Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Iranian Election Fallout Continues; Mass Rallies Have Not Occurred Today

Aired June 20, 2009 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Welcome back. I am Fredericka Whitfield in Atlanta.

Part of our coverage on the fallout over the Iran election includes you. Many of you are posting comments on my Facebook page. I want to share what some of you are saying.

Seth says, "The people of Iran are making their voices heard. No matter how much the government cracks down on them, they will not be able to suppress the desire for freedom that is in their hearts."

And Tom Harper says "It looks like Ahmadinejad has the upper hand. Khamenei has made it clear who he says has won the election."

And Vick Beneditto says, "Obviously, there are really three quarter groups vying for the presidency. But outside forces, prodded, goaded, losing parties to protest and cause trouble."

And Mary Ann, real quickly, "Iran has no right to shut up its citizens. No right. Iran has been doing this for years, and it is totally against the basic human rights, the freedom of speech."

These sentiments being expressed by you, sending it our way via Facebook as well as the blogs, and we appreciate that. Of course, we will bring you more of what everyone has to say throughout the day, so keep your comments and your questions coming, and perhaps we'll pose some of your questions to the number of experts that we have had visiting with us today.

Much more straight ahead, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, I'm Fredericka Whitfield with continuing coverage of the breaking news out of Iran. Crackdown on dissent -- Iranian police used tear gas, water cannons, batons, and beatings to disperse protestors today.

Many fought back in open defiance of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He had warned that protest must end. He said opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi will be held responsible.

A message on Mousavi's Facebook page says Mousavi is prepared for martyrdom. So far that message, however, cannot be authenticated. Iran state television reports a bomb exploded at the mausoleum of the Ayatollah Khomeini, then leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution. It says three people died there, including the bomber. That's an increase from the two we reported last hour, so that latest update, three dying including the bomber.

The Iranian government continues to insist that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the much-disputed election, but it says it will conduct a random recount of up to 10 percent of the ballot boxes.

Our Kate Bolduan is monitoring the situation from the White House. We've got a host of reporters all over. Ivan Watson is here in Atlanta in our Iran hub, international desk. Ted Rowlands is in Los Angeles right outside the federal building. A protest is underway momentarily in support of the opposition leader in Iran.

Susan Candiotti is at the U.N. in New York, and Christiane Amanpour, our chief international correspondent, joining us from London.

So for the latest on what's happening in the street of Tehran, let's actually go to Ivan Watson at the Iran desk. We formulated this Iran desk in great part, Ivan, because it is difficult getting information from our reporters who are actually based, assigned in Iran.

So, by way of assistance from whether it's state television, or perhaps even from a number of people on the ground in Iran, they are providing information to us. We're able to authenticate it as best we can and then get it on the air. What more do you have?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's not just difficult, Fredricka, it's illegal for us to report.

We do have reporters on the ground in Tehran, but this fax they received from the Iranian government this morning informed them they are not allowed to make any reports without prior permission. And of course we have asked and still have not received any permission.

It is very clear that despite the government saying that this demonstration was illegal today, protestors tried to go out in the streets. And the government has shown it is willing to use force.

We'll show you some images. We have gotten a lot of these images coming in over the last couple of hours indicating that some people have suffered some very serious injuries. This man here, this young man, looks like he was shot.

This is not the only video we have gotten from various social networking sites showing people hurt apparently, in the crackdown that took place in Tehran today.

And this does tend to correlate with some of the accounts that we have gotten from protestors we have spoken to on the phone, that we have gotten emails from, accounts that we have gotten on Twitter as well describing the security forces using clubs, tear gas, shooting in the air.

And then we see these images here, apparently shooting into the crowd possibly.

Another piece of video that I would look to show you. This comes from Associated Press television agency, and this shows a woman protecting a pro-government militiaman who has been knocked off his motorcycle theoretically by the demonstrators, who try to go in and kick him.

And she is protecting him from the angry crowd, a sign of how divisive this situation is, the fact that Iranian society seems to be pretty polarized over the results of the contested elections.

I would look to pull you back over here. This is something very new for us. This is coming from Facebook. And it is a video, according to the Facebook posting, from Shiraz. That's another city outside of Tehran.

For the first time, what we are being shown here, and again it is difficult for us to confirm. We will be working on this -- police clubbing women, according to the posting, at Shiraz University. We cannot independently confirm this, but it is very clear that women are getting beaten.

And why this is important if this has in fact happened today, it's the first case of clashes and protests that we've heard today outside of the Iranian capital, very important.

