Global voices editor, Hamid Tehrani, interviewed Kamran Ashtary, one of the coordinators of this project in the Netherlands and his wife, Tori Egherman, a blogger, artist, and accidental activist with United 4 Iran.

Please describe the “United 4 Iran” project, its goals and where comes the initiative?

There have been so many initiatives to support the struggle for freedom and democracy in Iran. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran spearheaded this effort and brought together groups of supporters and volunteer coordinators all over the world. The full list of supporters are on the site.

How have social networking, the blogosphere and the internet played a role in this moblization?

It’s hard to imagine organizing a demonstration without social networking, the blogosphere, and the internet. My God! How did anyone do it in the old days just three years ago? Basically, if we had to depend on the media to get the word out, no one would know that we were even organizing a global day of action in support of freedom and democracy in Iran. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are all starting to hum with information about this coming Saturday.

What’s even more important, is that the internet is also helping us communicate with people in Iran who are becoming more and more aware of the worldwide support for their efforts to secure their democratic right

Do you see a convergence between Iranians outside Iran and those inside through the internet?

That’s a great question. Just think, a few years ago, before the earthquake in Bam in 2003, there was very little communication, and even less trust, between the Iranian diaspora and civil society activists within Iran. Since Bam, communication and trust have been growing. Events since the election have really started to eliminate the walls between Iranians inside and outside the country. It’s as though there is one strong community again. Of course, there are still divisions, but the struggle for democracy and free expression can and should accommodate those divisions among Iranians, just as it does in democratic countries all over the world. Since the election we have seen a huge movement to bring the Iranian community together, and that’s why an effort like United 4 Iran is possible for the first time since the revolution.Struggling to solve political issues is the job of those inside Iran. Supporting that struggle and their internationally recognized human rights is the job of those of us around the world.

Read the complete interview by Hamid Tehrani at Global Voices.

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