Iran reports more protest arrests: Via Associated Press on Google.

Iran on Thursday announced more arrests in the post-election turmoil, detaining seven alleged provocateurs of violence it says were linked to Iranian exiles. The move underlines authorities' drive to portray protests as the work of outsiders rather than a reflection of widespread popular dismay.

The arrests continue a heavy crackdown that has squashed the mass protests that erupted over the disputed June 12 presidential vote. Iran's top police chief has said 20 people were killed in violence during the protests, and that 1,032 people were detained.

In another move to push the government's depiction of the protests, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday that families of the "innocent victims" of bloodshed during demonstrations would receive government compensation. Fars said "terrorists infiltrated among protesters to foment unrest," causing the violence.
( Read more ... )

The Associated Press: Amateur video turns woman into icon of Iran unrest: Via Associated Press on Google .

Amateur video of a young Iranian woman lying in the street — blood streaming from her nose and mouth — has quickly become an iconic image of the country's opposition movement and unleashed a flood of outrage at the regime's crackdown.

The footage, less than a minute long, appears to capture the woman's death moments after she was shot at a protest — a powerful example of citizens' ability to document events inside Iran despite government restrictions on foreign media and Internet and phone lines.

The limits imposed amid the unrest over the disputed June 12 election make details of the woman's life and events immediately preceding her apparent death difficult to confirm. But clips of the woman being called Neda are among the most viewed items on YouTube — with untold numbers of people passing along the amateur videos through social networks and watching them on television.
( Read more ... )