We are going to be trying to follow it, but, as I said, it is very difficult for us to do any work on the ground in Iran right now. We have been basically banned as part of this almost complete blackout of the international media in Iran by the Iranian authorities.

One final thing I would like to show you here. This comes from one of our iReporters in Tehran, and it shows what looks like the beginning of the rally today in Tehran. Protestors gathering. You can see people up on the overpass. What looked like thousands of people in the streets, some of them covering their faces.

And then look what happens. Then we see -- it looks like there is smoke in the air, possibly from a fire, and the protestors walking through the streets.

Then Fredericka, somebody setting fires. Perhaps the demonstrators, gas, smoke in the air. People chanting. We have heard from some of the people, chanting, "Death to the dictator" today. Whether that means Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official winner of the presidential elections, or perhaps even the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that is not entirely clear.

Then a final image here sent from this iReporter in Iran just showing you the tumult out in the streets of Tehran today. A very dramatic day in the Iranian capital -- Fredericka?

WHITFIELD: And Ivan, are you able to kind of reveal to us how some of these images are being sent to us? Just spontaneously, people who either are aware that CNN is up and running, and they get a hold of -- of an address in which to send the images, or are they are using go- betweens? What do we know about the story of how some of the people are transmitting their images?

WATSON: In the case of the photos here, this is a contributor who contributed to iReport in the past. We have spoken with this contributor in the past, interviewed this person.

He posted information. We haven't been able to contact him directly. The telecommunications to Tehran have been very difficult today.

And we understand a number of the demonstrators took the Sim cards out of their cell phones to prevent being rounded up --

(CROSSTALK)

WATSON: -- by security forces.

Some of the other information is coming off of Facebook, it's coming from Twitter, it's come from social networking sites. That is much more difficult to confirm.

But it is very clear there was a fair amount, a lot of violence in the streets of Tehran today as the security forces broke apart these rallies.

And we are getting additional reports from sources on the ground of clashes going on in the side streets now, shooting, the sound of gunfire in the side streets as security forces go in after these demonstrators.

WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson, thanks so much from the Iran desk.

A lot of images to try to decipher and (inaudible) there on the ground in Tehran.

I am joined here by Badi Badiozamani right now. He is an author and scholar. He is an analyst.

How unsettling is it for you to see these images, and to get kind of piecemeal information as to what is taking place on the ground? There is a lot of guess work going on?

BADI BADIOZAMANI, AUTHOR, SCHOLAR, AND IRAN EXPERT: Yes. First of all, it is absolutely unsettling and nerve-racking. It's amazing when you see the picture of the young girl, 20, 23 years old, in a bath of blood and apparently dying. It just breaks your heart no matter which side she is on.

WHITFIELD: Maybe we can go through some of the images that we saw just now. We saw, initially, the image of motorcycle -- people on the motorcycles, some of them on fire, a man who was being protected, as Ivan was describing.

And we understand from some reporting that he was a plain clothes officer, because there are plain-clothes officers that are in, in and about there, and that she was protecting him as a sign of respect. But, no matter what, people who did not necessarily like him or don't like his cause, were trying to get to him.

But explain to me that this is not an unusual sight but a fairly common one in protecting certain members of authority?

BADIOZAMANI: It is not a matter of protecting a member of authority. It is protecting another human being. That is a good side of the Iranians.

Even the man who slaps him, he can't anything more than just slapping. He doesn't allow himself. But then, of course, we have someone who kicks him. Different people, different emotions.

WHITFIELD: Lots of emotions. And some of these emotions also being incited by what we are hearing on the web. We understand the Facebook location of Mir Hossein Mousavi that he says he is prepared for martyrdom.

But there is more to this face book, I guess, dialogue and imagery there. You have been able to decipher and take a look at it. What more is being said, and how do we know whether it is authentic? Is he at the controls, or somebody else?

BADIOZAMANI: This is the Web site, two websites that our colleagues have been following within the last, four, five, even a week, four, five days, a week. And apparently this is authentic. But nobody can say for certain, of course.

WHITFIELD: OK.

BADIOZAMANI: But he says what he says, and this is amazing. He says I have taken the religious bath, if you will, for martyrdom. This means that I have already spoken with my god, I have thought about this, and then I took the shower or the bath of martyrdom and am ready to give my life.

WHITFIELD: Is that also another way of saying --

BADIOZAMANI: It's very deep.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is very deep. And we heard the ayatollah say yesterday, if anything is to transpire, if anything bad were to happen, and I'm, you know, using different words than he did, bad were to happen as a result of protests that I forbid, then it is Mousavi that is going to be held responsible.

