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Blood on the Streets of Iran; Neda: Face of Protest Movement in Iran; Iranian Student Recounts Street Clash; Iranians in America Rally

Aired June 21, 2009 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you.

A young woman's death captured by a cell phone spreading across the Internet. Now to televisions all over the world.

Neda, the face of the Iran movement and the global rallying cry.

And protesters at the White House holding Neda's face and holding world leaders accountable for the bloodshed.

(VIDEO CLIP)

Blood spilled on the streets for days. When will it end?

And as night falls, the people all across Iran wonder if they are the next target. The news starts right now.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

We start this hour with a warning to you, so please pay close attention. Some of what you're going to -- we're going to show you and what you're going to see this hour is unedited, it is raw, it is also disturbing. No one knows for sure how many people are wounded or dead. Protests are continuing this evening, even in the face of an increasingly brutal government crackdown.

And tonight, one woman slain in front of the world has become the face of an entire movement. We can't say her name enough. This is Neda at a protest at a rally in Tehran yesterday just before something horrible happened. Now as you know, social networking sites have helped spread images and video of the protests in Iran. But the story of Neda is -- in particular has deeply shocked the country and really the world.

Our Octavia Nasr has her story. And again this warning. Her report contains extremely graphic video that is disturbing. In addition, parents may decide it is inappropriate for children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OCTAVIA NASR, SENIOR EDITOR, MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS (voice over): Her name is Neda. The facts surrounding her life and her death difficult to verify. She appears to be a young student who joined thousands of her countrymen to voice her disapproval of Iran's election results. Eyewitnesses say Basij militiamen hiding on a building rooftop shot Neda in her chest, silencing her forever.

A man who appears to be her father desperately calling on her to open her eyes. A stranger begging her to stay awake. "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, Neda," the man says. But Neda doesn't respond. She dies right there on the streets. Another protester capturing her last moments on a cell phone camera. And just like that, Neda, who came to the square thinking she's one voice among thousands, turned into the voice of an entire opposition movement.

Neda, which means the calling, is now on millions of flips across the globe, on the Internet in especially designed avatars. A young life cut down in its prime. One woman's gripping story speaking volumes, a grim reminder of the price Iranians could pay for freedom.

Octavia Nasr, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A grim reminder of what's going on overseas.

So I want to bring in now Badi Badiozamani. He is an Iran expert.

Why is Neda -- why has she become the face of this movement?

BADI BADIOZAMANI, IRAN EXPERT, SCHOLAR: Because she is the epitome, she's the essence of the movement, the movement for democracy, for freedom. She is the symbol, not only for democracy and freedom, but also for the women in that area of the world.

LEMON: And so people spoke out today. There were rallies all across the country here. There were rallies really all across the world, and they were chanting her name today.

BADIOZAMANI: Neda, Neda.

LEMON: Which means?

BADIOZAMANI: The divine calling.

LEMON: The divine calling. What does this mean for protesters and also for the other side? What does it mean for the ruling -- for the ruling government there?

BADIOZAMANI: It strengthens the resolve of the protesters. Well, I don't like to call them protesters. They're freedom seekers, they're democracy seekers. And for the government, for the regime, a total embarrassment.

LEMON: A total embarrassment. And do you feel it is a chink in the armor of the Ahmadinejad party?

BADIOZAMANI: Yes, believe me, it is. We are already seeing signs of confusion and missteps that they're taking.

LEMON: OK. I want you to hang on, Badi, because there's more dramatic amateur video out there in Iran today. This video shows at one point eight Basij militiamen arresting two men in a Tehran alley. One of the men is taken away in restraints and a hood. Then shortly afterwards, a gunshot rings out off camera. I want you to watch and listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(VIDEO OF BASIJ ARREST)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, Badi, we showed you what happened. And that was after they had captured this person there. And as we said we hear a gunshot off camera. You don't know exactly where it's coming from. First, we thought they were shooting, but it doesn't appear to be shooting at the man. So then tell us what happened earlier in this video you find just as disturbing as well.

BADIOZAMANI: It's basically a home invasion. You see lots of people, lots of agents. Some people call them thugs. The uniform doesn't even say police or anything else. And by the way, that's why the police chief can say with a straight face that our people, the police officers, are not shooting anybody. They are not arresting anybody.

