How to Support Iranian Protesters

The 2009 Iranian Presidential Election, was held on Friday, 12 June 2009. Four candidates were running for office: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Abadgaran Party, Mir-Hossein Mousavi of the Independent Reformist Party, Mohsen Rezaee of the Independent Conservative Party, and Mehdi Karroubi of the Etemad-e-Melli Party. The official news agency of Iran called the Islamic Republic News Agency made announcement (with only 2/3 of the votes counted) that Ahmadinejad was the winner. Ahmadinejad’s opponent, Mir-Hossein Mousavi claims that the results of the election are a charade, and urged his supporters to protest in a non-violent manner. Outrage against this election has spread around the world and the Iranian protestors are asking for help from the free world. Learn what you can do to support the Iranian protesters who simply want a fair election and a leader of their own choosing.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Get on Twitter and read the tweets coming from the Iranian people. You can search for phrases like Iranian protesters, Iranian election, Ahmadinejad, and Iranian uprising. Some Twitter users adding a green overlay to their Twitter avatars in support of Iran.

2. Do not re-tweet updates by Iranians. This may disclose their location and could endanger their safety or their lives.

3. Change your Twitter time zone and location to Iran. Your tweets will look like they are originating from Iran and will help mask the actual tweets of the protesters. Changing your Twitter time zone and location will help confuse Iranian intelligence agencies.

4. The US State Department has asked Twitter to delay regular website maintenance to avoid disrupting updates among Iranian protesters as they are in the streets of Iran communicating via Twitter using mobile phones and other mobile devices. This act by the US State Department shows that the USA wants to reach out and support the Iranian protesters, although as of this writing, our president has not made a statement condemning election theft and lack of respect for democracy in Iran.

5. Blog about it. Link to this article or write your own to inform your readers about this historic uprising and ask them to get on Twitter and show support for the Iranian citizens.

6. Several websites have popped up in support of Iran’s citizens. See the resources section below to visit those sites.

Resources

• HelpIranElection.com
• Cyberwar Guide for Iran Elections
• Where is My Vote T-Shirt

[greatgreat8]

on 6/27/2009 great article 5*