Radio Farda Listeners Weigh in on Presidential Election
June 1 -- A common Iranian joke suggests voting for 'Mir Mohsen Karubinejad' - a mixture of all four candidates' names. Because all candidates hail from the same clan, one person commented on Radio Farda's website that she is "boycotting this puppet show of elections." [read in Persian]
Arson, Bombs in Baluchi Parts of Iran Possibly Election-Related
June 2 -- At least five people were killed in an arson attack on a building in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan after a bomb on a Shi'ite mosque a week earlier left 25 people dead. Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan Province, home to mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis. An expert told Radio Farda that the the unrest in the area is related to Baluchi support of reformist candidates in the June 12 presidential election. [read in English; listen in Persian]
Revolutionary Guards Play Big Role in Election
May 31 -- An American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar told Radio Farda that the IRGC support for Ahmadinejad may make a crucial difference in the outcome of the vote. [read in Persian]
Jailed Labor Leader's Life "in Danger"
June 2 -- The mother of jailed labor activist, Masour Osanlou, told Radio Farda that, during a visit to her son in prison, he said he his receiving death threats and is likely in great danger. [listen in Persian]
Student Assembly Turns Violent
June 3 -- Student members of the Basij militia attacked a peaceful assembly of students supporting reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi at Tehran's Azad University. One student told Radio Farda, "The Basij assaulted us with electric batons and tear gas. Four students are hospitalized and one was arrested by security forces." [listen in Persian]