In the normal course of events, I'm not overtly political, but I was struck by the image below from Telzey (Lydia Marano), one of my flickr contacts, which seems to me to sum up what is happening in Iran at the moment.

Whilst neither I nor many others beyond the boundaries of Iran really know what the outcome of the Iranian Presidential Election really was, it is clear that vast numbers of the Iranian people believe that it was not as it was called. The basic human right to free speech is essential if Iranian democracy is to be seen as a fair and open process within that country's political system. Every indication is that this right is being abused.

I know precious little about Iran, most of what do know comes from the media and a recent focus on the country in NGM. It is though a place that has long intrigued me and a place I would like to see for my own eyes. I get the impression that the people their have more in common with Western society than the many Middle Eastern countries that mainstream media would like to lump them with. Iran has long held a tradition for making its own mind up - something very vividly demonstrated in 1979 - hopefully the beneficiaries to the inheritance of the revolution will reflect on that tradition and will allow its own people to speak.