LEMON: And they're taking them away in unmarked cars, you said, yes?

BADIOZAMANI: Yes. You will see in that video. And the first one -- that's the first person, as you can see. In a blue hood, he is taken away. And then you see the second one. Now, there's a lot of talk going on.

LEMON: What are they saying?

BADIOZAMANI: There are two males whispering to each other. The one asks the other one, "Are you recording?" And the other saying yes. He just wants to make sure that this is being recorded. And then he says, "Move your head." He says, "No, no, no, that's just a child, he can't see me."

So, this gives us a clear suspicion that a child also, the poor child, is witnessing this, this torture. And then goes on and on and he gets up and says, shameless. The cameraman.

LEMON: We also hear -- don't we hear a woman sobbing in this video?

BADIOZAMANI: Then we see a woman sobbing and the she calls them piece of dirt. She's so upset and she's sobbing. And then they say they have arrested two people. And then the female sobs again, and then the female says, "They don't have any handcuffs, how are they tying his hands?"

LEMON: How are they tying the hands, if you look at the video?

BADIOZAMANI: I think it's either a band or something plastic.

LEMON: OK.

BADIOZAMANI: And then we hear a scream, a woman screaming, and then after that is when you see -- you'll hear the gunshots.

LEMON: This is very similar to what we heard last night when we led our coverage last night with the video that was coming. You couldn't see what was happening but you could hear. It was a home invasion because you hear people screaming and beating on the door and then someone breaking in a door.

There's one more piece of video, Badi, before I let you go that I want to get to. We're getting a new video out of Iran along with unconfirmed reports of helicopters dropping something on protesters, something they say that smells, that burns.

I want you to watch right now, and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(NEW IMAGES OF WIDESPREAD PROTEST)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, Badi, at the -- at the top of this, you hear the helicopter, and then you can, as you said, you were pointing out to me, and then you see an explosion. Talk to me about this.

BADIOZAMANI: All of a sudden there is an explosion and a plume of black smoke. And then there's a second explosion as well. Unfortunately, we don't have much time to show all these things in detail.

LEMON: But you have been -- you have been hearing from people that it's something that smells?

BADIOZAMANI: One of the boys here says it smells, it smells foul. And then later on, we hear him say, oh, my eyes, my eyes are burning.

LEMON: But we don't know what it is.

BADIOZAMANI: We don't.

LEMON: And we heard reports yesterday on Mir Hossein Moussavi's Facebook page that they were warning people to be careful because they said that they were pouring acid. That's just according to a Facebook page from the opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Badi Badiozamani, we really appreciate you joining us. And, you know, we have been hearing from a lot of people who were saying slow it down, go through the video, explain it to us because Americans don't understand the language, and so we got you here to explain that. So we appreciate you going through it with us throughout this weekend here on CNN. Stick around because we may be needing you because developments are really coming in at every moment.

It is one thing for us to explain what we have been seeing in some of this really disturbing video. But getting first-hand accounts of what is happening on the ground in Iran is incredibly dangerous. Ordinary Iranians are sending us photos, video, and calling us at great personal risk. So we're protecting their identities.

And just a short time ago, I had a chance to speak with an Iranian student in Tehran known only as Mohammed. Listen carefully as he speaks of hundreds of people confronted by the brutal Basij militia and why this moment in history is so important to his generation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So Mohammed, you attended a rally, and you said that you were beaten and you said it was by the Basij?

MOHAMMED (via telephone): Yes, yes. Actually, security officers that the Basij militia forces was a great part of the security officers that tried to break up demonstrations by hitting with batons, also electric batons and electric shock, water canons which contain liquid that causes severe burning, and some places by shooting the people.

LEMON: Yes. So the people around you, how many other people were caught up in this? Was it just you or was it a number of people?

MOHAMMED (via telephone): More than a hundred people were injured, and some of them were killed. But I personally didn't see any dead person, dead people, but I heard from the others that some people died.

LEMON: Now, how long can you continue this? Do you plan -- even though you that said that you were hit with batons, do you plan to go back again and protest?