BADIOZAMANI: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And here you see throngs of people in the street. There have been at least three deaths, including a bomber outside the mausoleum.

BADIOZAMANI: That's questionable. We will get to that, that bombing thing.

WHITFIELD: OK, that's questionable. Is this what we're talking about when we say Mousavi has taken a spiritual bath? You are saying he is ready to take responsibility for all that transpires, or is there something else?

BADIOZAMANI: No. He is basically defying the supreme leader. Responding to him, look --

WHITFIELD: These are images of him earlier, not necessarily today -- on Thursday, Mousavi.

BADIOZAMANI: You threaten me. I am already, ready to give my life. So don't threaten me. That is one thing.

Secondly, when he says I have taken the religious bath, it means that I am as religious as you are, if not even more. So we are from the same stock, so to speak.

WHITFIELD: So he is also sending a pretty strong message to the powers that be and challenging their power, right, in a very direct way?

BADIOZAMANI: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And in a spiritual way, it is bigger than most people can understand?

BADIOZAMANI: Yes, and also, in a way, sending a message to his followers, Khamenei's followers, who think --

WHITFIELD: Galvanizing them.

BADIOZAMANI: He is saying to them, I am Muslim too. Come with me. That's one thing.

The second thing is that, in the declaration that we just read from him, and it's been translated. He mentioned something very again, shocking.

He says that if the, and he is being very poetic, like any Persian, if the fire of rigging of the elections that has set fire on the trust of the people is not extinguished then this is going to take the system, the Islamic system, the Islamic Republic system into the slaughterhouse, into the slaughterhouse.

And then it will prove that the idea of the contradiction between Islam and democracy is right.

So in other words, he is putting the blame on them. He is giving the responsibility -- putting the responsibility on the shoulder of the ayatollah, and saying that, "Look, it is much bigger than an election and a country. It is an idea."

Some people have been trying to say that there is no, there is a contradiction, no mingling between Islam and democracy.

WHITFIELD: That's a powerful translation and a powerful message. And I know, as you said, it is being further translated as it is in Persian.

Badi Badiozamani, thanks so much. We'll have you back to talk a little bit more, especially when we get to be able to decipher more.

BADIOZAMANI: And especially about the bombing, the alleged bombing.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You are not sold on that.

BADIOZAMANI: Because we haven't seen a picture yet.

WHITFIELD: That's true.

BADIOZAMANI: Two or three hours ago.

WHITFIELD: Although, the images are being restricted in so many different ways.

BADIOZAMANI: No, no. This was the first, the news, about bombing has been coming from the government sources within Iran. So there is no restriction on them. They could have sent someone. They could have sent a helicopter to show the images of the destruction. We haven't seen anything yet.

WHITFIELD: OK. Badi, thanks so much. We will talk with you again with momentarily, appreciate that.

In the meantime, our chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, she has been in Iran for the presidential election. Right now she is back in London. But she has been watching all that has been transpiring out of Tehran and beyond.

So Christiane, you probably hear a lot of what Badi was saying here. Pretty powerful messages that are being deciphered from the Facebook page of Mir Hossein Mousavi and how he is preparing himself, how he has taken this spiritual bath for whatever may come next.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Fredricka, you're right. If these comments posted and assigned to Mousavi himself, if they are verifiable, then they are very, very strong words.

And they are potentially showing something that lot of analysts were wondering about and questioning, whether the reform leaders would do what they haven't done in the past, and that is either come out in defiance of direct ultimatum not to have any more street protests, or whether they would in fact, as they did in the past, refrain and go back into the shadows.

And the question also was, whatever they did, what would the people do?

And it does seem today after initially getting a sporadic report of hundreds and perhaps several thousands in different pockets trying to reach the site of where the rallies have been called for but being dispersed by police.

Now that is eyewitnesses saying and Iranian state television saying, they're being dispersed.

This huge image of at least one rally we're told was taken in Tehran today is a powerful statement. And basically, it is something that we really haven't seen in Iran in 30 years because some of the protests, these protests, particularly the student protests which erupted within the last ten years, whether in 2003 or 1999, were much smaller and were very quickly, very quickly dealt with.

But here, again, verify this picture. But here this picture shows, or seems to show, a massive defiance of a direct warning by the highest authority in Iran at Friday prayers yesterday.

WHITFIELD: And this massive defiance, how insulted, how greatly insulted do you believe the ayatollah is that people in the thousands have defied his order?

AMANPOUR: Well, I was told by people who are much more attuned to the Islamic significance of various features and verses and signals that at the end of the speech yesterday, when Ayatollah Khamenei referred to "the Hidden Imam," and said that he had brought himself there, he had sacrificed himself, he had been wounded throughout the revolution, and post-revolution, that he had put his life on the line for Iran and was basically imploring people to heed his word.

