WL Central will be updating news on Iran, with new items added at the top. All times are ET in USA.
You can contact me on twitter @carwinb or by email at carwinb@hushmail.com. Don't send media when links available. Most email is not encrypted and not anonymous. I cannot guarantee anyone's safety in transmission.
Current time and date in Tehran:
* Thank you to @Green_alpha, without whom these updates and translations, would not have been possible.
THURSDAY, March 31
Tens arrested at funeral, among them many of Mousavi's family members (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site)
WEDNESDAY, March 30
Mousavi's family announce in a letter to Tehran's prosecutor that they will not hold of Mousavi's father funeral without Mousavi's presence. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
Karroubi's son meets with parents after 38 days, says they are safe. (Source: kaleme.com)
WEDNESDAY, March 16
Karroubi's son reports on his personal Facebook page that a family friend met with Karroubi after 33 days. Says that father is safe and secure. (Source: sahamnews.net, Karroubi's Web site)
More than 500 arrested last night in Tehran. (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site
SATURDAY, March 12
A representative of Mousavi's daughters spoke about their meeting with Mousavi and Rahnavard, his wife and their mother. The meeting was conducted under security force presence and under pressure. Mousavi communicated to them that all of his documents and personal belongings were seized during the February 14 attack on the Mousavi household. Security forces threatened Mousavi's daughter not to say anything about the meeting, but the daughters felt the public should know. (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site)
But, according to a report in the Telegraph, Andrew Lewman, executive director of Tor Project says: "Tor Project had known it could be attacked in this way 'for years', but had chosen not to take pre-emptive measures because 'we’re trying to have an arms race really slowly'. In the last few weeks developers have redesigned the software so that its traffic looks just like any other when it sets up an encrypted connection, and Iranian user numbers are now back to normal."
[UPDATE]
We asked Tor to respond to our question, "Is the software 'safe' for use by people in Iran?" Runa A. Sandvik @runasand said:
"If you are asking if Tor is working in Iran, then the answer is yes.
However, It is important to note that plaintext over Tor is still
plaintext[1]; Tor does not magically encrypt the Internet from end to
end. You need to make sure that you are communicating over an
encrypted channel, such as using https:// whenever you browse the web
(and off-the-record for IM and GPG for email, for example)."
Political prisoners not allowed to call their families or meet them for the Persian New Year. (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site)
THURSDAY, March 10
Karroubi's family report the lights in his house for the first time in 18 days. (Source: kaleme.com)
Revolutionary Guards have started to ask hackers with "goodwill" and "revolutionary activism" to join the fight for Iranian Republic. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
Secretariat of the Assembly of Experts Web site was hacked on Wednesday. The cyber attack placed fake news about the death of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. (Source: sahamnews.net, Karroubi's Web site)
A Web site close to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemns Ali Fazli, commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran province, for his son being a member of the Green Movement. General Ali Fazli, commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran province, was arrested in 2009 for refusing to carry Khamenei's order to use force against demonstrators. (Source: sahamnews.net, Karroubi's Web site)
WEDNESDAY, March 9
Head of Basij calls Mousavi and Karroubi traitors, evil, corrupt and the mercenaries of foreign governments while asking for their prosecution. (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site)
Chief prosecutor denies rumors, says Mousavi and Karroubi are in their homes, but all connections are cut. (Soure: BBC Persia)
TUESDAY, March 8
Iranian Kurdish opposition parties to call on the Kurds in the country to rise up against the Islamic regime in Tehran. (Source: Rudaw)
Iranian security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators today. (Source: kaleme.com):
"Security forces blocked the roads to Enghelab (Revolution) Square (in central Tehran) and fired tear gas at people several times as they tried to stage anti-government demonstrations," the website said.
Kalame.com reported "heavy security force deployments in several of Tehran's main squares."
