Dont know how its going to be tomorrow. Already they have filtered Facebook, Youtube and BBC. The bandwidth of all Internet connections has been reduced to stop any streaming. It took me a good 3 minutes to load this page!!! Text messages have not been working for 3 days and now even voice connections on mobiles are not working. I wonder if there will be a complete disconnection of Internet Services soon.

Not sure when I can get back to do another update. But I will do my best as I feel its my patriotic duty as an Iranian to let people know what is going on here.

Back soon I hope.

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Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

VanHalenRules

You are in our thoughts, and once again, thanks for giving us an update. From what I have seen myself on our media, a lot of this is either unknown or being glossed over.

As for it taking 3 minutes to load this page, that's simply because Brent forgot to push the reset switch.

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11/05/78 Hollywood Sportatorium
12/10/82 Hollywood Sportatorium
01/20/84 Hollywood Sportatorium
01/21/84 Hollywood Sportatorium
02/16/08 Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

OLO

My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your country Aristotle.

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voivod

amazing.... stay safe...

and visit more often in the Non-VH areas... Always more active than the VH area...

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Remember when Ronald Reagan was President!? We also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash still with us. Now we have Obama and no hope and no cash...

ziggysmalls

Keep your spirits up and thanks for giving us a scoop of what is happening.

Wruff_ajax

Thank you Aristotle, and God bless the people of Iran. I worry for my Iranian friend Kambiz. Praying for you guys!

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Rebel

My thoughts and prayers are with you and all the folks going through this mess. Perhaps some good will come out of it, but I doubt it.

Stay safe!!!

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"Man cannot live by bread alone. He must have peanut butter." - Brother Dave

voivod

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario – The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.

Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy.

"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

Minutes after Clinton spoke, the White House released a two-sentence statement praising "the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians," but expressing concern about "reports of irregularities."

Despite the challenge from reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi to incumbent Ahmadinejad, many officials and experts thought a Mousavi victory would result in only incremental shifts toward the U.S.

Because real power in Tehran is still wielded by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some say an Ahmadinejad re-election may make it easier to build an international consensus against Iran.

Administration officials remained silent out of concern that any comments might influence the results. But they were privately hoping for a victory by the more moderate Mousavi.

President Barack Obama's previous overtures include his recent address in Cairo to the Muslim world as well as, earlier, a televised New Year's address to the Iranian people and a series of diplomatic contacts. Officials say Obama's attempts to reach out have gone largely unanswered.

Neither Clinton nor the White House mentioned Ahmadinejad or his chief rival Mousavi, by name, or acknowledged the incumbent's victory declaration.

Iranian authorities reported that Ahmadinejad was re-elected with 62.6 percent of the vote. He called on the public to respect the vote. But Mousavi, a former prime minister who has become the hero of a youth-driven movement seeking greater liberties and a gentler face for Iran abroad, rejected the results and accused authorities of rigging Friday's vote.

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Saturday that Ahmadinejad's claim of a victory puts the Obama administration in a tough position.

"I think it's going to make it incredibly difficult for the Obama administration to acquiesce on Iran's enrichment of uranium when there is a president in Tehran who continues to deny the Holocaust, and continues to be belligerent toward Israel," Sadjadpour said. "I don't see the probability of Ahmadinejad taking a more moderate or conciliatory approach his second time around. Similar to what President Bush said when he was re-elected in 2004, he said, 'I've earned political capital, and now I am going to use it.'"

In brief remarks in Canada, Clinton cited "the enthusiasm and the very vigorous debate and dialogue" in the run-up to the vote. "We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people," she said.

Disappointment in the results was summed up by the Anti-Defamation League, which noted Ahmadinejad's history of "extremist allegations and attacks" against Jews and Israel as well as the United States

"We are greatly disappointed by the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," the ADL said in a statement. "We had hoped that a different outcome to this election would have sent a message to the international community that Ahmadinejad's incendiary behavior is not reflective of the beliefs and views of the Iranian people. Unfortunately, the result for Iran is likely to be another four years of extremism and isolation."

The election focused on what the office of the Iranian president can influence: boosting Iran's sinking economy, pressing for greater media and political freedoms, and being Iran's main envoy to the world.

Iran does not allow international election monitors. During the 2005 election, when Ahmadinejad won the presidency, there were some allegations of vote rigging from losers, but the claims were never investigated.

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Remember when Ronald Reagan was President!? We also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash still with us. Now we have Obama and no hope and no cash...

mistere

Maybe this is naive, but I find it encouraging somehow that the people are
putting their money where their mouth is and actually actively protesting the
results. Saying this, I'm sure it will be painful and I'm skeptical that anything
will change the outcome, but I appreciate the decidedly non-passive reaction
to what is apparently a sham election.

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Aristotle

Thanks everybody for your kind words. I actually need your help in finding a good anti-filtering software so that I can get past the filters on Facebook etc. If any of you have access to such a facility then you would be helping me and a bunch of people around me to have access to the rest of the world.

Right now text messaging is still down, a bunch of important Iranian and foreign websites are filtered and all the important satellite channels are being jammed.

Its like something out of a Tom Clancy novel. A vigorous election campaign yields a high turnout, leading to the election of a new President. But before the results are announced and with only part of the ballots counted, the election offices are taken over upon the orders of the incumbent and in what is actually a silent Coup, the elected President is prevented from taking office. For all intensive purposes The Revolutionary Guards are now runnig the country.

There is a tangible feeling of tension in the city. Everybody is a moment away from absolute rage or tears of frustration. People are shocked that something like this is even possible. Several people have used the phrase Rape. They feel that the nation has been raped.

Its almost surreal how normal life is going on. Everybody shows up at work in the morning and goes to demonstrations in the afternoon. Businesses are closing earlier to give their staff a chance to get home and avoid all the trouble. I headed straight for the gym while others headed for the streets. Again vehicles and buildings are being trashed or set on fire. But you can probably see more of that than I can. Right now as I type I can hear the noise of crowds and cars going along the main avenue not too far from my place. These are supporters of Ahmadinejad. Govt employees and army conscripts together with some genuine supporters who have been transported to show up for his speech and have then set off towards North Tehran in a show of strength for Ahmadinejad. But I am happy to see that they are doing it under a filthy summer rain.

Tomorrow there is a protest planned for supporters of Mousavi, the agrieved candidate. God knows what is going to happen. Police have now been authorised to used plastic bullets on people. Motorbikes are being stopped and confiscated. Its all being contained very professionally. But the people are doing their best to fight.

I doubt that its going to get us anywhere. A week later people will be tired of marching, frustrated with Mousavi because he will be shown to be impotent and we'll be happy that we have open access to Facebook and Youtube again. We'll all go back to being satisfied with less.

I now understand why Chileans wanted the head of Pinochet even when he was in exile in his 80's. Some injustices are so great and wound so deeply that they can never be forgiven.

Its 21.30 and people have just started screaming Allah Akbar (God is great) from their windows. Its the new protest slogan besides Death to the Dictator. Its amazing, it sounds like the whole city is aflame. Literally hundreds of voices are coming through my balcony door.

They are screaming their lungs out.

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Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.