I have been given the responsibility of telling the world what is happening in Iran. The office of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who the Iranian people truly want as their leader, has asked me to do so. They have asked me to tell how Mousavi's headquarters was wrecked by plainclothes police officers. To tell how the commanders of the revolutionary guard ordered him to stay silent. To urge people to take to the streets because Mousavi could not do so directly.
Read it all.
In the meantime, on the streets, reports are out that the regime is using tear-gas against the protesters.
Despite the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threats of violence against protesters yesterday, people are still taking to their rooftops, chanting God is Great and Death to the Dictator.
Tehran residents are climbing to their roofs and crying "God is Great!" in open defiance of Iran's supreme leader.
The late-night cries of "Allahu Akbar!" and "Death to the Dictator!" throughout Tehran Friday are a direct challenge to the cleric who has ultimate authority under Iran's constitution. They come hours after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition supporters to stop protesting the June 12 election they say was rigged in favor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Hot Air is keeping up with things with multiple updates, keep refreshing.
Sullivan is live blogging day 8, many updates, so keep refreshing.
Congress voted for and passed the resolution listed as "Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for other purposes."
The vote count was 405 yeas. 1 nay, 2 voting present and 25 not voting for whatever reason.
The resolution can be found here.
As was mentioned yesterday, John McCain has a similar one written up for the Senate to vote on.
[Update] While Congress and the Senate considering resolutions, which doesn't help, but at least shows moral support to the people of Iran, Obama is resisting a "tougher stance" on Iran.
With Iran on a razor’s edge after a week of swelling protests, the Obama administration has fended off pressure from both parties to respond more forcefully to the disputed election there. But if Iranian authorities carry out their latest threat of a more sweeping crackdown, the White House would reconsider its carefully calibrated tone, officials said Friday.
Administration officials said events this weekend in Tehran — when demonstrators plan to rally in defiance of the authorities — would be a telling indicator of whether President Obama would join European leaders and lawmakers on Capitol Hill in more harshly condemning the tactics of the Iranian government.
Congressional Republicans and conservative foreign-policy experts stepped up their pressure on the White House to take a firmer stand in support of the demonstrators, even as Mr. Obama worked to keep Democrats from breaking openly with him on Iran.
Remember to watch Twitter feed #Iranelection, for on the spot word directly from Iran.
I opened it and within minutes there were 400 more tweets.
A note from an Iranian blogger, translated by NIACblog:
“I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…”
I will update more as I run across things of interest.
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