Iran

Dear Friends, My piece on watching the 22nd of Bahman protests with Austin Heap, Roozbeh Pournader and Behrang Barzin live from Parisoma will be on today’s show. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston –…

Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi was interviewed by reformist website Kalame earlier this week, which was translated by Khordad88, and included this notable quote that likely will be championed by the blogosphere. I’m still unconvinced as to how much long-term difference all of the reformists’ online activity will make (remember, we’re coming up on eight months of Ahmadinejad’s second term), but it’s still interesting nonetheless. The caption on the above image reads: “We will make the 22nd of Bahman, 1388…

Dear Friends, My piece on Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom is airing today. (Thanks again to Wayan Vota, Clark Boyd, my cousin Nena do Nascimento, Austin Heap and Dan Colascione for making this trip possible!) It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles –…

I’m a few days behind on this one, but FP Passport has a link to a new announcement for a new application that “will allow users in Iran to download and send content to [Voice of America]’s Persian News Network with their iPhones.” I don’t really have much to add beyond what David Kenner aptly wrote: I’m sure that this initiative was begun with the best of intentions. However, there’s only one problem — oh, who am I kidding, there…

This cycle of protests, counter-protests between the opposition and the Iranian government (and their paid protesters) isn’t even close to being over yet. Here’s what’s happened in the last 72 hours: Wednesday, December 30: Late Tuesday, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing “its most energetic rejection of attempts at destabilization promoted by the U.S. government against the Government and People of Iran.” Seyyed Ali Mousavi Habibi, the late nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi (pictured), whose body…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my piece on how Internet tactics have changed by both the Iranian government and the opposition, particularly since Sunday’s Ashura protests, will be airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM…

In the last 24 hours, I’ve been quoted in three major news outlets. The first was Radio Free Asia: 伊朗的用户本身也对此行动表示振奋，在美国的伊朗问题专家和新闻人Cyrus Farivar 表示，“我在推特上搜索关于伊朗消息时，可以看到许许多多中国网民推出的贴上了#cn4iran 标签的话题。他说中国和伊朗的情况有很多相似之处，他认为，中国人也和伊朗人民一样，热烈地珍惜渴望一个自由表达的环境。但他认为官方对互联网的控制要比伊朗严格许多，这也是中国网民的不幸之处 I can’t read this, but here’s what Google makes of it: Iran’s actions by the users themselves have also inspired, in the United States, Iran experts and journalists Cyrus Farivar said, “I was pushing special news search on Iran, you can see many Chinese netizens launched labeled # cn4iran label topic. He said China and Iran, there are many similarities…

Update (January 1, 2010 6:20 pm Pacific Time): I’ve just finished a new post to include news of the last 72 hours. In case you’ve been hiding out in a post/continuing holiday stupor, Iran is going nuts. Like a lot of people, I’ve been glued to Twitter and various websites, trying to get a handle on what’s going on in Iran. I’ve been interviewed by Radio Free Asia and CNN in the last 24 hours to provide my thoughts. And…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my piece on the Internet legacy of the late dissident Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Montazeri, will be airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 4 pm Eastern…

Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri has passed away. All the major news outlets are covering the death of this intellectual, dissident high-ranking cleric in Iran. However, I’m obviously fascinated with Montazeri’s small role in Iran’s Internet history. As best as I can tell, this is the first example of the Islamic Republic’s getting involved in the Internet directly and going after a particular person directly, even through cybersquatting. Back in 2000, the Agence France Presse covered this interesting episode. Montazeri.com vs.…