Foreign media have been banned from on-the-spot reporting of any unauthorised gatherings. (Source: AFP)
Female Basijis on streets to arrest women activsts for Women's Day Protest (Source: Iran Green Voice)
(VIDEO) Riot forces beating protestors in Tehran March 8, 2011 in Tehran, Iran
Mousavi and Rahnavard still in their homes under housearrest. (Source: kaleme.com)
1000s expected to demonstrate in Iran on International Women's Day
"On March 8, 2011, the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, thousands of men and women are expected to participate in demonstrations in Tehran and other major Iranian cities to demand much needed democratic reforms, including full legal equality for women."
Iran's National Security Council's leaked a report on 14th Feb protest that estimates the number of protesters 600 thousand up to 1 million. (Source: rahesabz.net)
A joint statement of the Islamic Association of Teachers of Universities and Islamic Association of Medical Society of Iran condemns the situation in Iran as well as the arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi. The statement says that Mousavi and Karroubi are the most prominent and honorable national characters. (Source: Kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site).
Reports on tens of protesters detained on Feb 14th been kept in Revolutionary Guards's Afsarieh Detention Centre for the last 3 days under inhuman conditions. One of them told Human Rights House of Iran that he and others were kept in handcuffs the entire time, and had to sleep while sitting due to lack of space. They were also hit by guards. These circumstances are corroborated in other reports. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
FRIDAY, March 4
Green Movement activists in the Holy City of Qom said in a statement that they will hold protest on Tuesday against the illegal arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
Sahamnews reveals ''Vahid'', executive assistant in the office of Supreme Leader's office in charge of Karroubi's arrest and removal from his home. (Source: Sahamnews)
Rafsanjani's son finally resigns from Tehran Metro after severe pressures from government on Tehran municipality. (Source: Fars News)
Senior General of the Revolutionary Guard: "If next year parliamentary elections are not inline with our policies, the following year could be a dangerous and bloody one." (Source: Rahesabz.net)
Iran's Chief Prosecutor: "There have been people within the judiciary system aiding the seditionists." (Green Movement) (Source: Iran Green Voice)
More arrests at Sharif University. (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site)
THURSDAY, March 3
Two more Sharif University students arrests confirmed. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
Mousavi's daughters address the nation in open letter. We have no news whatsoever from our parents, despite regime's propaganda claims to the contrary. (Source: kaleme.com)
Chief of Iran's prisons: 55,000 people have been incarcerated in the last 1.5 year. No additional prisons built. Total number incarcerated is 220,000. Prison capacity is 85,000. Iran had one guard per 13 prisoners. (Source: kaleme.com)
Urgent call for action by Amnesty International to release green leaders. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
WEDNESDAY, March 2
Iranian Judiciary announces those convicted of going against national security will not be permitted a leave for Nowrooz (Persian New Year). (Source: kaleme.com)
Vahedi, Senior advisor to Karroubi, calls Tehran's main prosecutor a liar. (Source: BBC)
Kayhan newspaper claims that the opposition leaders are allowed to meet close family members if they don't use their family to get out lies and create tension. (Source: Iran Green Voice )
Tehran's main prosecutor denies Mousavi and Karroubi being arrested. Saying they are at home, and the lights off being their decision. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
More than 200 protesters arrested yesterday on Tehran streets. (Source; kaleme.com)
TUESDAY, March 1 [#10Esfand]
Video of today's protests on Enghelab St. (Source: Iran Green Voice)
Iran Tehran 1 March 2011 'Death to Dictator'
Severe clashes in the streets of Tehran between security forces and people. People gathered at Ferdowsi Square. Two police vans on fire in Enghelab St. Reports of gun shots and extreme methods by security forces. (Source: sahamnews.net)
Rahana reports that security forces dealt violently with people, beating them, in front of the City Theatre on Vali Asr. Reports of Tear Gas. (Source: rahana.org)
Kaleme reports that people have gathered and are chanting at Tehran University and Revolution Square. (Source: kaleme.com, Mousavi's Web site)
4 arrests on Keshavarz St. reported. (Source: Rahana
Tehran experiencing heavy security forces presence on central streets. Plain cloth Basijis on centeral Tehran streets and at important junctions and squares. Some anti riot and normal police. No sign as yet that we are aware of, of Revolutionary Guards. (Source: on the ground)
quote..."Andrew Lewman, executive director of Tor Project says: "Tor Project had known it could be attacked in this way 'for years', but had chosen not to take pre-emptive measures because 'we’re trying to have an arms race really slowly'. In the last few weeks developers have redesigned the software so that its traffic looks just like any other when it sets up an encrypted connection, and Iranian user numbers are now back to normal."