And he wiped tears from his eyes. And you say pictures of others in the crowd, the devout wiping tears from their eyes, that this was a strong signal that this was do not defy me. I am putting myself here, front and center, and asking you, and do not defy me.

And if this is borne out to be true, this incredible, huge crowd that looks to be having portrayed in the video you are showing now, that is a direct defiance now, not just at the election, not just at President Ahmadinejad, but at the supreme leadership of Iran.

And that was always a red line. In any of the conversations you have in Iran, they will say we can pretty much do a lot of criticizing. But if we criticize the supreme leader, that is the red line. If we go against him, then all bets are off.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder if direct defiance translates into power diminished or power diminishing?

We're going to have to wait and see how this plays out, because now everybody was waiting to see what would happen today.

So today in some, according to the pictures what you have seen is two big rallies called. They didn't materialize, at least as far as we know, in the way they were called in the two squares, but it looks like certainly many, many people came out.

There have been these pictures showing the running battles with the riot police, and now this picture of the huge crowd. So that's for today.

Plus talking myself with people in Iran by phone, I know that in various neighborhoods in Tehran, people have sort of spread away and dispersed from the rally locations, but are out, or were -- certainly a few hours ago, out shouting, chanting, slogans, waving the "V" for victory sign, honking their horns, flashing their lights passengers in taxis and cars and people on foot in the streets.

So what will happen tomorrow? And the next day? And the next day?

WHITFIELD: Interesting.

You mention phone, which makes me want to ask, when you reached out to people you know by phone, whether it be by land line or even cell phone, what kind of difficulties did you have?

Because we talked with someone earlier, an Iranian who lives here in the U.S., and it's difficult for her to call and have a conversation without her being cut off when she calls via land line as soon as certain words are used, and she sees no coincidence in that.

And given that you are coming from Great Britain. And the ayatollah called Great Britain just yesterday called Great Britain the place that is the "most evil," I wonder how your conversations are successfully or unsuccessfully happening via landline.

AMANPOUR: I am not going to reveal methods of communication on the air.

However it is true that there have been quite a lot of monitoring, but most especially a lot of shutting down of communications. That started even before the elections, and certainly in the days succeeding, following the elections.

Mobile phones were at first sort of uniformly cut down -- shut down for periods of time. And then, according to people inside, they're being closed down at various locations, various time periods. Text messaging has been up and down, on and off.

So it's also another method of control and trying to control the flow of information.

WHITFIELD: All right. Enough said about that. Thanks so much. Complications have been triple-fold for many.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour. She followed the election leading up to it. And she will be sharing insight on a CNN special, "Amanpour Reports" from the streets of Iran tonight and tomorrow at 7:00 eastern right here on CNN.

Iran cracks down on foreign media. We'll hear from an American reporter who has worked there for ten years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I am Fredericka Whitfield in Atlanta. Much more of our continuing coverage of Iran and the unrest that continues to boil through the streets of Tehran.

We have seen thousands of people who have taken to the streets in defiance of the ayatollah's message yesterday that anyone protesting would be acting in defiance and they would be collecting illegally.

Azadeh Moaveni One of the few American correspondents allowed to actually work in Iran and had been since 1999. She is on the phone with us, however, right now from Cambridge, England.

And so Azadeh, you worked in Iran from '99 until, when did you leave?

AZADEH MOAVENI, AUTHOR: Well I have been reporting there regularly since '99. I have lived there for five or six years on and off over the last several years.

WHITFIELD: OK. So at this point, as you are watching, like everybody else, you are watching the images that are coming out of that country, how do you decipher what you are seeing? Is this the Iran that you recognize?

MOAVENI: It certainly is the Iran that I recognize, because I last spent time there, I moved there immediately after Ahmadinejad was elected and lived there for much of his presidency, and sort of went through that experience with the rest of Iran.

And the mood that I am seeing is a direct reflection of how things fell apart under his leadership. And when he was first elected, young people were apathetic with politics.

But he went about so systematically gutting the economy, 26 percent inflation, that people sort of -- young people's quality of life from all different background was gouged. And they began to become quite furious.

WHITFIELD: So people directly related the compromising of their lifestyles to the leadership of Ahmadinejad, even though it's become common knowledge it is the ayatollah who is really in power in Iran, not necessarily the president?

MOAVENI: I think that that is a pretty simplified way, or overly simplified way of looking at things.

