On the Web: ‘Something must be done’

June 18 reports: 'Silent, keep calm'
One witness at the march said participants "carried pictures of Mousavi and placards like 'We have not had people killed to compromise and accept a doctored ballot box' and 'Silent, keep calm,' " according to Al Jazeera June 18.

Mousavi, the Arab news agency reported, "announced that a rally scheduled for Friday had been cancelled, and that his supporters should prepare for a major march planned for Saturday afternoon from Tehran's Revolution Square to Freedom Square.

"Mousavi has applied for a permission at the interior ministry but it is unclear whether this would be issued.

"About 100 people gathered outside the United Nations building in Tehran earlier on Thursday urging the Guardian Council to take action over the disputed poll.

"Officials have barred the foreign media from covering such 'unauthorised' events.

'However, they are expected to ensure a heavy turnout for a special sermon to be delivered by Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the country's supreme leader, at the Tehran University campus on Friday."

'Impossible' to know true death toll
News site TehranBureau.com reported that the Association of Human Rights Activists in Iran "can confirm the deaths of 32 Iranian citizens connected to the events of June 14 and June 15, based on its own fieldwork and despite numerous other reports.

"Most of these citizens lost their lives in the attack on Tehran University dormitories on June 14 and the opening of fire by the paramilitary Basij forces on June 15. ...

"In a statement, the public relations office of The Office to Consolidate Unity (Iran’s biggest student organization) yesterday reported the killing of at least seven students during the attack on dormitories of Tehran University and other universities around the country (Amnesty International said on June 15 there had been five deaths).

"According to numerous and confirmed reports, the morgue at the Rasul Akram Hospital in Tehran has also stored eight people, who lost their lives during the shooting at defenseless people on Monday June 15.

"In addition, Azerbaijani human rights activists have reported the killing of two citizens of Orumiyeh during fights in that city on June 15.

"Finally, sources among the doctors at Erfan Hospital (which contains ICU, CCU, NICU and 14 emergency operation rooms) in Western Tehran reported that 15 people were dead in the hospital, all connected to the shooting on June 15.

"Reports of civilian deaths across the country received by the association are very high. However, it is impossible to confirm these because of the highly militarized atmosphere and widespread arrests, so the association can only vouch for the deaths detailed above but will continue the process of documentation and reporting."

'Everyone is really depressed'
Also from TehranBureau.com, a report from "a contact" on what is happening in Sanandaj, capital of the northwestern Iranian province of Kurdistan.

"He said Kordestan (Kurdistan) is ‘quiet, for now’, that they all backed Mousavi because he had promised that in provinces where there was a second language it could be taught in schools.

"He said — we are so desperate we are not even bargaining for autonomy or anything, just for our language to be allowed at school … Which I think sums up a lot of Mousavi’s support, he’s not offering a lot but he is the only one offering certain groups anything at all that they can relate to. My guy also works at the farmadary (military headquarters) in Sanandaj and he says there is no way Ahmadinejad won. He says of course he had support from rural people but all towns were with Mousavi.

"He also said —everyone is really depressed, you really see it on the faces of the young people, stunned and depressed."

'Where are our brothers?'
Arab news channel Al Arabiya reported on the June 18 march:

"Witnesses said Imam Khomeini Square was packed with people dressed in black and holding candles, a day after Mousavi called on his supporters to gather in mosques or at peaceful rallies to show solidarity with the victims and their families.

" 'Where are our brothers?' read one banner in the crowd. 'Why did you kill our brothers?' read another ...

"The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said a dozen Iranian journalists and bloggers have been arrested and many others have gone into hiding."

Republic 'has gone astray'
In a June 18 commentary, The Economist wrote that "the unrest is not, or not yet, about the basic underpinnings of the system created by Iran’s 1979 revolution. Protesters have deliberately dressed modestly, enlisting religious symbolism to appeal to the notions of injustice and redemption that lie at the heart of Shia Islam.

"It is about feelings, shared on both sides of the divide, that the Islamic Republic has gone astray. The split reflects not only a polarised electorate, but also a deep and growing schism within the ruling establishment ...

"The more immediate concern is that Mr. Ahmadinejad may impose a form of martial law. There are already ominous signs of such a move, as arrests of prominent reformists widen, censorship and controls on communication tighten, and feared vigilantes of the Baseej lash out with impunity.

"Given the machinery of oppression at his disposal, Mr. Ahmadinejad could probably maintain power by force, though no one can say for sure where the army stands. But force would devastate the image of a state that he exalts as the pinnacle of good governance. Moreover, Mr. Ahmadinejad would need the support of the far more cautious, consensus-seeking supreme leader, and this is far from assured."

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