...does this guy realise he has blood on his hands...did tor advise its trusting users that "they knew for years that it could be used this way"?
...i am sure the families of the ppl dead or incarcerated in iran recently will be sooo glad you wanted to have a really slow arms race...surprised iranian numbers are back to normal...after that insensitive statement i dont think anybody will trust your software ever again...dont suppose you left it like that to assist governments??...sure as hell looks like it.
Submitted by Paul Repstock on Tue, 03/22/2011 - 16:58.
I agree; they "have blood on their hands."
This 'whatever, shit happens/collateral damage' attitude is dissapointing.
I must suspect that the access code was probably sold to Iran, and probably also to anyone else with cash. It is sad that so many cautious people have also been gullable enough to think that Tor would provide security to them for free.
Security is a fragile and temporary condition. No one, be they government or corporate can provide long term security, in spite of their claims. Yet many are willingly sacrificing freedom and wealth to attain an illusion of security. The only meaningful security mankind can achieve is to guarantee a universal freedom, where nobody needs to worry about hiding their identity.
A security where one must surrender freedom is not security, but slavery.
Submitted by Jaarwik (not verified) on Tue, 03/22/2011 - 19:45.
Read up how Tor works before you spread unwarranted panic!
This "attack" on Tor has nothing to do with the software (possibly) being copromised, it was done by identifying Tor specific traffic (through packet inspection). Also connections to Tor can be identified at ISP level by entry node IP address - these are rutinely blocked and that is why "bridges" are used. When they identified the traffic they were able to block the bridges as well (that happended in January).
Also - Tor only hides the the destination of the traffic (from anyone watching the entry point) and source of the traffic (for anyone who is watching the exit).
It does not hide your connection to the Tor network.
It does not protect you from someone who can see both at enty and exit (correlation attack).
There is a whole list of warnings on the their website. Read up.
Submitted by Paul Repstock on Wed, 03/23/2011 - 02:08.
You are correct that I should not critisize or jump to conclusions without comprehensive knowlege.
That said; I am certain that most people who have downloaded Tor, are not aware of those facts. I looked at the Tor site some months ago but didn't download (assuming that the protections could be negated). That was merely skepticism on my part, as I like most people have very little tech knowlegs. I'm sure that there will now be a lot of frightened people, who know their online security was not what they expected.
...i agree,and i would suggest that the majority of the 11000 iranians thought they were being protected by tor software...if they knew that they were flagging themselves to the government as sending encrypted data, then they would not have used it...jarwicks answers(or lack of them)sounds like a government reply...maybe this is not surprising...i followed the link to the telegraph and found some things i never knew before:quote...
...The value of “internet freedom” technologies to US foreign policy has not gone unnoticed in Washington: the Tor Project’s arms race with Iranian authorities is funded in part by grants from both the Department of Defense and the State Department.
...simple questions for "TOR":
when did the 11000 ppl drop off your radar?....making you speed up the arms race...how long did it take you to fix a problem you had known about for years and done nothing about?...do you even wonder what happened to those 11000?...your answers blame the end-user for not reading properly so i guess you dont worry about these 11000 ppl that were trusting your software to keep them safe:quote from the telegraph article...
