Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 21, 2009

Western Nations Deny 'Meddling' in Iran's Post-Election Violence
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=24E4341:A6F02AD83191E160C8CCCFAEF0E757EA5C6F54A6CF9DC2CA&
 
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband says he 'categorically' rejects
the idea that foreign countries are manipulating protesters in Iran 
©A group of demonstrators protest in front of the White House in
support the demonstrations in Iran, 20 Jun 2009Britain is strongly
denying allegations by the Iranian government that Western nations are
encouraging Iran's post-election violence. British Foreign Secretary
David Miliband said Sunday that he "categorically" rejects the idea that
foreign countries are manipulating protesters in Iran. Iran's Foreign
Ministry has accused Britain of trying to sabotage the June 12 vote,
while Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has accused the United States,
Britain, France and Germany of interfering in Iran's affairs. Meanwhile,
Iran expelled the British Broadcasting Corporation's permanent
correspondent in Tehran Sunday after blaming the BBC and the Voice of
America of "engineering the ongoing post-election riots." VOA Director
Dan Austin rejected Iran's accusations, saying "the Voice of America is
working hard to provide the people of Iran with news and information
that is accurate, comprehensive and credible."He also urged Iran's
government to cease efforts "to restrict the free flow of information to
their citizens."Iranian authorities have severely restricted independent
media coverage of opposition protests. Witnesse to these events are
reaching out online and by telephone to report what they see on the
streets. They are relying on social media Web sites, such as Twitter,
Facebook and You Tube to tell the world about demonstrations and
crackdowns in their cities -- and news agencies find themselves relying
on the information these citizens' publish. One video broadcast on CNN
Sunday, found on You Tube, appears to show a nighttime home invasion.
The video is dark, but a woman can be heard screaming in Farsi, "they
are coming from the balcony!" and shouting "get out!" The topic of
Iran's election (under the searchable term, or hashtag, "#Iran
Election") also remains one of the most popular trends on Twitter. Many
people posting on the theme of "Tehran" also have tinted their profile
pictures green, the color of the
 opposition. And Facebook has announced it is making its Web site
available in Persian, so Iranians can use the service in their native
language. Google also introduced a new Persian translating tool.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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