IRAN UPDATE – AT 8:49 P.M. ET:  CNN is reporting that, in anticipation of tomorrow's pro-democracy demonstrations in Tehran, the regime is taking unprecedented measures to cut Iran off from the outside world:

(CNN) -- Iranian authorities have imposed a virtual information blockade after opposition leaders issued a call for supporters to take to the streets during an important government anniversary on Thursday, people inside the country are saying.

Residents of the Iranian capital said Wednesday that text messages on many messaging services have been blocked and Internet speeds have slowed to a crawl.

The Internet "comes on only a few minutes each day, but you never know when," one Iranian wrote in an e-mail to CNN, which he said took seven hours to send. "This has been going on for more than four days now. I contacted my Internet provider and they said it is out of their control."

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Islamic republic has announced "a permanent suspension of Google's e-mail services," and that a national e-mail service would soon be available.

And...

More ominously, human rights groups and opposition Web sites have reported widespread arrests targeting journalists.

According to the Paris-based journalism watchdog Reporters Without Borders, at least eight journalists were arrested Sunday and Monday, bringing the total number of reporters now in prison to at least 65.

"They have arrested everybody," said Nooshabeh Amiri, a journalist who fled Iran five years ago and now writes for the Persian Web site Rooz online from exile in Paris. Amiri said some of her former colleagues are trying to flee Iran.

Suppression is even occurring in the United States.  Planet Iran, the best American website for pro-democracy news from Iran, is being hacked repeatedly.  Its technical people are fighting to keep it on the air.

COMMENT:  President Obama says he's still open to a deal with the Iranian leaders.  After all, who are we to criticize their cultural choices?

February 10, 2010