I first encountered Mehdi Saharkhiz as “onlymehdi” on Twitter last June. He has been one of the most important sources of information, especially photos and videos, for EA and many others on the post-election crisis.
From coffee shops in Ridgewood, his home in Wayne and anywhere there is cell service, a 28-year-old Iranian is broadcasting the ongoing uprising in his home country — one of a growing number of people intent on helping share with the world what happens on the streets of Tehran.
Mehdi Saharkhiz — known as “onlymehdi” on his blog, YouTube channel and Twitter feed — has been posting photographs and videos of opposition protests in Iran since the disputed Iranian presidential election last June sent thousands of protesters into the streets and triggered a brutal crackdown by the regime.
“For me, it’s about getting the word out there,” Saharkhiz said.
2040 GMT: We now have an English translation of the Mousavi meeting with the reformists, posted in a separate entry.
1910 GMT: Parleman News has updated and extended its summary of the Mousavi meeting with reformist faction Imam Khomeini Line. The story reiterates the significant shift in Mousavi’s approach that we have noted (1240 GMT, 1615 GMT, 1800 GMT).
1900 GMT: Overseas Mystery of Night. Why is Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Washington? I presume it’s to visit the Smithsonian Institution and maybe the National Art Gallery, since the State Department denies he is seeing US officials.
2135 GMT: The Best Rumour of the Day (1745 GMT) is now Fun Fact of the Day. Iranian state television did show tonight’s football match in black-and-white, and we’ve got the video.
2040 GMT: An Important Note to Close (For Now). I was going to hold this until morning, but as a reader has noted on the discussion thread, it is far too important a development to be treated lightly.
Advar reports what we have been observing since yesterday: there are worrying signs that the Internet is being strangled inside Iran, with slowing speeds. An EA correspondent adds reports from Iran that other services, such as Yahoo Messenger and Gmail, are unreachable and anti-filter mechanism are also almost completely down. He asks, “Could this be the start of the Government’s [next] crackdown?”
2006 GMT: I’m Going to Tell You One More Time, New York Times (1155 GMT). Your headline writer has his priorities wrong: “Amid Large Protests, Iran Leader Calls Holocaust a Lie”.
Here’s your rewrite: “Despite President’s Israel Diversion, Large Protests Challenge Government”.
(I swear that I wrote this seven minutes before reading this from the National Iranian American Council, “The NYT editors need some help today. Their coverage shouldn’t be entitled, ‘Amid Large Protests, Iran Leader Calls Holocaust a Lie’. The real headline should be ‘Thousands Protest at Rallies Despite Threats’.”)
1950 GMT: A Good Mystery to End the Night: Why Did Ali Larijani Meet the Clerics?