4 PM local time in Revolution Square.
The Supreme Leader forbade protests and said there would be consequences.
Moussavi and Karroubi will be there, in hopes that the election will be annulled.
The Iran Republican Guard may be there, and possibly other military forces.
To me, this feels like one of those situations that everyone wanted to prevent, but nobody knows how to.
After dozens of people have been murdered, hundreds imprisoned across the country, it's possible the opposition has more loyal support in this confrontation than the Supreme Leader.
Here's a very graphic video of what Iranians have been witnessing, a tribute to the martyrs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mt7DSk0K7EIf youtube censors this, go here to watch it:
http://iranriggedelect.blogspot.com/2009/06/stay-strong.html#commentsHere is commentary from the LA Times Thursday, before Khamenei made his threatening prayer Friday morning:
....Both the government and the protesters seem eager to avoid an all-out confrontation. Not only would a Tiananmen Square-style massacre sully officials' claims to popular legitimacy, it would create a whole new set of martyrs who could further galvanize a popular movement. Such killings paved the way for the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Most of the violence has been inflicted by semiofficial militias such as the Basiji or the secretive Ansar-e Hezbollah, which have reportedly been responsible for at least 12 deaths in the last five days.
Perhaps more perilous for authorities is the possibility that some soldiers, security officials and Revolutionary Guardsmen might refuse orders to fire on protesters, creating a dangerous rift within the security apparatuses.
"I would never do it," said Hossein, a 23-year-old member of the security forces who said he and many of his friends at the military base where he serves support the marchers. "Maybe someone would, but I would never fire on any of these people myself."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-tactics18-2009jun18,0,7264327.storyIn the beginning of the article, it mentions that the state has softened up on cellphone and internet restriction, but I think they did this to more easily track people and arrest them before the upcoming demonstrations.
Here is what the top UN Human Rights official had to say today:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31196&Cr=iran&Cr1=Here is a brief report from Moussavi's spokesperson, apparently Moussavi is not allowed to speak with the press or use a microphone.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061902625.htmlHere's an interview with George Macleod the Canadian reporter who was detained and beaten, on Democracy Now:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/19/as_part_of_crackdown_on_journalistsHere's analysis of Khamanei's Friday prayer speech:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/theocratic-sermon-thick-with-threats/article1190302/On twitter, you might want to follow persiankiwi.
Other twitterers from Iran will probably start posting more soon, as it's dawn.
You can also now read mediocre translations of persian twitters, here are some pre set search links for persian twitter and youtube posts:
http://www.pagef30.com/2009/06/how-to-help-now-that-google-translate.htmlHere are some sites you might want to follow along later:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jun/19/iran-unrest(address may change slightly later, just follow links to main blog site in that case)
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/(won't start covering for a few hours probably)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.htmlIf you have other sources of up-to-date news, please share them!
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