The president of Iran, of course, is not all powerful. There is a supreme leader that does wield a great deal of power. But the president sets the tone on foreign policy. He has overall management over the economy social controls, censorship.

He makes the decisions that govern people's daily lives. And it is the daily life that deteriorated under Ahmadinejad.

WHITFIELD: So the protests that we are seeing are a direct response or message being sent, you suppose, to the president as opposed to the ayatollah?

MOAVENI: At this point I think it's become broader. I think the election, itself, and people's utter anger at seeing, you know what they perceive as a fraudulent result, was what provoked it.

But I think at this point they're expressing their anger more broadly with the Iranian regime. And the depths to which it has sunk under Ahmadinejad is certainly the catalyst. But I think that they feel the regime is unaccountable, it's corrupt, it's lawless, and it denies meaningful opportunities for political change.

And I think you are seeing that profound anger.

WHITFIELD: If you were there right now, how would you be reporting on the good that comes from organizing like this and the bad that comes from it?

MOAVENI: I mean what I, what I think is really amazing, and I think this is what young people in Iran are being able to express over the Internet, is that even though young people's and Iranians both were discounted at the ballot box, organizing like this and going out into the street has, I think, carried their voices and sent their message so much more loudly than perhaps a Mousavi victory or a loss by a slim margin might have.

So I think it is incredibly empowering for young people to see that they have this kind of ability to shake their government to its core.

And then of course, what we are seeing today, the crackdown on the protestors, which seems very bloody, even though it is difficult to get proper accounts of it. This is what happens when a brutal dictatorship cracks down.

WHITFIELD: All right. Azadeh Moaveni, thanks so much. When do you see yourself making your way back to Iran?

MOAVENI: I think, like everyone else, I am going to wait and see which way things go.

WHITFIELD: And do you have a British passport, because the ayatollah made some pretty clear statements about his feelings of Great Britain, calling it the "most evil." Would it be difficult to make your way in if you were to have a British passport?

MOAVENI: I have always gone in on my Iranian passport. My second passport is American. But like so many people, so many journalists whose have Iranian background, when I go in, I am treated as an Iranian. So in that sense being there as a journalist is precarious either way.

WHITFIELD: Got you. Azadeh Moaveni, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.

MOAVENI: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. We are monitoring images and responses, sentiments coming from all directions in so many different ways. Our Josh Levs is doing one of the things he does best, monitoring a lot of these Twitter sites.

Minute by minute, what are people saying. They're being forth right with thoughts and even their questions, aren't they?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. You know, Fred, when a topic is really big, we always say it one of the top topics on Twitter. Now it is about five of the top topics on Twitter.

I have a computer behind me. We're going to zoom right in. I want everyone to see something. Over here on the right side, Twitter lists what the top stories are. Check this out, you have the election, Tehran, Mousavi, and throughout the day we are seeing other names that also appear in here, sometimes just the word "Iran."

And you can check out over here, I don't know if it will show up on TV, but literally five seconds ago, less than five seconds ago, ten seconds ago, these statements are coming in. People are sharing bits of information.

I'm going to emphasize, but because something is on Twitter doesn't mean we know for a fact it has been confirmed. But people are sharing tremendous amounts of information on here.

We are looking about what people are writing about Iran, Tehran. We are also looking at what they're writing about Mousavi.

Now, I, a few minutes ago, Fred, posted on MySpace, inviting people to weigh in with their views. I'll read a couple of them. MLAS wrote "My opinions, Americans are 1776. We are running ahead of Barack Obama. Support Iran freedom seekers." Over here, "We need to stay out this time unlike we did in the past. The right needs a boogeyman to keep the fear going in the U.S."

It is just interesting to see the different opinions we are getting.

And Fred, as you know, lots of opinions on Twitter. We are monitoring this very carefully. And we keep updating constantly, because this is a huge topic, people weighing in to us. Seth writes us "The people of Iran are making their voices heard. No matter how much the government cracks down on them, they will not be able to suppress the desire for freedom in their hearts."

What we have got going online is a whole conversation here, including some people who are writing in Farsi, in some cases on Twitter, in some cases they are inside Iran. We are not in possession to be able to be sure in they are in Iran or not, but we are following Farsi tweets as well as English tweets, Fred. And we want to see the absolute latest throughout the day.

So I am basically camped out here. Keep your tweets coming. Keep your comments coming to the CNN newsroom blog. And we are also going to follow all sorts of Twitter activity, Fred that is going on out there in English and Farsi, keep bringing you some of the latest throughout the rest of the afternoon.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Josh, thank you so much.