...As a result, the crackdown in Iran has been easier than ever before. Once the
Revolutionary Guard intercept a suspect message, they are able to pinpoint the
location of a guilty protester using their computer's IP address. Then it's
just a question of knocking on doors – and confiscating laptops and PCs for
hard evidence.
...MAYBE YOU SHOULD PRINT THE ABOVE PARAGRAGH ON YOUR WEB PAGE...so ppl can make an informed decision about their safety.
Submitted by Jaarwik (not verified) on Wed, 03/23/2011 - 20:29.
Government reply? Ahaha. Sory, I had no idea this was a tinfoilhat area. OK, to a casual observer your posts might seem like a government FUD (fear uncertainty doubt) operation aimed at Tor! But I will just assume a TROLL - judging by the unbased accusations, aggressive posturing and seeing quite a few of them in my time.
For anyone who is willing to some research - this is it (in a nutshell): due to the nature of the TCP/IP protocol there is (ultimately) no way you can hide where your (immediate) connections are going. IPs of Tor nodes (also proxies, VPNs etc.) sooner or later end up on lists. So there has always been a way of identifying Tor users (when they connect to known Tor entry nodes) - even before this attack.
There are no "failsafe" solutions for countering surveillance - this is because of the "open" nature of the internet.
The thing is, there are a lot of Tor users and due to encryption it is impossible to tell what individuals are doing (and knowlegable dissidents will remove evidence from their comuputers -there are methods and software to do so).
In the end it always came down to "safety in numbers".
The only really effective way for the governments to do away with Tor is therefore to block it. And that is what happened in the January attack - the 11000 users that "dissapered" from the Tor network were blocked from accesing the network at ISP level. The Iran gov didn't get any new info, that they couldn't get before.
Also Tor is not some corporate project. Tor network (apart from a few core servers) is made up of volunteers.
I don't know about financing by US government. As an end user I don't like it, but as for conspiracy theories - IDC (provide evidence or stfu).
Apart form that... I will not comment accusations of (me? lol) being the US government/"TOR" and blaming the end user or claims of "quoting" the Telegraph article for paragraphs on safety... I have nothing to prove here.
I can only comment on what I know about the software as a user.
MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO TROLL SOMEONE ELSE.
...sorry i thought you were speaking on tor's behalf as all the qestions were addressed to tor,so not sure why you would take it personally,did not realise you were just an end-user.
The original wikileaks article was based on a report in the telegraph and wikileaks quoted the executive director...all i did was read the article and quoted 2 more paragraphs that i thought ppl might be interested in...i dont think wikileaks would waste time on printing a bold type update the next day, unless they thought ppl needed to be aware of something that might endanger their safety...not sure what conspircy theory you are talking about...i am just worried for the safety of ppl,not just in iran but around the world including the USA...hopefully they are more geeky or intelligent than myself and understand they are using something that in the end will NOT protect their identity.
I am a simple person that prefers to read the wikileaks version of the truth,and if they quote other journalists then i am happy to read the article(like in the telegraph)because wikileaks has given them credibility by quoting them-as i did...because i am not 'geeky' i would not know how to troll...the only troll i know of is a swedish doll that delights in the misery of others(sounds like julian's prosecuter)...i have heard they deface memorial sites on facebook,so calling me a troll is probably the false accusation you were talking about...just to be fair...i did 2 quotes from the telegraph so its only fair i should quote 2 things from tor's main page:
Who Uses Tor?
Activists
Activists use Tor to anonymously report abuses from danger zones. Whistleblowers use Tor to safely report on corruption.
Military & Law Enforcement
Militaries and law enforcement use Tor to protect their communications, investigations, and intelligence gathering online.
...i guess the military are safe...nobody is gonna knock on their door for sending encrypted data thru tor...but what about all the other users around the world?
Submitted by Paul Repstock on Wed, 03/23/2011 - 22:42.
I admit that I don't know a byte from an isp. I am totally ignorant.
