Iran after the elections: 5 July

Hi - if you're here from a Twitter update check the bottom of the post.

Today's definitive big news is an easy choice: this one. The most important group of religious leaders in the country in Qom issued a statement calling the election and the new government illegitimate, a huge development that puts a crimp in the plans for this government to make its case that Mousavi is a traitor and should be tried as a foreign agent. Until this statement was issued the clerics in Qom had been quite silent on events in the country.

Edit: ha ha, authorities have decided to block their website starting today. A weak and obvious move.

The news from Syria has also been interesting, as relations between Syria and the US appear to be warming up at the same time that Iran's influence in the region is stumbling a bit. This article has news on the invitation yesterday by President Assad for Obama to visit the country, which can also be seen in this video. A cordial meeting between the two would show a nice contrast to Ahmadinejad's bloviations as he attempts to draw a parallel between Obama and Bush.



On the technology front, there is something called Haystack that is apparently just about finished, that is being made specifically to aid people in avoiding blocks and censors from the Iranian government. On the 22nd of June a product called Proxyheap was launched in order to accomplish the same thing but this was more of a quick, band-aid type solution whereas Haystack is supposed to be a comprehensive package that provides complete unfettered access to the internet while protecting the user's identity at the same time.

Roger Cohen of the New York Times has written some of the best articles on Iran (because he was actually there), and he has been saddened by being forced to leave and write from the outside now.

A picture of a statue is circulating on Twitter now. Twitter duplicates and RTs content a lot (that's a good thing though), and since I haven't seen this until today I assume it's new.

What it says:
Top part: What we want (خواست ما)
Bottom in bold: A second referendum (رفراندم مجدد)


BBC has a fairly detailed analysis here that doesn't have a great deal of information for those paying close attention but still worth taking a look at just in case. It also mentions Syria as well.

Someone has just put up a video of some political cartoons on the election. They fly by pretty quickly so you might want to pause it as you watch.