Thursday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 6.23.2005:

Bloggers: Help remind the international media to ask the hard questions!

I have just published an open letter to the international media in Iran reporting on the run off elections Friday. These journalists are in a unique position to ask the hard questions of the government about the legitimacy of these elections. In the letter I have included a number of questions they could ask with source material.

Bloggers please post this on your blog or write your own. READ MORE

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Ken Timmerman is scheduled to appear Friday on Fox News Bill O'Reilly Show to discuss in new book on Iran.
• SMCCDI says they need your help today in transforming regime's sham "run off of June 24th" into protest action.
• Iranian blogger Windseed of Iran Votes 2005 has several interesting reports on the run off elections.
• Iranian.ws reported a security firm, Secure Computing, blamed for contributing technology to Iran's Internet censorship rejected the charge, and said any use of its software by Iran is "illegal and unauthorized."
• Reuters reports that Iran had arrested 26 people for suspected electoral violations.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran'’s State Security Forces raided the home of a student activist in Tehran.
• Iran Focus reports that students in Allameh Tabatabai University protested against the extended detention of a fellow student activist.
• Sardar Haddad argues that some journalists were duped by the regime's election propaganda show and explains why that the election charade was boycotted by the overwhelming majority of Iranians.
• Eli Lake, New York Sun interviewed Iranian student dissident Ahmad Batebi who said, The candidates were never elected by the people, the selection of the candidates are from the supreme leader. The people of Iran had no power in choosing any of them.
• New Statesman reports on the arrests of international journalists in Iran.
• The Washington Post argues that elections alone do not make democracy and can even be counterproductive.
• The Financial Times reports in a last ditch effort for votes Rafsanjani is offering every family in Iran $11,000 worth of shares of privatizeded companies.
• Amir Taheri argues a win by Rafsanjani would be a sure sign that Khamenei thinks he still needs a kind of interface with the broader Iranian society whereas a win by Ahmadinejad indicated Iran is following the North Koreans model.
• Boston.com reports that the facade of elections conceals the remarkable changes that Iran has undergone in the past few years.
• VOA News reported the United States said Thursday Iranians are being denied a free choice in the country's presidential run-off election.
• Middle East Newsline reported the United States has determined that despite numerous requests China has become a major supplier of weaponry to Iran.
• MSNBC reported on Iran's mullahs vs. the masses.
• Foreign Affairs reported that the Bush administration would like to resolve its problems with Iran through regime change. But the strategy is unlikely to work, at least not quickly enough.
• IranMania reported that Iran's reformist government alleged that "certain organs" were buying votes.
• The Washington Times reported that Congress and the administration seem unaware of the fact that the regime has conducted the election in the United States, possibly in violation of U.S. law.
• And finally, SMCCDI reported "Foundation for Democracy in Iran" (FDI), a prominent US based Iran Watch Group, is sounding the alarm.