MOHAMMED (via telephone): Yes. We definitely go back. We want our freedom. It's our right to -- we want to be free exactly like people in the world, exactly like you Americans, and this is our best chance to be free. If we lose this chance, we will never be free. We will never be -- we will never have a democracy in this country.

LEMON: Mohammed, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

MOHAMMED (via telephone): Thanks a lot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That's an Iranian student joining us by telephone at great risk.

Support, support, fellow Iranians, support. You can hear those chants in protests across the U.S. Our special coverage of the turmoil in Iran continues.

And with the media blackout there, social networking is playing a big role in the story. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and iReport.com. We're checking them minute by minute for the latest on Iran and we want your feedback.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The Iranian government's hard line has even extended to members of the ruling elite. The daughter of former President Rafsanjani was taken into custody for, quote, "provoking riot." State-run TV now says she has been released. Four other members of the family were also detained briefly. Rafsanjani is chairman of the Assembly of Experts. That is the only group in Iran that has the power to remove Ayatollah Khamenei as the supreme leader.

It has been days since Iran's president spoke publicly, but earlier today we did finally hear from him. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is blaming the West for stirring up the unrest over his disputed re- election. Speaking to a gathering of clerics, he said, quote, "The U.K. prime minister and the U.S. president, certainly with your premature statements, you will not be in Iran's circle of friends and you have to correct your interfering policies."

We're also hearing new comments tonight from opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi. In a statement on his Web site, Moussavi urges Iranians to exercise self-control, but he goes on to say, "Protesting against lies and cheating is your right. Be hopeful about regaining your rights. Do not allow anyone who tries to make you lose hope and frighten you make you lose your temper."

I want to get back now to our Ralitsa Vassileva. She was joining us to tell us what is happening over at our Iran desk. She has been following what we're doing, our sources on the ground, and also the video coming in.

What do you have now, Ralitsa?

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it's been very difficult with this international media blackout today in particular to gather information. But we have been able to get a video showing a protest that occurred in downtown Tehran. We see hundreds of people who defied thousands of uniformed police and paramilitaries, defying the orders of the Iranian leadership as they take to the streets day after day despite the violence and deadly crackdown that we saw on Saturday.

But perhaps, Don, the most disturbing video that we have seen today and we can't exactly verify when it happened, was of a man dying in the streets of Isfahan. Isfahan is the third largest city in Iran. It's south of Tehran, a historic city. There you see it south of Tehran. That is where we've been hearing of demonstrations taking place, of deaths taking place, protesters being killed.

And this is one person who died there on the streets. You hear people desperately trying to revive him shouting, "God, God." One of them saying, "Make him breathe." Unfortunately, despite their frantic, desperate efforts, they weren't able to make him breathe.

Truly disturbing.

Also, something that's happened yesterday. We have been able to speak to a young woman, we are not revealing her name for security reasons, who described the experience in Tehran. She was out there in the streets protesting on Saturday.

Let's listen in.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via telephone): It was so crowded, and they said run, and I said I can't run. How can I run? It's so crowded in here. And he hit me, and he was twice as me. He was so big, and I said you want to hit me? And he said yes, and then he hit me with a club. (INAUDIBLE), I couldn't go out because my foot was injured and I couldn't run anymore. And I was sure if I go out, I'm going to die. So I didn't go out today.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VASSILEVA: And, Don, some chilling words from her also saying that this election was -- this protest was no longer about the election. It was about the leadership lying to people like her. It seems like she had lost her faith in Iran's leaders.

LEMON: Ralitsa Vassileva, thank you so much. We appreciate it. We'll be checking back with Ralitsa in just a bit.

We want to check in now with our Josh Levs who has been following Twitter minute by minute, moment by moment, because a lot of the information are coming from Twitter.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

LEMON: You cannot deny this one social networking site, at least its influence, on this particular story, Josh.

LEVS: It's playing a major role in the way that the world watches it, and it's playing a big role for some people inside Iran. I set the stage for you quickly with the basic idea here.

Despite the restrictions and the inability to read certain Web sites inside Iran, there are people who are managing to send out tweets. Then, people all over the world are kind of echoing them in the Twitter verses and sending them out more and more and more to try to help give people in Iran this voice who are trying to get words out.

And in some cases, what I'm able to show you is people sending messages to each other inside Iran. Those who are able to access Twitter.

