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CNN reported that "Watched closely by police, several thousand protesters moved slowly down a major Tehran thoroughfare Sunday in the first demonstration over the country's disputed presidential election that authorities have allowed in days. About 5,000 people shuffled in silence down Tehran's Shariati Street to the Ghoba mosque, where two of the opposition candidates in the June 12 election were to appear to honor a slain hero of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Authorities rode motorcycles alongside the marchers, who tried to walk slowly. Police beat their batons on their shields to keep them moving, but some demonstrators told officers that they had the legal right to protest in peace...There was a heavy police presence outside the mosque, and as evening set in members of the government-backed paramilitary Basij force watched the crowd and videotaped protesters from a nearby rooftop. At least one man was arrested during the protest by green-uniformed police in riot gear, who beat him with batons before taking him into custody, but people were still pouring off side streets to join the march well into the evening." (http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/28/iran.demonstration/)

The Hill reported that "A bipartisan pair of senators is pushing for international restrictions on electronic equipment sold to Iran, citing reports that the government has monitored citizens' communications after the country's disputed elections. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to request that the European Union curb all telecommunications equipment German and Finnish companies, Siemens and Nokia, sell to Iran...Schumer and Graham also announced plans to introduce a bill on Friday that would render foreign companies ineligible for U.S. government contracts if they sell electronic equipment to Iran that contributes to the government's monitoring of citizen communication. 'Our proposal and legislation would weaken the Iranian regime's ability to control the Internet,' said Graham in a statement. 'The Internet has proven to be one of the strongest weapons in the hands of the Iranian people seeking freedom and trying to chart a new destiny for their country.'" (http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/schumer-graham-want-restrictions-on-...)

AP reported that "In an attempt to placate protesters, Iran conducted a partial recount Monday of votes cast in the country's disputed presidential election, and its hard-line president asked for an investigation into the shooting death of a young woman who has become a potent symbol of the opposition's struggle...President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...asked Iran's cleric-controlled judiciary on Monday to investigate the killing of Neda Agha Soltan, who became an icon of Iran's ragtag opposition after gruesome video of her bleeding to death on a Tehran street was circulated worldwide. Ahmadinejad's Web site said Soltan was slain by 'unknown agents and in a suspicious' way, convincing him that 'enemies of the nation' were responsible.The Guardian Council, Iran's top electoral oversight body, said it planned to complete the recount of a random 10 percent of ballots by the end of the day. Spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said the recount was aimed at gaining 'the confidence of the respectable supporters of candidates.' Yet it was unclear what purpose the recount would serve. Khamenei and the Council already have pronounced the results free of major fraud and insist that Ahmadinejad won by a landslide, and Mousavi has insisted the government nullify the results and hold a new vote - steps it flatly refuses to consider." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election)

The New York Times reported that "As officials began a limited recount of Iran's disputed presidential ballot on Monday, authorities in Tehran said they had extended by five days their deadline to investigate opposition claims of electoral fraud. The move could postpone the final certification of the ballot, which Iranian leaders insist was fair. The developments came after protesters returned on Sunday to Tehran's streets, with the police beating and firing tear gas at several thousand demonstrators who joined a demonstration at a mosque in support of the defeated presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi...Political analysts in Tehran said the authorities seemed to be playing for time to avoid further mass protests when the final result is certified." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html?hp)

The Washington Post reported that "With the opposition visibly weakening in Iran amid a government crackdown, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters have begun to use his disputed victory in this month's election to toughen the nation's stance internationally and to consolidate control internally. In recent days, they have vilified President Obama for what they call his 'interventionist policies,' have said they are ready to put opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's advisers on trial and have threatened to execute some of the Mousavi supporters who took to the streets to protest the election result...The emerging power dynamics leave Mousavi with tough choices. Confronted with increasing political pressure over what supporters of the government say is his leading role in orchestrating riots, he can either acknowledge his defeat and be embraced by his enemies or continue to fight over the election result and face imprisonment." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/28/AR200906...)

