19+ Dead As Iranian Regime Cracks Down on Protesters

The New York Times says at least 13 are dead, but the Iranian government says at least 19 people it considers terrorists were killed in clashes with police. More than 100 were injured. This is just the tip of the iceberg. (Disturbing video of another woman apparently killed by the Basij here).

Mirhussein Mousavi isn't backing down, and his criticism of Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has only grown.

Mousavi added that the Islamic Republic must be purged of what he called lies and dishonesty, sending out a direct challenge to conservative rulers after a week of unrest in Iran.

The opposition leader, who claims victory in the poll, told supporters he was "ready for martyrdom", according to an ally. But he said he did not seek confrontation with the authorities.

"We are not against the Islamic system and its laws but against lies and deviations and just want to reform it," he said in a statement on his website at the end of another tumultuous day.

Mousavi said if authorities refused to allow peaceful protests they would face the "consequences" – an apparent rejoinder to Khamenei's warning that opposition leaders would be held responsible for any bloodshed resulting from protests.

Ahmadinejad says for the US and Britain to stay out of Iranian affairs.

I guess criticizing the regime for murdering its own citizens for demonstrating against what they believe was a stolen election is meddling. Again, this shows the depravity of this regime and how silence further allows the regime to continue its efforts to consolidate its power.

Now is not the time for silence. It is the time to speak out against the violations of human rights by this evil regime.

The media continues to be restricted from reporting on the situation. The AP runs the following note with its photos:

** EDITORS NOTE AS A RESULT OF AN OFFICIAL IRANIAN GOVERNMENT BAN ON FOREIGN MEDIA COVERING EVENTS IN IRAN, THE AP IS OBLIGED TO USE IMAGES FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES.

In other words, it's got to either use footage from the Iranian media outlets or footage from other media sources.





This is how totalitarian regimes crack down against their opposition. They limit the flow of information that might prove damaging to the regime and crush free speech, the right to assemble peaceably and engage in a free press - rights that we take for granted here in the United States.

UPDATE:
The woman murdered in one of the videos linked to above may have been identified.

The rumor — and it’s all rumor until some newspaper tracks down her family — is that she was 27 years old and a philosophy student. I hope to god this isn’t really her photo because the thought of her being so beautiful and dignified makes the murder somehow that much more obscene.