They are using their voices in the way of protest here in this country as well. At the White House, right outside the fence is a demonstration taking place 1,500 to 2,000 people who were making their sentiments known.

And apparently the administration has heard them. We understand now that we have received an official statement coming from the White House by way of an administration official who says, quote, "The president has received intelligence updates throughout the day. The president has repeatedly met to discuss the situation with senior advisers.

The most recent of the meetings took place in the president's study, which is adjacent to the Oval Office."

And again, here are the live pictures right now of many people who have collected right outside the White House fence there. Many of them have expressed that they're in support of the opposition, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was defeated in that election one week ago in Iran.

The White House still being careful about its language, but instead releasing a statement on this Saturday. The president is in the White House as we understand, and as you see there from that from that statement, he has expressed that they have many diplomatic conversations that have taken place.

And now I have the full statement now coming from the president, saying, quote, "The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people.

The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all those who seek to exercise those rights."

Again I am reading the statement directly from the White House. It goes on by saying, "As I said," this is the president now speaking, "As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.

The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said, quote, "The art of the moral universe is long, but it bend towards justice," end quote. I believe that." This is the president again speaking if you are joining us, in a written statement, "The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people's belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."

So that statement coming from the White House at this hour by way of the office of the press secretary in response to the protests that are taking place across this country as it pertains to what took place in Iran a week ago, and of course, the protests that you have been seeing in Iran as well.

We'll continue to monitor the situation whether it be from the White House or even Tehran.

Meantime, her cause is their cause. They're in Tehran while she is in New York cheering on her friends' fight against the Iranian regime.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back now to today's breaking news out of Iran. Authorities used tear gas and water cannons against protestors today. But if they had hoped to stop the dissent, it has not worked so far. A message on the Facebook page of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says Mousavi is ready for martyrdom.

We can't confirm the authenticity of that message, but it underscores the increasing tension in Iran.

And Iranian state television says a bomb exploded at a shrine to the late Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The report says three people died, including the bomber.

With Iran's government placing so many restrictions on reporters, getting information is quite difficult, to say the very least. CNN's Ivan Watson is monitoring social networking sites, satellite feeds, all kinds of sources from our Iran desk to tell us the latest -- Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have seen more and more of these very disturbing images starting to come out, Fredericka, images of protests and clashes that turn bloody and perhaps deadly.

I have to warn our viewers these are graphic images we will show now of what appears to be a woman seriously injured in the street. And this is just one of several different videos that we have seen emerge in the Internet from Twitter, from Facebook, over the course of the last several hours from today's violent events.

Disturbing images, and we are hearing that there are at the very least wounded people in the hospitals right now in Tehran as a result of today's events.

One protestor that we spoke with sent a note saying that, as the tear gas was coming out, some people set fires to try to -- try to combat with that noxious smoke that is so difficult for protestors to deal with.

Now, I want to show one other piece of video that came out from Facebook. And this is evidently from the town of shiraz. Let's take a listen for a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: According to Facebook, and we cannot confirm this, that is from city of Shiraz, Shiraz University, and the man's voice in the background yelling in the background, he is yelling epithets at those security forces who are beating the women in black chadors, and he is yelling "Don't hit the old women. Don't hit them." Now, difficult again for us to confirm this. Our hands are tied on the ground in Iran. We are banned from reporting without government permission first, and that is being denied to us right now.

But this is very important, because it's the first apparent video evidence that these clashes and the unrest went outside of the Iranian capital today.

And we have also gotten reports, unconfirmed so far, but from various sources that we are trying to confirm ourselves -- difficult to independently confirm -- that in northwest Iran in the province of Azerbaijan, that there were sit-ins taking place there in mosques in Tabrise.

And that's important, because that region is where the second place candidate in these disputed elections, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and the de facto leader of the opposition, he is from that part of Iran -- Fredericka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Ivan Watson. Thanks so much, interesting reporting there, and new images very disturbing as well. Thank you, Ivan.

Meantime, our Josh Levs is also keeping a close watch on the social networking, the Twitter sites -- Josh?

LEVS: Yes, Fred, I'm just going to show you a handful of what has been coming over the last minute, really 10 seconds ago, 20 seconds ago. Let me show you. Right here Carrie is saying "We can't stress this enough," talking about hospitals.

Over here, we have someone saying that maps to embassies have been posted. Another one here -- "You have a choice, live or die. Every breath is a choice. To be or not to be." Less than 10 seconds ago, it was just sent. "Today we are all Iranians."

Fred, there is this constantly updated discussion online on Twitter and the computer behind me. We have also got it going on in our newsroom blog. We are keeping a close eye on what we can show you and some of the interesting messages.