The New York Times reported that "The history of repression to save regimes - or at least their leaders - is long. And every case is different...Still, a common thread is clear: It is the security services on which the regime's fate ultimately hinges. If they decide their best interests lie with the powers that they have protected, and that have protected them, they will stick it out. If they decide they are more likely to prosper under new leadership, power can collapse at the speed of a show trial...The clerics may be repressive hardliners, but they are authentically Iranian. And so far, the Revolutionary Guard seems completely on the side of the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That will be hard to shake. Mr. Ahmadinejad's rise to power was in part because of Guard support, and he has since rewarded it handsomely. The Revolutionary Guard runs Iran's nuclear program; if the opposition gains powe, the Guard has to wonder what it might negotiate away. And outside agencies estimate that Iran could become able to assemble a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/weekinreview/28sanger.html?pagewanted=...)

Reuters reported that "Iranian authorities said on Monday five out of nine detained British embassy local staff had been released, while four others were being held for questioning. Britain has rejected accusations that the embassy helped to foment the mass rallies...Britain and Iran have expelled two of each other's diplomats since the election. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Sunday had demanded the release of all the staff held and said his European Union colleagues had agreed to a 'strong, collective response' to any such 'harassment and intimidation' against EU missions." (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLT67976020090629)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "The Obama administration is walking an increasingly tricky diplomatic path on its Iran policy. Mr. Obama has voiced support for Iranian pro-democracy groups that have openly challenged the legitimacy of Mr. Ahmadinejad's reelection. But Mr. Obama has also made it a priority to try to end Iran's nuclear program through negotiations. The U.S. and other countries are concerned that Tehran could use the program to develop atomic weapons. U.S. officials Sunday suggested that Mr. Obama remained committed to pushing ahead with that diplomatic initiative, but not with Mr. Ahmadinejad as the focus. They suggested any engagement would largely be through multilateral forums, such as the U.N. Security Council, rather than direct U.S.-Iranian talks. 'Ahmadinejad is, in fact, as we well know, not the principal decision-maker when it comes to foreign policy and national security. It is the supreme leader,' Susan Rice, the Obama administration's ambassador to the U.N., said in an interview with CBS's 'Face the Nation,' referring to Mr. Khamenei. 'We've left the door open to bilateral diplomacy, but the choice is really with the Iranians now,' she said. However, Mr. Khamenei recently openly endorsed Mr. Ahmadinejad's policies, saying they closely reflect his own views -- for the first time not making a distinction between his views and Mr. Ahmadinejad's." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124626597362067533.html)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "The streets of Tehran are quiet once again. But the multitudes who protested the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad haven't gone home and put their rage in a closet. They are carefully weighing their options, balancing personal lives, economic well- being and political aspirations -- and trying to determine whether they have any real leadership...Those caught up in the 'green wave' built on the presidential campaign of Mir-Hossein Mousavi are still trying to understand what has happened to their country in the short space of a month. According to conversations with dozens of analysts and ordinary people, most of whom did not want to be identified by their full names, their view of Iran and understanding of the rules that governed it for 30 years have changed dramatically." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-calculus28-2009...)

The New York Times reported that "'Check the source' may be the first rule of journalism. But in the coverage of the protests in Iran this month, some news organizations have adopted a different stance: publish first, ask questions later. If you still don't know the answer, ask your readers...The Web sites of The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Guardian newspaper in London and others published minute-by-minute blogs with a mix of unverified videos, anonymous Twitter messages and traditional accounts from Tehran. The blogs tend to run on a separate track with more traditional reporting from the news organizations, intersecting when user videos and information can be confirmed. The combination amounts to the biggest embrace yet of a collaborative new style of news gathering - one that combines the contributions of ordinary citizens with the reports and analysis of journalists." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/business/media/29coverage.html?ref=mid...)