Let's start off with this first one here. It's an interesting one because it's kind of a good example of what some people are saying is happening there.

This one says, "Iranian operatives misinforming Twitter that an Israeli assassin has been detained for the death of Neda."

Now, I'm going to tell you, we cannot confirm this kind of thing, but it's important to understand, partly because of the media blackout, more and more people around the world and in Iran when they can are looking to social networks, including Twitter. Good example of the kind of thing going on. Let's go to the second one because I think this is important and it's kind of a slice of the picture of what we have seen in Iran. This was people saying, "If you catch militia, do not use violence. Do not kill him. Treat him as your brother."

We have seen instances in video in which people have managed to capture a member of the Basij. That's the militia, the paramilitary that answers to the government. And there you could see people protecting them to make sure that they weren't hurt. An interesting slice of the picture there.

Let's go through a few more just quickly. This starts with RT, which is a way of saying please re-tweet, send to everyone else. It's saying that tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. everybody in all parts of the country, telephone and report street protests where there is none. The suggestion that they may try to thwart the authorities by suggesting there are protests where there aren't.

There's another one here. "Many of us tweeting long time. Our info comes from many sources. Government agents are trying to fool you." There are people basically saying watch out, there are government agents using Twitter to try to send false information out there or manipulate the process.

And we could end with this one. This one suggests that Tehran on fire, that there was a Basij headquarters, again that's the paramilitary headquarters that may have been blown up by protesters. I'm going to emphasize this again, we cannot tell you because of this media restriction, we cannot tell you if each of these things is factual or is not. But it is important to understand what's going on in Twitter because there are people in Iran who are using it.

And speaking of that, let me go to the graphic here. This is how you can reach us tonight -- Twitter.com. There's my page. Twitter.com/joshlevscnn.

If you see something on Twitter that you think is particularly significant or you just want to weigh in, go ahead to my page. I'll be camped out here alongside Don. And of course, you know Don's page -- Donlemoncnn.

Don, of course, we're going to be following all these tweets in the coming minutes.

LEMON: All right, Josh, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

LEVS: You got it.

LEMON: And just over my shoulder here, if we can go quickly, this is of course a Twitter page, Donlemoncnn. And I've been getting lots of tweets here. But also I want to tell you, what's very important even more than that is the video coming out. And you can go to our iReport page, ireport.com. Click on if you can sign up, and if you're there, you can send some video.

This is just video that is on the page and pictures as well. Just click right on it and you can see everything that's going on in Iran. It's self-explanatory. And we'd like you to become an iReporter. It's very easy, if you go on, self-explanatory. Ireport.com and sign up.

We want to take you to the streets of Los Angeles now, home to the largest population of Iranians in the U.S. They have got a lot to say and we're going to talk to them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, the protests may have started in Iran, but that's not where they're ending or where they have ended. I want to take you now to Dallas, Texas. We're looking at pictures, this coming in from KDAF. This is a candlelight vigil in support of the people of Iran who are protesting the election there.

A couple hundred people gathered outside of the federal building in downtown you could see wearing t-shirts that say "Freedom for Iran" and there there's "Neda." Her name on a t-shirt there. These pictures have been coming in. These protesters -- these protests have been going on all day and really all weekend. As we said, not just in Iran, also in America and then all across the world.

Support, support, fellow Iranians, support. That's what Iranians in Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, Miami, D.C., New York, even Montreal are shouting to their countrymen in solidarity. Passionate protesters have been taking to the streets around the world, and many are also demanding that world leaders, including President Barack Obama, take a stronger stance on Iran.

I want to go now to our Thelma Gutierrez who is at a demonstration in Los Angeles this evening.

Thelma, what's going on there?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, I'm here in front of the federal building in Los Angeles where there are hundreds of people who have gathered to show their solidarity with the people of Iran. We could take a look. We pan up. You can see it's a virtual sea of red, white and green. Those are the colors of the Iranian flag. Many people are carrying signs like this, very graphic signs of some of those people who have been killed in the demonstrations.

This gentleman was one of the first people to be killed. Many signs also of the girl Neda, the girl who was killed on the streets, and we saw her death on YouTube. Very disturbing scene.

Joining me now is Amir. Amir is a physician here in Los Angeles.