We'll keep popping in with some of the latest throughout the afternoon as the discussion continues. You can see what just happened. Hundreds every minute right there.

WHITFIELD: Deep-seated feelings that are coming to the surface in a very big way. Josh Levs, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

LEVS: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: You know her face and you know her voice. A Hollywood star releasing a movie with her homeland as the centerpiece, yet at the same time, her homeland now at the center of the world stage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Iranian students in this country are watching the protests in Iran. They never know if they will see a friend or family member out in the streets despite the anger and danger there.

Susan Candiotti is watching the unfolding crisis with an Iranian graduate student at Columbia University, a very rainy, damp, New York City. But it looks like a pretty sizable number came out.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, we spoke with her earlier today. Now we are across the street from the United Nations. This is a group of protestors here, many of whom have come from Pennsylvania, from here in New York, from Boston and New Jersey, many of them holding signs. They are chanting things like "Stop the killing" and "Down with the dictator," and the like.

One woman in particular you see over here has the sign that says "stop killing people." And I want to show that she is wearing a surgical mask with the green that is representative of course of those who are not supportive of the current regime of Ahmadinejad.

The green cross means they are for free speech, which they are not enjoying now these protestors say.

Moving farther down the line, there is quite a different mix of people. Here you have a woman, her name is Marcy. She is here with her 82-year-old mother. I will cross in front of the camera here.

Marcy, you told me this is the first time that you have voted in an election in many, many years, and that's cause your 82-year-old mother, who still lives in Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is right. She is my inspiration.

CANDIOTTI: Why did you vote this time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of her, because she is my inspiration.

CANDIOTTI: What do you think of what is happening in Iran at this time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope there is going to be no bloodshed. I'm protecting my people. And I hope things are going well over there.

CANDIOTTI: Of course, that is contrary to some of the reports that we are hearing.

But we will move farther down the line here to talk to an Iranian student. You are living and studying here in the United States right now. Tell me what you are hearing from friend and contacts you have via the Internet about what is happening there now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have seen many people dying in the streets. They are shooting directly to people -- gas, tears, and real bullets. I think they have more than 20 killings today.

CANDIOTTI: What do you think is going to happen at the end of the day? Can you predict what will happen in the coming days?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too complicated to guess now. But I hope good for my country.

CANDIOTTI: Finally, what is your message?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I must say that I want to ask all the government not to recognize the Ahmadinejad regime as the government of Iran, and Ahmadinejad is a threat to all the world countries.

CANDIOTTI: Many of the protestors here, finally, have told me there is concern that even if there is a recount of some of the vote, as has been promised, they will consider that meaningless.

Fredericka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much, from New York. We appreciate it.

When we come back, an American Hollywood star with Iranian roots, her movie and her view, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With so much attention focused on Iran, some Iranian- Americans are actually concerned about the image in a new movie and how it paints their country.

It is based on a true story, a woman stoned to death, and her aunt's courage to let others know what happened. Here is CNN's Kara Finnstrom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The film "The Stoning of Soraya M." is based on a bestselling nonfiction book of the same name. In 1986, in a remote Iranian village, a horrific scene, a woman falsely accused of adultery is buried to her waist and, in front of her family, stoned to death.

SHOHREH AGHDASHLOO, ACTRESS: Stoning has been there since the beginning, since the stone ages. So, it's been in Judaism, Christianity.

FINNSTROM: The Iranian actress who plays Saria's aunt says video of a real stoning smuggled from Iran during the 80s compelled her to be in the movie.

AGHDASHLOO: It took an hour and a half. And -- nothing like what you see in the film. Of course in the film, it's a lot milder. I was at the edge of my chair, thinking, oh, my god. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I can't do anything. I was half paralyzed.

FINNSTROM: Movie director Cyrus Narastay (ph) says that he wants to stir moral outrage and to draw attention to the practice of stoning. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to be as authentic as I could without being so authentic or so graphic that people are streaming out of the theater.

FINNSTROM: But some Iranian-Americans like, Hadi Daimi, says the film misrepresents Iranian society.

HADI GHAEMI, INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN: The Iranian people are shown as a cruel, violent, blood thirsty gang, who are very eager to participate in the stoning.

Actually, the very few stonings that take place in Iran happen in secret and do not happen in public. And it is also highly unlikely that the children, the father and other members of the family of the woman participated in the stoning.

FINNSTROM: Iranian history professor Janet Afary believes Hollywood's portrayal of Saria's story lacks context, but does tackle a real and brutal practice.

