Iran election follow up

Since I blogged earlier about Iranian elections I thought it’s good to give you an update in case you were wondering what has been happening. Well, it has been a nightmare . Unfortunately it seems like there has been a large fraud happening in favor of Ahmadinejad. People who have been disenfranchised are protesting in Tehran and other cities. You can see some photos on flickr.

Text messaging services were cut off on the day of election and ahmadinejad was declared as the victor only a few hours after the election was over. Election statistics were being announce in a very fishy manner with no detail about which cities and provinces were being counted (completely different from how things were done in all other elections in Iran). Campaign headquarters of other candidates were raided and military was present across Tehran. Friends from Iran reported that thugs along with military dominated Tehran’s streets yesterday. Some mentioned similar scenes as the 1953 coup. 

Today Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and most websites of other candidates have been blocked, cellphone connections were shut down in Tehran, political figures have been arrested and people have been beaten and bloodied in the streets. Meanwhile foreign reporters have been asked to leave.

Mousavi is vowing to stand up to the "magic trick" behind the election and speak up about officials responsible for this "massive scheme" and has said that the decision to announce Ahmadinejad winner was a "treason to the votes of the people."

US and Canada have made statements this morning.