Some time ago there was a lot of national and international politics being discussed in this forum; lately not so much, and particularly, international politics has almost disappeared. Whatever.. here's an update on how "democracy" is working in Iran of late:
Iran Blocks Web Sites Promoting Reformist Khatami
Saturday, February 21, 2009
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian authorities have blocked two Web sites promoting the presidential bid of Mohammed Khatami, reformists said Saturday, in a first sign that powerful hard-liners might seek to thwart his challenge to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election.
Khatami declared on Feb. 8 he would run again for president, setting the stage for a major political showdown in coming months between the popular reformist — who made dialogue with the West a centerpiece of his eight years as president — and the country's ruling hard-liners. His candidacy poses a serious threat amid popular discontent with Ahmadinejad over the sagging economy.
The Web sites, www.yaarinews.com and www.yaari.ir, were set up last summer in anticipation of Khatami's candidacy. They could not be accessed from inside Iran on Saturday, though they were viewable outside the country.
"At midday, we learned that our Web sites have been blocked. ... Closing down our Web sites means hard-liners are not going to tolerate Khatami challenging Ahmadinejad," Behrouz Shojaei, editor of one of the sites, told The Associated Press Saturday.
Shojaei said the government was also likely angered after the sites reported that provincial officials bused people in to attend a rally where Ahmadinejad was speaking in the city of Yazd on Wednesday . . .
For the complete report from the Associated Press:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,497990,00.html
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Originally Posted by rinselberg
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