Iranian opposition movement initiates 'green silence day'
Green Party declares 'media boycott' day to protest cooperation between Iranian media companies, government that enables supervision over online, cellular traffic
In continuation with opposition protestation in Iran, members of the Green Party, who object to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, initiated the "green silence day" that is slated to take place on Wednesday.
An Iranian website on Tuesday reported that in recent days many people received text messages that called on opposition supporters to participate in a media boycott "from 7 am until 8 pm on Wednesday we shall not use any forms of communication – SMS, phone and cell," read the message.
According to the opposition, Iranian media companies are cooperating with the government by allowing them to supervise celular and internet traffic and entrench upon civilians' privacy in order to crush legitimate protest.
The Iranian police commander warned opposition supporters over the weekend that "whoever sends SMS or emails that call for acts of protest against the authorities will be dealt with severe measures by the police and the courts."
According to Commander Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, the Iranian authorities are "supervising" the cellular and internet networks, and added that even if the youngsters try to evade the "big brother" by using servers from remote computers, "it will not prevent them from being identified."
Coincidently, Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday urged the opposition to "draw away from enemies of the Islamic Republic."
On February 11, Iran will mark 31 years to the Islamic revolution in the country. Opposition members are anticipated to mark the event with another act of protest. Activists already started distributing posters and called on people to go out on the streets and flood them with the color green, which is associated with opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Opposite to the "green" protestation, Iranian authorities are planning to arrange mass rallies in support of the country's religious leaders. According to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "the enemies are concerned with the colossal presence of our nation on this day."
