Iran protests: One-man video channel that is a thorn in Tehran's side
Mehdi Saharkhiz shames regime with mountain of online footage showing its violent suppression of opposition
Matthew Weaver --guardian.co.uk--
Friday 11 June 2010 17.57 BST


Until his father was arrested, Mehdi Saharkhiz had little to do with Iranian politics. But since the arrest in the aftermath of the disputed elections last July, Saharkhiz, a 28-year-old graphic designer living in New Jersey, has poured all his energies into a one-man internet video channel that has captured crucial moments of the country's unrest.

Saharkhiz has become the source for dramatic mobile phone footage of the demonstrations and their violent suppression. As independent mainstream media has effectively been banned from Iran, it is these amateur clips that have perhaps best documented what has been happening in the country – and they have been a major irritant to Tehran. No one has broadcast more of these videos than Saharkhiz. Since last June's election he has uploaded more than 2,600 separate clips to his much-watched YouTube channel, onlymehdi.

Covert footage of protesters being shot, beaten, run over and executed will be significant in what happens next in Iran, he argues. "These things can't be hidden any more. People are now showing these videos to friends who don't have access to the internet. So huge numbers of people are figuring out what really happened." (cont...)