However, when I visited the Tor website, I definitly got the feeling that the purpose of the program as to prevent other people from identifying your computer. If that was not the case, then there should have been a bold warning that such protection was not offered. If the program does not protect against identification, what is it's purpose in simple terms, please.
.png)
WL Central will be updating news on Iran, with new items added at the top. All times are ET in USA. 
tor software....
quote..."Andrew Lewman, executive director of Tor Project says: "Tor Project had known it could be attacked in this way 'for years', but had chosen not to take pre-emptive measures because 'we’re trying to have an arms race really slowly'. In the last few weeks developers have redesigned the software so that its traffic looks just like any other when it sets up an encrypted connection, and Iranian user numbers are now back to normal."
...does this guy realise he has blood on his hands...did tor advise its trusting users that "they knew for years that it could be used this way"?
...i am sure the families of the ppl dead or incarcerated in iran recently will be sooo glad you wanted to have a really slow arms race...surprised iranian numbers are back to normal...after that insensitive statement i dont think anybody will trust your software ever again...dont suppose you left it like that to assist governments??...sure as hell looks like it.
paulbris;
I agree; they "have blood on their hands."
This 'whatever, shit happens/collateral damage' attitude is dissapointing.
I must suspect that the access code was probably sold to Iran, and probably also to anyone else with cash. It is sad that so many cautious people have also been gullable enough to think that Tor would provide security to them for free.
Security is a fragile and temporary condition. No one, be they government or corporate can provide long term security, in spite of their claims. Yet many are willingly sacrificing freedom and wealth to attain an illusion of security. The only meaningful security mankind can achieve is to guarantee a universal freedom, where nobody needs to worry about hiding their identity.
A security where one must surrender freedom is not security, but slavery.
Wrong!
Read up how Tor works before you spread unwarranted panic!
This "attack" on Tor has nothing to do with the software (possibly) being copromised, it was done by identifying Tor specific traffic (through packet inspection). Also connections to Tor can be identified at ISP level by entry node IP address - these are rutinely blocked and that is why "bridges" are used. When they identified the traffic they were able to block the bridges as well (that happended in January).
Also - Tor only hides the the destination of the traffic (from anyone watching the entry point) and source of the traffic (for anyone who is watching the exit).
It does not hide your connection to the Tor network.
It does not protect you from someone who can see both at enty and exit (correlation attack).
There is a whole list of warnings on the their website. Read up.
My error Jaarwik
You are correct that I should not critisize or jump to conclusions without comprehensive knowlege.
That said; I am certain that most people who have downloaded Tor, are not aware of those facts. I looked at the Tor site some months ago but didn't download (assuming that the protections could be negated). That was merely skepticism on my part, as I like most people have very little tech knowlegs. I'm sure that there will now be a lot of frightened people, who know their online security was not what they expected.
Paul Repstock
...i agree,and i would suggest that the majority of the 11000 iranians thought they were being protected by tor software...if they knew that they were flagging themselves to the government as sending encrypted data, then they would not have used it...jarwicks answers(or lack of them)sounds like a government reply...maybe this is not surprising...i followed the link to the telegraph and found some things i never knew before:quote...
...The value of “internet freedom” technologies to US foreign policy has not gone unnoticed in Washington: the Tor Project’s arms race with Iranian authorities is funded in part by grants from both the Department of Defense and the State Department.
...simple questions for "TOR":
when did the 11000 ppl drop off your radar?....making you speed up the arms race...how long did it take you to fix a problem you had known about for years and done nothing about?...do you even wonder what happened to those 11000?...your answers blame the end-user for not reading properly so i guess you dont worry about these 11000 ppl that were trusting your software to keep them safe:quote from the telegraph article...
...As a result, the crackdown in Iran has been easier than ever before. Once the
Revolutionary Guard intercept a suspect message, they are able to pinpoint the
location of a guilty protester using their computer's IP address. Then it's
just a question of knocking on doors – and confiscating laptops and PCs for
hard evidence.
