Pat Dollard

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“Mr Obama is facing calls from critics at home to take a much stronger international lead in condemning events in Iran”

All of the photographs in this post were taken over the course of the last three days. They are AP and Reuters photos. I check the photo wires every day. I’ve never seen a streak like this; not even close.

Let’s face facts. A successful revolution against a dictator is the last thing Barack Obama wants to see. Especially an anti-US dictator. When Obama watches coverage of what is happening in Iran, he looks through a mirror, darkly.

Why do you think all of the angry photos of him lately, like the one on Drudge, pictured above? This is his worst nightmare. Obama is watching as the instrument that brought him to power, the internet, clearly lays out the exact path of his doom. The mask is slipping…

Related: Nefarious Truth Of Obama’s Internet Plans Revealed

Times Online:

President Obama has ruled out direct intervention in the electoral turmoil in Iran, warning that US attempts to interfere will backfire and that America has little to gain by throwing in its lot with the opposition.

But his public reluctance to interfere has been undermined by the actions of the State Department, which took the unusual step of asking Twitter to delay planned maintenance work so that Iranian protesters can continue to use it to post images and reports of unrest.

Mr Obama is facing calls from critics at home to take a much stronger international lead in condemning events in Iran, where the regime last night raided more universities.

But Mr Obama said that America had no long term interest in backing Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition candidate who is disputing the poll results that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s right wing president, to power with a thumping – and, to some analysts, improbable – 63 per cent of the vote.

“It is not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling – the US president, meddling in Iranian elections,” Mr Obama told CNBC television.

Two prominent reformists were arrested in Tehran this morning. Hamid Reza Jalaipour, a sociologist and Mousavi campaigner, was held at his home and Saeed Laylaz, a political and economic analyst, was also arrested by four plainclothes officials. Both are also prominent journalists.

Mousavi supporters are planning another mass demonstration in Tehran today, and protests have been reported in the cities of Shiraz, Tabriz, Isfahan, Meshad and Qom. Teargas was reportedly used at Kharazmi university in Shiraz, with students beaten up and 100 arrests. The head of the university resigned. Riot police also stormed the university in Isfahan.

The Iranian authorities have tried hard to prevent images of the turmoil being portrayed at home and abroad. Foreign journalists have been banned from the streets, and ordered to compile their stories by telephone from the offices. Reporters’ visas have not been renewed.

Twitter has gained in importance since internet sites, mobile phone and SMS texting networks have all been intermittently blocked by the authorities in a cat-and-mouse game with the demonstrators who have used them to organise more protests.

Today the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, one of the most powerful organisations in Iran, broke its silence for the first time since the elections with an ominous warning to Iranian websites and bloggers to remove any seditious materials or face legal action.

In Tehran the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Simon Gass, the British Ambassador, to complain about Gordon Brown’s “unconventional and impolite” remarks challenging the election’s legitimacy.

The Government also arrested what the state media described as the “main agents” of the unrest. Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the Intelligence Minister, said that about 50 people with weapons and explosives were detained, and claimed that they were supported by foreign powers. Two dozen “counter-revolutionaries” were also arrested, as were two leading reformists, including Ali Abtahi, a former Vice-President.

The state-controlled media are portraying the demonstrators as subversive criminals. They reported Monday’s deaths, but said that the victims were attending an “unauthorised gathering” and were shot as they “tried to attack a military location”.

The Council of Guardians, the powerful body of 12 senior conservative clerics, refused Mr Mousavi’s demand that the election be annulled, but did make one apparent concession to his supporters by offering a recount of Friday’s votes from stations where specific fraud was alleged.

The offer was echoed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, who met last night representatives of the four top candidates. He denounced the protesters as “tension seekers” and called for calm.

Mr Obama said that he believed Iran’s leaders were well aware of the scale of the concern amongst their own people about the disputed presidential election.

“It’s important to understand that although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised,” he said.

“Either way we were going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighbourhood and has been pursuing nuclear weapons.”

He added: “When I see violence directed at peaceful protestors, when I see peaceful dissent being suppressed, wherever that takes place, it is a concern to me and it is a concern to the American people.”

The US President’s response to the Iranian turmoil has been more muted than European allies such as Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy of France. President Sarkozy described the elections as a “fraud”. Britain, like America, has been less outspoken.

Mr Obama has been criticised at home for not offering sufficient support to protestors in Iran.

“He should speak out that this is a corrupt, fraud, sham of an election. The Iranian people have been deprived of their rights,” said John McCain, Mr Obama’s defeated 2008 election rival.

Today Twitter’s co-founder Biz Stone said that it was “humbling to think that our two-year old company could be playing such a globally meaningful role that State officials find their way toward highlighting our significance”.

The maintenance work would have taken the site off line during the day in Iran, at a time when young, computer-literate activists have been thwarting the censors by tweeting with dramatic videos, photographs and first person reports of the unrest under the title #iranelection.

Iranian tweets and blogs

Reliable source Isfahan hospital — many injured from last 24 hours Persiankiwi 11.30

Stay the hell out of our affairs!! We don’t need your help to have an election!!! Iranian Facebook user 14.15

Basij is after us. Slept in the streets last night. Internet is down in most of the city Change_for_Iran 14.30

I want a president like Obama to protect my people and I think so far Karoubi and Mousavi are better than the rest of those jackasses Iranian Facebook user 16.30

They are now arresting human rights activists in large scale. where is UN watchdog?! Change_for_Iran 16.40

Rally is on. Silent, calm, and peaceful. This is what we all want! Thanks for everyone who’s there, and who’s watching! parhamdoustdar 17.30

Not only that they attacked us, now they are hiding the bodies of those we lost! I will kill Ahmadinejad myself! Change_for_Iran 19.45

The Persian Empire will come back! The new age has come! Iranian Facebook user 21.15

“University Alley, University Alley, murder scene, murder scene” was the written message held aloft on a makeshift paper banner. Rather than ring out in the air, the rhythmic message reverberated inside the minds of all who read it Tehranbureaublog