Iran Election Diary

Here's youtube video of the mother of the late Sohrab Arabi, a 19-year-old among those killed during the postelection crackdown, speaking at Tehran's Behesht Zahra Cemetery to mark the 40th day since the death of Neda Agha Soltan and a number of other Iranians who were killed during protests in Tehran on June 20.

One of the things she says is that "our children are alive, everybody in the world knows their names."



It's important to stay mindful that these are who have been killed or remain missing.

Definitive lists of those dead, detained, or missing are hard to come by, although groups like the International Campaign For Human Rights In Iran are making monumental efforts.

Here's Sohrab Arabi's brother at the same cemetery on July 30, reading out the names of Iranians -- sons, daughters, brothers, sisters -- confirmed dead or presumed to have been killed since June 12.



-- Golnaz Esfandiari/Andy Heil

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, the Iranian authorities have paid the country's opposition activists a twisted compliment.

The militia's "Center for Investigation of Organized Crime" website Gerdab.ir, which calls on the public to help track down protesters, has turned the opposition's grassroots tactics against them.

Sympathetic viewers are asked to scroll through pages of photos and stills from video taken during the recent protests and identify the individuals by name or address.

A grim red circle appears around the faces of the victims -- teenagers to dissident mullahs to activist Iranians living abroad -- and a special stamp indicates those "identified."

The authorities seem to have taken their lead from lebasshakhshi.blogspot.com, an opposition site that also uses a red circle in shots of government forces, particularly those working undercover during recent clashes, so that other activists can identify them.

Despite efforts on Facebook, comments from Andrew Sullivan, and cyberattack instructions, the site has managed to protect itself fairly well from attacks (indeed, it claims 99 percent uptime).

-- Kristin Deasy