JANET AFARY, PROFESSOR OF IRANIAN STUDIES: I wish this movie was made 30 years ago, because this is when the practice of stoning actually began. And it was horrific at the time.

I have to say that the laws on stoning are still on the books. How extensively is it practiced? Very little, actually. And the reality of Iranian women is that they're feisty, they're outspoken, they're fighting against this and many other laws.

FINNSTROM (on camera): No one definitively knows how many people are stoned to death in present day Iran. The Iranian government put moratorium on stonings in 2002. But Amnesty International reports that since then at least six people have been stoned.

Stoning is alos still practiced in numerous other countries around the world.

Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: An Oscar-nominated actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo, is joining us now from Los Angeles.

Well, considering all that is happening now in Iran and the release of your movie -- let's begin with your movie, because, what timing for this movie to be released at a time of such tension in your country. Did being part of this movie take on special meaning particularly because you are Iranian?

SHOHREH AGHDASHLOO, ACTRESS: Absolutely. I had been waiting for this subject matter to arrive for quite a few years since I had seen a real one on tape. And it is amazing how timeless and now how timely this film has become regarding what is going on in Iran.

WHITFIELD: How do you tie the two? Why do you think it is so important for people to see this view of Iran, and also to see the present day conflict and these two images converging that once?

AGHDASHLOO: That's -- that the stoning (inaudible) is not about the woman being stoned, but it's about the woman who has the courage to stand for her rights and, perhaps unconsciously, practice the freedom of speech.

Like all of the other women, the 40 percent of the protestors on the streets of Tehran were female and who are now shouting for their basic rights and for reform.

WHITFIELD: And these women who are showing their courage in so many different ways in this present day now, even the opposition leader's wife, who was front and center in the campaigning of her husband, and now the defeat of the opposition, what kind of movement do you suppose was fueled for women in particular in Iran, whether it be as a result of this election, or do you see it was kind of bubbling up in some other way because of some other inspiration?

AGHDASHLOO: Well, whatever happens -- of course it remains to be seen, but whatever happens, things won't be the same. Iran will be in a totally different situation. So would the Middle East.

What happens in Iran today not only the pro-reform Iranians have been cheated by their government by being subjugated to a fraud election, they have not only been humiliated by their words of their so called President Ahmadinejad, who is now calling them (inaudible) -- it means unworthy and dirty.

They have not only been beaten by their own militia and have lost members of their family and friends, they have also been betrayed by their own pro-reform leaders, Mr. Khatimi, Mousavi, and Karrobie did not show up in today's rally and left thousand of Iranians who are pro-reform to fight for their cause.

And you can imagine how heart-wrenching the whole picture is to us Iranians abroad who know there is little they can do, only to send love and support, moral support, and echo their voice abroad.

WHITFIELD: Tell me how much this pains you, then, to see some of the images that are coming out, too. We talk about women in the movement, and we saw recent images today of women who in Shiraz were being beaten. We don't know the story behind it, but that was just the image.

And then we saw images of many of the young people who turned out in downtown Tehran who were also being subjugated by cans of tear gas and being confronted by police. What happens when you see those images?

AGHDASHLOO: Well it kills me, it devastates me, especially feeling incapable of doing something profound. Just sending my moral support and love of course is not enough. But there is nothing else I can do.

Any interference with what is going on in Iran right now from outside, from a foreign entity, would have a huge backlash on those protestors.

What happened in 1983 was that the 22 members of the faith, innocent people, families were captured and were being accused of Zionism and subservience to the interests of imperialistic powers, and were sentenced to death.

President Reagan gave a statement saying "I strongly urge the other leaders of the world to join me in to appeal to the Ayatollah Khomeini and the rest of Iran's leadership to not implement these sentences."

President Reagan said that these people were innocent. They were not guilty, and they were plotting to overthrow the regime.

(inaudible)

And they asked Ayatollah Khomeini to forgive them. And since when President Reagan cares about the human welfares and humanity, how come he didn't say anything about the crimes that Iraqis and Iranians and now, all of a sudden he is so interested in the faith of these people and despite the presidential plea he went ahead and had them turned (ph).

And this is what I am afraid of, the bloodshed, if there is any interference from outside.

WHITFIELD: Shohreh Aghdashloo, thank you so much. The movie is "The Stoning of Soraya M." It is so good to hear your personal views on what is taking place in the homeland, and at the same time also appreciate your fantastic work. A very emotional story that is being told. Everyone should certainly see it. Thanks so much for your time.

AGHDASHLOO: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: We hope you will join in on the conversation.

We have some of your comments as well as your email questions that have come your way as it pertains to all that is taking place in Iran. Much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)