You were only 23 years old when the revolution began in Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

GUTIERREZ: You were saying this is like deja vu.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. It's very unfortunate that I see this uprising. Just reminds me all this cruelty and all the killings that I was witnessing during my time when I was a medical student.

So I think that nowadays, it's very important that we think that people who are watching this event globally understand that this is about the human rights. Human rights in order to be able to exist and talk about the rights of the...

GUTIERREZ: One of the things that you had said is that it was very bothersome to watch this unfold on the Internet and on television, to watch people actually die on TV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. And I think that the media, the responsibility of media today is not just broadcasting the news and just follow every second...

GUTIERREZ: How does it make you feel though to watch them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really feel kind of upset that we are watching the people that are being slaughtered and nothing is being done, so...

GUTIERREZ: You're a physician. To watch these people die on television...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. So my duty is that, if I was there, I would help them. It doesn't matter which side they are, but my duty is to make sure that there is no problem and no one suffers from any pain.

GUTIERREZ: You said that you were here because you wanted the United Nations to do something about it. And that's one of the reasons that you're here, that so many of the other protesters are here. They say they don't want to feel helpless and stand by idly as they watch these people being killed. They want the international community to step up.

And I can tell you, Don, that in a few minutes when the sun goes down, there will be a candlelight vigil here. Again, thousands of people expected to show up. We'll see what the crowd turnout is.

Don?

LEMON: Thelma, thank you very much. You can see that night is about to fall in Los Angeles. The protests and the marches, we should say, are still going on. And there you see the picture of Neda, right there in the corner of your screen. Really, as we said, becoming a symbol in the face of this protest.

Thank you very much, Thelma. We appreciate that.

The march is going on really all across the country and all across the world as we have been saying.

We really want your feedback. I want to tell you some of the -- you have been asking for some of the interviews that we have run earlier on CNN and that we're running throughout the evening. All you have to do is just go to cnn.com/newsroom -- cnn.com/newsroom. And then all you have to do when you get there, click on Don and then you will see the page comes up and there's video from us that we've been running throughout the day and some of the things that were just on the air. There's Badi Badiozamani. And then all of the coverage that we have been doing throughout the day.

So we appreciate you going there and your comments as well.

I want to remind you guys that our Christiane Amanpour, she followed the Iranian election from campaigning through the vote and also the protests. Straight ahead, she shares her insight on a CNN special. Amanpour reports "FROM THE STREETS OF IRAN."

We have continuing live coverage of the situation going on in Iran and also the protests happening here in the country and around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're hearing new comments from President Barack Obama today on Iran. An interview was taped Friday at the White House for broadcast today on one of Pakistan's English language TV stations. The president spoke about the need to improve relations between the U.S. and the Islamic world.

And he also had this to say about Iran. He said, "We respect Iran's sovereignty, but we also are witnessing peaceful demonstrations, people expressing themselves, and I stand for that universal principle, that people should have a voice in their own lives, in their own destiny, and I hope that the international community recognizes that we need to stand behind peaceful protests and be opposed to violence and repression."

I want to bring in CNN political editor Mark Preston along with April Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks.

Thank you very much for joining us.

OK. So, Mark, last week we spoke about this and you said the White House was going to be very careful in their approach and they appeared to have been so as well. And some people are saying that the president's response to this should be stronger. There should be at least stronger language in his response.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, Don. And we heard that criticism just a few hours ago, just this morning, we heard leading senators such as Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, a Republican, someone who knows a lot about foreign affairs, criticize the president saying that he has not gone far enough.

But the White House is being very careful at this point, just as we talked about last week. They don't want to look like the U.S. is going in and inciting these protesters, Don. They want this to be organic. They want the people of Iran really to control their destiny.

LEMON: OK, Mark, I got a quick question for you. Because I have been hearing this from a lot of people who are on the air, and we're not saying that that's happening here. But some people are comparing this in some way to what happened in Rwanda. And because, you know, we don't know what's going on. There's an information blackout. There's a media blackout. We don't know how many deaths there have been for sure. How many people have been injured for sure. Some people are comparing this to that, saying no one in the international community, none of the superpowers should be sitting on their hands right now.

