Remember Iran: An EA Special --- Three Years Ago Today, The Protests Begin

See also Remember Iran Flashback: Text of Mousavi Letter to His Supporters (13 June 2009)
Remember Iran Flashback: 13 June 2009 --- EA's Live Coverage Begins
Remember Iran: An EA Special (12 June) 

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On 13 June 2009, I was in a hotel room in London, having promised my wife a break from EA. (I can highly recommend Avenue Q, the play we saw on the Friday night.) I was awoken by a phone call from a media outlet, asking, "Can we have your comment on President Ahmadinejad's victory?"

Given that I had assured my wife that we could take a weekend break because there would be no dramatic winner --- Ahmadinejad would probably gain the most votes, but he would be in a run-off with Mir Hossein Mousavi --- this came as a surprise.

By the time I returned to Birmingham, I had messages that protests against the outcome had begun in Tehran. I spoke with EA's correspondents about how we would cover the developing situation, anticipating that it might be a busy few days or weeks.

And so our Live Coverage began.

Looking back on that opening entry (re-posted today), it is a bit spartan, even if I think it captured the basic news of the day. We were busy building up sources --- from contacts, from other outlets, and from social media --- and looking back at our "pilot" attempt at Live Coverage, the Israeli invasion of Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. We were trying to understand an unexpected situation amid Iran's political, social, and religious complexity.

Also on 13 June 2009 on EA: Mir Hossein Mousavi's message to his supporters (re-posted today in a separate entry); our first videos of protests from Shiraz and Mashhad; Juan Cole's "Six Indications That The Results Were Altered", our initial reaction, "Surprise and Uncertainty"; and a different perspective in a guest column by Shirvin Zeinalzdeh, "Ahmadinejad Victory!"

REMEMBER IRAN (12 JUNE)

Remember Iran: An EA Special

Remember Iran: A Day That Changed the Country, the Region, and the Media

Remember Iran: A Preview of the Presidential Election

Remember Iran Flashback: "How Not to Cover Iran's Elections --- The Awards Ceremony"