The New York Times reported that "As Iran's ruling ayatollahs tell it, the main strike force plotting to end Islamic rule in their country is not on the streets of Tehran but on the upper floors of a celebrated Art Deco building in central London. The propagators of an 'all-out war' against the Islamic republic, as Iran's semiofficial news agency has called them, are a group of 140 men and women who work at the BBC's Broadcasting House...Mainly expatriate Iranians, they staff the BBC's Persian-language television service, on air for only six months and reaching a daily audience of six million to eight million Iranians - a powerful fraction of viewers in Iran, with its population of 70 million. The audience estimate, BBC insiders say, came from a leaked document prepared by Iran's state-run broadcasting service, which warned before the current upheaval of the threat from the new channel." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/world/middleeast/29bbc.html?_r=1&hp)

Reuters reported that "A consortium of Indian companies plans to spend around $5 billion to develop an offshore gas field in Iran...'The oil and gas will belong to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC)... They have the marketing rights and we have requested them to allocate the gas to us for converting it into LNG,' the source said, adding that Iran had not responded to the plan submitted this month. The Indian companies would liquefy the gas and ship it to India if a contract is signed and the consortium gets development rights." (http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLQ00490820090626)

The Washington Post Editorial Board wrote on Saturday that "It's still too early to say whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad will succeed in their hard-line coup; de facto opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi remains publicly defiant. Yet it is becoming quite clear -- for all who care to see it -- what the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad regime will offer if it survives: harsh repression at home and unrelenting hostility toward the West. If the regime chooses to 'engage' at all with the United States, it will be to bolster its shaky legitimacy, not to surrender its nuclear program or its support for terrorism. The only plausible path toward ending the threat it poses is that demanded by the demonstrators: regime change." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR200906...)

John Bolton wrote in Friday's Los Angeles Times that "Obama wants negotiations with Tehran, not regime change. Given that the Revolutionary Guard and the hard-line mullahs -- and not the people -- are increasingly likely to be the short-term winners of the current Battle for Iran, supporters of regime change must now make longer-term plans. We have missed a huge opportunity because of Obama's error (and that of his predecessors), but the continuing threat of Iranian nuclear weapons and support for international terrorism make the imperative of regime change no less compelling. The Iranian people will continue their opposition no matter how inconvenient it is for Obama's hoped-for negotiations. We should support them, and not just by rhetoric." (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bolton26-2009jun26,...)

Fareed Zakaria wrote in Saturday's Newsweek that "Whenever we see the kinds of images that have been coming out of Iran over the past two weeks, we tend to think back to 1989 and Eastern Europe. That time, when people took to the streets and challenged their governments, those seemingly stable regimes proved to be hollow and quickly collapsed. What emerged was liberal democracy. Could Iran yet undergo its own velvet revolution? It's possible but unlikely. While the regime's legitimacy has cracked-a fatal wound in the long run-for now it will probably be able to use its guns and money to consolidate power. And it has plenty of both...The three most powerful forces in the modern world are democracy, religion, and national-ism. In 1989 in Eastern Europe, all three were arrayed against the ruling regimes...The situation in Iran is more complex." (http://www.newsweek.com/id/204225/page/1)

Roger Cohen wrote in Saturday's New York Times that "Say Iran and murdered Neda Agha-Sultan surges where a bearded mullah once stood. Young, modern, connected, Neda just wanted to live her life. She personifies a certain Iran I've tried to evoke since the beginning of this year...Today 60 percent of university students are women, about double the figure in 1982. Here we stand close to the tragedy of this election. The vote offered an opportunity to bridge the gap betwee
a fast-changing society of highly educated women and the regime. Past elections have served that purpose, nudging the clerical establishment in reformist directions. Instead, hard-liners around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opted for schism, a historic error. The Iran of yesterday is gone, the Iran of tomorrow not yet born." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/opinion/27cohen.html)

Parvaneh Vahidmanesh wrote in today's Wall Street Journal that "Neda Soltan, the young innocent girl who was killed on Karegar Avenue, was the same age as me and your daughter. She came to the demonstrations with no weapons or knives. All she carried with her was her voice, a voice that cried out in protest against your regime. Who said the response to such cries is a bullet? You, just like the shah, silence the voices of protestors with gunshots. But don't forget that the shah's harsh methods undid him and caused his regime to fall. Neda has died and her voice will no longer call out to disturb your slumber. But I beg you to consider if the prophet lived his life the way you have? Islam permits irreligious or secular rulers. It does not permit tyrants. I pity you. All the blood you've spilled has forever stained your 70 years of worship and piety." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623110886766123.html#mod=loomia?loomi...)