...MAYBE YOU SHOULD PRINT THE ABOVE PARAGRAGH ON YOUR WEB PAGE...so ppl can make an informed decision about their safety.
LOLWUT?
Government reply? Ahaha. Sory, I had no idea this was a tinfoilhat area. OK, to a casual observer your posts might seem like a government FUD (fear uncertainty doubt) operation aimed at Tor! But I will just assume a TROLL - judging by the unbased accusations, aggressive posturing and seeing quite a few of them in my time.
For anyone who is willing to some research - this is it (in a nutshell): due to the nature of the TCP/IP protocol there is (ultimately) no way you can hide where your (immediate) connections are going. IPs of Tor nodes (also proxies, VPNs etc.) sooner or later end up on lists. So there has always been a way of identifying Tor users (when they connect to known Tor entry nodes) - even before this attack.
There are no "failsafe" solutions for countering surveillance - this is because of the "open" nature of the internet.
The thing is, there are a lot of Tor users and due to encryption it is impossible to tell what individuals are doing (and knowlegable dissidents will remove evidence from their comuputers -there are methods and software to do so).
In the end it always came down to "safety in numbers".
The only really effective way for the governments to do away with Tor is therefore to block it. And that is what happened in the January attack - the 11000 users that "dissapered" from the Tor network were blocked from accesing the network at ISP level. The Iran gov didn't get any new info, that they couldn't get before.
Also Tor is not some corporate project. Tor network (apart from a few core servers) is made up of volunteers.
I don't know about financing by US government. As an end user I don't like it, but as for conspiracy theories - IDC (provide evidence or stfu).
Apart form that... I will not comment accusations of (me? lol) being the US government/"TOR" and blaming the end user or claims of "quoting" the Telegraph article for paragraphs on safety... I have nothing to prove here.
I can only comment on what I know about the software as a user.
MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO TROLL SOMEONE ELSE.
JAARWICK
...sorry i thought you were speaking on tor's behalf as all the qestions were addressed to tor,so not sure why you would take it personally,did not realise you were just an end-user.
The original wikileaks article was based on a report in the telegraph and wikileaks quoted the executive director...all i did was read the article and quoted 2 more paragraphs that i thought ppl might be interested in...i dont think wikileaks would waste time on printing a bold type update the next day, unless they thought ppl needed to be aware of something that might endanger their safety...not sure what conspircy theory you are talking about...i am just worried for the safety of ppl,not just in iran but around the world including the USA...hopefully they are more geeky or intelligent than myself and understand they are using something that in the end will NOT protect their identity.
I am a simple person that prefers to read the wikileaks version of the truth,and if they quote other journalists then i am happy to read the article(like in the telegraph)because wikileaks has given them credibility by quoting them-as i did...because i am not 'geeky' i would not know how to troll...the only troll i know of is a swedish doll that delights in the misery of others(sounds like julian's prosecuter)...i have heard they deface memorial sites on facebook,so calling me a troll is probably the false accusation you were talking about...just to be fair...i did 2 quotes from the telegraph so its only fair i should quote 2 things from tor's main page:
Who Uses Tor?
Activists
Activists use Tor to anonymously report abuses from danger zones. Whistleblowers use Tor to safely report on corruption.
Military & Law Enforcement
Militaries and law enforcement use Tor to protect their communications, investigations, and intelligence gathering online.
...i guess the military are safe...nobody is gonna knock on their door for sending encrypted data thru tor...but what about all the other users around the world?
Jaarwik
I admit that I don't know a byte from an isp. I am totally ignorant.
However, when I visited the Tor website, I definitly got the feeling that the purpose of the program as to prevent other people from identifying your computer. If that was not the case, then there should have been a bold warning that such protection was not offered. If the program does not protect against identification, what is it's purpose in simple terms, please.