PRESTON: No. And what we're hearing from President Obama as well is he's really trying to draw the international community into this. We saw that in the interview he did with the Pakistan television station. We've seen that in previous statements. I think it's a little bit too much of a stretch right now to compare this to Rwanda. It isn't an absolute information blackout. We are hearing some of the things that are going on in there. And look, the international community clearly knows what's going on. So, I mean, I think that might be a bit of a leap.

LEMON: All right, April, you know, you're the White House correspondent. What are you hearing from people -- I'm sure your sources, about the president's response to this and how the administration feels about how they're handling it and what they've been doing so far?

APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Well, my source is telling me that the administration will have to adjust its position on Iran depending upon what it does this week. It's about levels of engagement. They're waiting to see the critical moves that Iran makes this week as far as going in to investigate the claims of fraudulent elections in Iran. So that's a main sticking point this week. How the president will handle it depending upon what happens in Iran.

LEMON: OK. And you know what, April? It seems like that every time there was a response earlier in the week, we heard from Robert Gibbs or we heard from the president when there was a question posed to him, "let the Iranians deal with their situation."

RYAN: They didn't want to meddle.

LEMON: And then there was a slightly stronger response that came from Robert Gibbs later, and then this one from the president, and it seems that they seem to be going in incremental ways here to get a bit stronger each time.

RYAN: The criticism has really weighed in, and they're hearing it, but they also are still wanting to keep lines of communication open because the issue is engagement on issues of terror and nuclear weapons.

LEMON: OK. You know what, Mark, the president has a lot on his plate this week, you know. He's got to focus on a lot more than Iran. He's got to focus on health care, the economy, and all of these issues are competing for attention.

PRESTON: Yes, and you know, and this is where the true mark of a leader who knows that he needs smart people around him. Let's not forget he has Joe Biden by his side, and you know, there's been a lot of criticism that Mr. Biden sometimes says things that he wished he could take back, but he is very, very well skilled in foreign affairs.

He also has Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. And to the point, Don, one of the most important things that I think that was said today was Richard Lugar, a senator from Indiana, very well schooled as well in foreign affairs, said that the U.S. should continue to engage Iran especially when it comes to nuclear weapons. So, I think April exactly hit it right out of the park.

LEMON: So, April, any word on where we're standing with health care reform right now?

RYAN: Well, it looks like, according to my sources on the Hill, my Democratic sources on the Hill, they're saying that the president will have on his desk a health care bill by October, but at question is what will be in it. And the sticking point right now, according to those sources, the public option and also how to fund that option. And the public option, according to "The New York Times" recent poll, the vast majority of Americans are supporting it and they would pay extra taxes for it.

LEMON: April Ryan, Mark Preston, we appreciate both of you. Thank you so much.

RYAN: Thank you.

PRESTON: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Our continuing coverage of the situation in Iran moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to continue this discussion that we have been having on Iran with Trita Parsi. He wrote "Treacherous Alliance: the Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States." He's also the president of the National Iranian-American Council and he's in Washington tonight.

Hello, sir. Thank you for joining us.

TRITA PARSI, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL IRANIAN-AMERICAN COUNCIL: Thank you for having me.

LEMON: One of the major concerns is the fact that because of the media blackout, we really don't have a complete picture of what is truly happening in Iran. So, it's kind of uncharted territory. The international community, the leaders are being hesitant about their response. So where do we stand here?

PARSI: Well, one of the things that is important to point out, mindful of the blackout right now, is that one of the things that hasn't been reported is that most of the opposition party leaders have been arrested or put under house arrest. It's extremely difficult for them to be able to communicate not only with each other but also with their followers.

So, there's a sense on the streets right now that this is not necessarily something organized. It's not necessarily something that has a plan, but people are still coming out because they're so absolutely outraged by the abuses that the government is subjecting them to.

LEMON: A lot of people have been comparing this to other situations that happened in the world where lots of people died. And I don't want to keep mentioning one particular country, but could this be one of those moments where people say, why didn't we step in and do something earlier?

PARSI: No. I would say that that is not the case because at the end of the day, when it comes to stepping in, that order, that decision, that request has to come from people from the inside. And those I have spoken to that are connected to people who are close to the leadership of the Mousavi camp, there is no such request, at least not at this stage. And I personally would be surprised if they were to come.

