On the Web: ‘Something must be done’

June 22 reports: Intensity and volatility
Saeed Valadbaygee, has been writing dispatches from inside Iran on his Revolutionary Road blog. In the last 36 hours those dispatches have become more clipped, more hurried than they have been in the past week:

"Isa Sahrkhiz, Journalist arrested 1 hr. ago in Tehran, More than 25 Journalist Arrested in less than 1 week.

"Hezbollah attacked to Etemad Meli Newspaper."

"7:03: Islamic Republic' state tv is asking 'citizens' to help identify and arrest protestors

"7:05: all the cell phones in the areas of hafte tir, enghelab and azadi are currently disconnected

"7:10: cell networks are currently down at hafte tir, enghelab and azadi square

"7:13: Police and basiji all over tehran, but candles appearing every corner, ever avenue, every alleyway

"8:00: Police & plain cloths usings tear gas, pepper spray and batons to disperse crowd

"8:3 Plain Cloths now in front of Kalameh newspaper place in Hafte Tir Sq. Journalists are stuck in the building "8:33: Police Using Gunfire, Tear gas,Electric Bat. Clashes at Enghelab SQ"

Even small gatherings blocked
From Britain's Times Online June 22:

"Police in helmets and wielding clubs fired at least seven rounds of tear gas and arrested up to 60 people at a rally in Haft-e Tir square, a popular shopping destination in the heart of Tehran, a witness said.

"The Guards — an elite force set up in the wake of the 1979 revolution — threatened a 'decisive and revolutionary' riposte to any further unrest as the Islamic regime battles to contain an escalating crisis over the election.

Video   Web warriors poke holes in Iran firewall Iranian-American grad students are using computer skills to ensure information to and from Iran continues to flow. Nightly News

"The warning came after state radio said at least 457 people had been detained in street clashes in Tehran on Saturday that left at least 13 dead ...

"Witnesses said that helicopters hovered overhead as the protesters gathered at Haft-e-Tir Square. But hundreds of anti-riot police quickly put an end to the demonstration and prevented any gathering, even of small groups, at the scene.

"At a nearby subway station, police did not allow anyone to stand still, asking them to keep on walking and separating those who walked together."

A warning falling on 'deaf ears'
"Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a military unit, has threatened to crush further protests over the country's disputed June 12 presidential election," reported Arab news agency Al Jazeera on June 22.

"But the warning, issued on Monday, fell on deaf ears as shortly afterwards hundreds of people gathered in central Tehran, piling fresh pressure on the country's leadership.

"Witnesses described riot police taking up position as they confronted around 1,000 opposition supporters ... Despite the deaths, arrests, and an earlier warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, the demonstrators have appeared to be undeterred.

"Alireza Zaker-Esfahani, an adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, criticised Mousavi for not trying to calm his supporters.

" 'The weakness is in Mir Hossein Mousavi's political behaviour ... He is currently issuing statements inviting his supporters to take to the streets. That will not solve any problem,' " he told Al Jazeera on Monday.

" 'Rallies will ultimately contribute to abuse, setting buses on fire, bloodshed and constant insecurity for the people.'

"He also said that once the security situation in the country has escalated, the president and other politicians have to step back and let security forces handle the situation.

" 'The security forces are the ones who should lay down plans and execute them, whereas Ahmadinejad, his interior ministry and all other political forces can only enter the scene if and when the security situation becomes one of political interactions. Ahmadinejad cannot do anything now,' " Zaker-Esfahani said ...

"The Iranian government, meanwhile, has also cracked down on independent media reporting on the protests, and imposed severe restrictions on foreign journalists.

"At least 23 journalists have so far been detained by authorities, according to the Reporters without Borders organisation, and a BBC correspondent has been expelled from the country."

'Ground is paved' to 'chase' Mousavi
"Iranian politician calls for Moussavi's arrest" was the headline in Monday's Al Arabiya, an Arab news channel, with this report:

" 'Mousavi's calling for illegal protests and issuing provocative statements have been a source of recent unrests in Iran ... Such criminal acts should be confronted firmly,' said Ali Shahrokhi, head of parliament's judiciary committee, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"' The ground is paved to legally chase Mousavi,' " he said shortly after the elite Revolutionary Guards warned they would crack down on any election-related unrest.

"...Mousavi made a veiled appeal to the security forces to show restraint in handling demonstrations — a move likely to be viewed with deep suspicion by a conservative leadership that has vowed to use force wherever necessary to quell opposition

"State radio said on Monday that the capital had been calm overnight for the first time since the June 12 election."

Al Arabiya: Shuttered Sunday
The news channel, based in Dubai, said Sunday its Tehran bureau "has been ordered to remain closed indefinitely for 'unfair reporting' of last week's disputed presidential election.

" 'The authorities accuse Al Arabiya of diffusing news that is not necessarily fair from their point of view,'  said channel's executive news manager, Nabil al-Khatib, adding that the channel had not done anything that was in violation of Iranian law and had appealed to the government about what it saw as a campaign against the station in the official Iranian media.

"' They have ordered that we do not broadcast any news about Iran, saying Al Arabiya in Dubai does not comply with what Al Arabiya's office in Tehran was ordered to do,' " he said.

MORE FROM MIDEAST & N. AFRICA

Mideast & N. Africa Section Front

Israel approves 10-month settlement freeze 6 family members killed in Iraq Iraq inquiry: Early U.S. push on Saddam Newsweek: Reporter's ordeal in Tehran prison U.K. begins inquiry on Iraq war Amended Iraq election law still angers Sunnis Mideast & N. Africa Section Front   Add Mideast & N. Africa headlines to your news reader: