Last week, I wrote about how the media got the story wrong on Iran. Hopefully, they will not make the same mistakes that they made then. To help them out, I’m going to compile articles and photos that show that the Iranians once again boycotted the sham elections in huge proportions. The word has to get out to the world that the regime is completely illegitimate even in the eyes of its own people. If there was ever a time to act, it’s now! Click “more” for all the articles and photos.

And remember, if you are a journalist or from a media organization, ask the hard questions of both the Iranian government and of yourselves!

Sham run-off turns into another fiasco for Islamic regime.

Millions of Iranians have boycotted the sham run off elections of the Islamic regime despite the clerics’ tactic of creating fear among the population. The rejection of the regime and its totality is so massive that even the joker card of Islamic republic “AhmadiNejad” was not able to boost the quote of an already discredited Rafsnajani.

In Tehran which has over 14 millions of inhabitants, the regime had to close down several ballot boxes, installed last week, and to consolidate them in order to be able to offer a better show to foreign reporters in the Capital. Same trend has been reported from cities, such as, Tabriz, Esfahan, Mashad, Amol, Zahedan, Abadan, Ahwaz, Khorram-Abad, Mashad, Hamedan, Kermanshah and Oroomiah (former Rezai-e).

Most of the few voters are members of security forces and their families, some governmental employees, paid voters and even well recognized prostitutes transformed into pro-Rafsanjani cheerleaders and supporters.

Rumors about the use of mentally health interned individuals ID cards are spread across Iran.

Several clashes have also took place since yesterday evening, such as, in front of Park e Mellat located in N. Tehran where tens have gathered in order to request for the boycott and shouting slogans against the regime and all its factions.

Believe is that the regime will extend against the regular voting time in order to move again its forced or professional ‘voters’ from one ballot box to another with false ID cards.

Promises about welfare and distribution of money or food and other governmental needs were not able to bring Iranians to play the regime game. Threats of cutting some governmental aids neither as many Iranians are qualifying them as “slower dying tools”.

Many sources are stating that streets and avenues were so empty that “we couldn’t find a nail on the street”.

Hundreds of polling stations are virtually deserted.

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 24 ???????? Hundreds of polling stations in Tehran and other towns and cities monitored were virtually empty in the early hours of voting period today during Iran????????s second round presidential elections.

In Tehran, about a dozen people were seen queuing up in Geisha, Karaj Al-Mehdi Mosque, and North Amirabad polling stations.

Independent observes said, however, that a half-dozen locations in Tehran, including Hosseineh Ershad, Lorzadeh and Saddeqieh mosques had relatively high turnout.

To stage a large crowd at these selected polling stations, the authorities moved in hundreds of members of the paramilitary Bassij and Islamic vigilantes to vote in front of television cameras.

Polling stations in other major towns and cities such as Shiraz, Ahwaz, Qaemshahr, Hamedan, Neka, Roudsar, Bandar Abbas, Siahkal and Khoramabad were practically deserted despite an eleventh hour appeal by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and incumbent President Mohammad Khatami for high turnout.

Tehran deserted.

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 24 – A tour of a dozen polling centres in the western neighbourhoods of Tehran between 2 pm and 6 pm, usually a busy voting time, showed that they were mostly quiet, confirming reports from other parts of the capital that the turnout is lower than last Friday.

No more than a handful of voters were spotted at polling centres in Hejab School in Youssef-Abad district, Ebrahim School in Azadi Street, Qaem School in Behbudi Street, and Chamran School in Azadi Street.

Independent monitors in other neighbourhoods of Tehran reported a similarly low turnout. Voting centres at the Abolfazl Mosque and Motahhari Training College in Seraj Street, Imam Reza Training Centre in Zamani Street were completely deserted some five hours after the start of voting today.

A polling centre in the normally bustling neighbourhood of Amir-Abad in downtown Tehran was deserted at midday. A young girl was holding a portrait of Hashemi Rafsanjani outside the polling centre.

???????They paid me well to do this,??????? she said when asked if she was a Rafsanjani supporter. ???????But I????????m not voting and I suggest you don????????t, either???????.

Tabriz all quiet on election day.

Tabriz, Iran, Jun. 24 ???????? Polling stations across this north-western metropolis and capital of Iran????????s East Azerbaijan Province remained quiet throughout the day, as the local population by and large ignored the second round of presidential elections in Iran.

A tour of the city at different times of the day between 9 am and 4 pm showed that there were only a handful of voters in most centres, with the security forces often outnumbering the voters. In one of the city????????s main thoroughfares, Abressan Avenue, two polling centres had no one turning up to vote between 10 am and 2 pm.

In Imam Sadegh Mosque, Hannaneh Primary School, Dehkhoda School, and Masjede Ghariblar, all in downtown Tabriz, the number of voters at any given time varied between one and four.

The only polling station with a large crowd was Salar-e Shahidan Mosque, the gathering point for members of Ansar-e Hezbollah, the state-organized gangs of Islamic vigilantes.

In Taleghani Street, Shahidi Mosque and Imamzadeh Mosque there were a handful of voters in the afternoon.

The polling station at Shahnaz Intersection, a district populated by ethnic Armenians, was completely deserted.

People walking in the streets or sitting in cafes and restaurants smiled and congratulated one another on the evident victory of boycott calls. Some joked that the state radio and television would be announcing an extension of voting deadline to deal with ???????the huge turnout???????.

Observers believe that if the voting pattern in other cities were broadly similar to what has been going on in Tabriz, Tehran????????s mayor would stand a better chance than former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. While the vast majority of ordinary voters have stayed away from the polls, the small minority who support the radical clerics have come out to vote for their favourite candidate, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

No voters in Garmsar.

Garmsar, Iran, Jun. 24 ???????? In this desert town where Iran????????s presidential hopeful Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born 49 years ago, voting stations were almost deserted as the local people preferred to spend the holiday by going to the cooler mountainside villages near the town or staying indoors.

The Tehran mayor, whose father was a well-known blacksmith in the town, seems to be no ???????favourite son??????? of the impoverished people of Garmsar, which lies on the edge of Dasht-e Kavir, Iran????????s largest desert.

No one interviewed in the quiet streets of the town had any personal recollection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who left the town as a child to study in Tehran and never returned except for short visits.

???????Most of the men here commute to Tehran to work as labourers or traders. Many work on construction sites, and a lot of them are unemployed,??????? said Ahmad Sabahi, an unemployed railway engineer. ???????Why should we vote? These men are responsible for our misery. This is not my election???????.

Except a few older persons who turned up to vote, the vast majority of young and middle-aged inhabitants of this morbid town seemed to share Mr. Sabahi????????s feelings.

???????Every vote is a stab in the back of Iran,??????? read a large hand-written sign posted near a polling centre near the town????????s railway station.

Hadi, a 20-year-old taxi driver laughed as he drove past the sign. ???????That????????s right???????, he said. ???????Even a blank vote is a betrayal???????.

More reports on low turnout in the provinces.

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 24 ????????The Imam Ali Mosque in Pirouzi Street, Soudmand High School, Kowthar Mosque, and Ostad Shahriar School in Ghanat Kowthar Street, Al-Aqsa Mosque in Tehran-Pars, ninth district municipality in Tehran-Pars Fourth Square, Rasoul Mosque in Majidieh Street, Tehran????????s Sharif University of Technology in Azadi Street, Shayesteh School in Lashgar Junction in Tehran each had a handful of voters present.

Minab (southern Iran): there was a heavy security presence though no voters were spotted at four of the polling stations and at other stations there were only a handful of voters.

Yazd (central Iran): a number of residents said that they would continue the boycott that took off during the first leg of the elections. A few dozen voters were seen at a number of voting centres.

Isfahan (central Iran): There were five people queuing to cast their ballots in the Razi School voting centre. The Lanjan district had tight security around voting stations. Imam Hadi Mosque ???????? polling centre 25 ???????? twelve security guards were seen as well as seven voters. Dehkhoda Mosque ???????? polling centre 32 ???????? 11 security guards were seen along with 10 voters. Chemran Mosque ???????? polling centre 33 ???????? 14 guards were seen along with seven voters. Arbab Mosque ???????? polling centre 39 ???????? one guard was seen along with 10 voters.

Khoramabad (western Iran): Shahrak Parsilvan was completely empty an hour after the start of polling. In the Kiv centre five people were seen lining up to vote.

Boroujerd (southwest Iran): In Kouye Mehdieh in Shahin Shahr district ???????? Voting centre number four ???????? three people were seen voting.

Qazvin (central Iran): Dozens of polling stations monitored were completely empty. Very few people could be seen in the streets, the majority choosing to stay in their homes.

Paveh (western Iran): The Takiyeh Mosque in Revolution Street had seven people lined up to vote.

Genaveh (southern Iran): There were 10 people voting in Sahebolzaman Mosque in Takhti Street.

Ashtiyan (north of Tehran): Kenarsalan Imam Ali School, which was being used as a voting centre, was completely empty.

Borazjan (south Iran): The Seyedolshohada Mosque in Seyedolshohada Street had ten people lined up to vote.

Bandar Abbas:

Garmsar:

Tabriz:

Tehran:

Traffic:

UPDATE: Strong fissures are erupting between the government and the Guardian Council, with what seems like large-scale fraud operations at polling stations all over the country.

Khanjani said, “We still cannot claim that the election process has turned from sound to abnormal, but for instance from one voting station we have received a report on the entry of a group of unauthorized figures equipped with certain instruments, and therefore we ordered that the voting should be immediately halted in that station.”

The spokesman of the country’s Elections Headquarters said, “Reporting of violations of the Election Law at such a broad level is quite unprecedented and according to latest reports the violations are no longer limited to trivial illegal affairs.”

He meanwhile emphasized, “It is quite probable that a certain group is determined to tarnish the election but the country’s security system, too, are mobilized to counter such moves more concerted than ever before.”

Khanjani added, “Unfortunately the members of the Guardian Council have been propagating certain news in their interviews with the mass media ever since yesterday morning, the authenticity of some parts of which is not confirmed yet, but we ask the members of the Guardian Council to seriously refrain from dispatching baseless news.” Unfortunately some members of that body have at various levels spread lies, but in order to safeguard the election process from being disturbed we currently do not answer their lies.”

Another official is saying that he was a witness to direct interference by the poll monitors.

Managing Director of Interior Ministry’s Majlis Affairs Ali Mirbaqeri said here Friday evening, “I was personally witness to interference of Guardians Council monitors’ serious interference in voting stations where I was commissioned to survey the sound process of election.

Mirbaqeri made the comment about an hour after he was released from temporary arrest.

He told the reporters present at the Elections Headquarters of the Interior Ministry, “The monitors of the Guardians Council were not only filling out the tariffs and controlling the voters’ IDs, but also constantly issuing orders for every one.”

He added, “The presence of representatives of the governor and the Interior Ministry were thus practically quite useless at the voting stations.”

Mirbaqeri reiterated, “I voiced my objection to such broad violation of the Election Laws, and was as a result arrested at a voting station.”

This is big.

UPDATE 2: Take a stroll down Google News. Everyone is towing the AP line. Pathetic.