However, they do want the world to know what is taking place. And they do want to see, including the United States, condemning the human rights violations that are taking place.

LEMON: OK.

What about in the area? We were -- we have been monitoring newscasts and monitoring broadcasts from the area in the Middle East. This is happening around, you know. It is known for instability. How is this playing out in the rest of the world?

PARSI: I think the entire world, particularly, the region is keeping a very, very close eye on this. There's, of course, the fear that this could spill over, but there's also significant fear that if Iran turns into a military dictatorship controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, that that can lead to a much more militaristic foreign policy than the currently exist in Iran. So everyone has a stake in the outcome of this.

LEMON: And just looking at the pictures and the information that's just sort of streaming out, it doesn't appear, Trita, that this is over yet.

PARSI: Oh, it certainly is not over yet. And unfortunately, it seems like it may become much, much more bloody than it's been so far. But I think it's important to keep in mind that this is something that is completely home grown. This is something that has emerged out of at first an anger over what was perceived as voter fraud. But by this time, it's taken completely different dimensions.

LEMON: All right, Trita.

Trita Parsi, thank you.

PARSI: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you.

Keeping in touch with friends and family in Iran. It can be difficult, painful and sometimes even terrifying. You'll hear what it's like from someone who knows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: My next guest is keeping up with the developing situation in Iran through friends, and some of whom are participating in those protests and really through family as well.

Melody Moezzi is an Iranian-American, and the author of "War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims."

Thank you so much.

You're in touch with friends. You're in touch with family there. What is the sense of what you're getting, of what's happening in Iran?

MELODY MOEZZI, AUTHOR, "WAR ON ERROR": I'm getting the sense that now that they've started killing people, the Basij is in the streets. They're invading people's houses. It's gotten serious. It's gotten to the point where it doesn't matter, you know, politics to an extent don't matter. What matters is people. We're a very hospitable people. And it's actually gotten to the point that you have Basij entering homes. You have people in protesters who are in a position that they've now created almost an Iranian underground railroad where --

LEMON: And this is -- and this is something very interesting that you talked to me about. You said that you had family members who supported Ahmadinejad...

MOEZZI: Initially.

LEMON: ...and he had lots of support there, initially, but since this has happened, what has happened to that support?

MOEZZI: It's about the people. You can't kill people. You can't kill your own people and expect them to still love you. You can't do this, especially Iranian people.

Like I was saying, we're very hospitable people. We've created a situation where we have safe havens that the Basij after people go there, the Basij is putting red "X"s on these houses to show that this is a safe haven. So protesters are actually going to houses. They go into apartments and say, please take me in. The Basij is following me and my life is in danger.

LEMON: But that support you said has changed since a lot of this is going on. MOEZZI: We're all in the opposition at this point. Because we are opposed to murder. And we are not going to let them do this to our people, you know?

LEMON: And even the Basij, you said some of them are changing their support.

MOEZZI: Yes. I mean, there's actually stories of then Shiras (ph), Basij saying, you know, "I have a wife, I have children. I don't want to beat an old woman. Please leave."

And you have old women in full chador saying, "No, I'm not leaving. I'm going to fight for the freedom and independence of my country." And they're getting beaten. You're beating old women. You can't beat our grandmothers and expect us to support you. Forget it. Forget the supreme leader. We don't care anymore. The people do not care. They care about people. They don't care about their -- they care about freedom. They care about people, you know.

The government, the political system, you support freedom no matter what party you're in. Here if you're a Democrat, you're a Republican, you support freedom. It's the same thing there. They want to be free.

LEMON: You're getting emotional because you have family members there and friends, and you have spoken to them very recently a couple of hours ago. And their fear as night falls there?

MOEZZI: There is a lot of fear. And the one thing that makes me --

LEMON: And you're concerned for them.

MOEZZI: I am highly concerned for them.

The one thing that makes me very hopeful, though, is that one of the chants is, "Natarsid!," "Natarsid!." "Do not be afraid" is one word in Farsi. And that word has become so powerful. "Do not be afraid."

When this poor girl, Neda, who has become a martyr, when she was killed, they were saying "Do not be afraid."

How do you do that? How do you say to a woman who is dying do not be afraid? Because she's a martyr. She's going straight to heaven. God is on her side. We are on her side. You have created martyrs in a Shia country where martyrs are so important. Hossein Ali, they are so important to us.

When I stand up, when I do anything that requires any sort of physical exertion, Iranians say, "Yu, Ali," "Give me the power of Ali." "Give me the power of martyrs." And now we're saying, "Youh, Neda." Give us her power. Give us that strength. And now that you've created these martyrs, forget it. The people will win.

LEMON: Melody Moezzi, thank you.

MOEZZI: Thank you. LEMON: And the best to your family and everyone there.

MOEZZI: Thank you so much.

LEMON: We appreciate your strength in coming on. We know that this is a tough issue.

MOEZZI: I appreciate your reporting.

LEMON: Thank you so much. I appreciate you coming on.

Journalists missing. Journalists detained. There is a reason it is tough to get information out of Iran right now. One of our own just got back from Tehran, and he's going to share his story for you.

Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, we have been telling you how the Iranian government has attempted to black out international reporting. The BCC says its permanent correspondent in Tehran has been expelled from the country. The Tehran bureau Al Arabiya Television has been shut down.

And Iranian official say a Canadian working for "Newsweek" in Iran has been detained without charges. "Newsweek" quickly condemned his detention and demanded he'd be released immediately.

And now "Life" magazine says the Iranian photographer who shot this cover photo is missing. The magazine says it received an e-mail from a relative saying he had gone out the day before yesterday and never returned. The e-mail says he was arrested.

Journalists in Iran say they have witnessed horrific human rights violations at the hands of the Basij militia.

Our very own Dubai bureau chief Samson Desta shared some photos he took of police violence while on assignment and also shared some of his story. He was attacked as well while he was there.

Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMSON DESTA, CNN DUBAI BUREAU CHIEF: This was in midtown. This was in midtown.

LEMON: And this one.

DESTA: Now, this is also -- this is also nearby midtown. As you can see, this man was being beaten here. He didn't do anything wrong. All he did was protect a woman who was being harassed by security personnel. They were sort of roughing her up, and he came to her defense and asked, "Why are you beating her up?" And then you can see they took him to the corner and just beat them senselessly.

LEMON: The same guy that...

DESTA: That same guy exactly. And there are people helping him to safety. The individual to the right was just a bystander who's helping this man to safety.

Just a few minutes after this, this man just broke down and started crying, and I asked him, "Why are you crying?" And he just simply said, "I can't believe they're doing this to us. These are our own people doing this to us." So, he got quite emotional.

LEMON: OK. Do we have another picture in here? Do we have any -- no more pictures. OK.

DESTA: I think that's it.

LEMON: So, as you are doing this -- and, you know, Samson is a seasoned person, and producer here at CNN, is often our director of coverage. So, he knows what he's doing and has been doing this for a long time.

Were you surprised, though, at what you saw? Did you expect what you saw? And most of all, did you think that the people in control, the government in Iran, expected this?

DESTA: Very good question.

Did I expect this? No. I didn't think we would be here today to discuss this.

LEMON: OK.

DESTA: Because a lot of people thought that Mousavi would win. There was this energy in the air. People were quite jubilant, quite excited about this and they thought he was going to win. They would have change, they would move on. That didn't happen.

And what followed is also surprising. The fact that people were so passionate and determined about making sure that their voices would be heard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Our Dubai bureau chief Samson Desta.

7:24 in the morning in Tehran. Daylight is coming. And who knows what it will bring. We're here to cover it all for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So I want to tell you guys real quick how you can become part of this story. First by logging on.

Check this out. This is Twitter.

People are talking about the interview we just did with Melody. Also, you can go to our "NEWSROOM" blog -- cnn.com/newsroom, click on Don. And, really, this is the most important thing because we can get video here. Go to iReport.com.

All you have to do is put iReport in your browser. And then right at the top of your screen, it says right here -- we'll make that bigger and see if that comes up -- it says, register. And all you have to do is click on that. Once you click on register and it loads, very simple to do that.

It ask for your e-mail, your password, confirm your password, your screen name. All here, and hit register me. It is that simple. And you, too, can become an iReporter and get your reports on CNN.

We've been relying a lot on our iReporters, and we appreciate you.

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