Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton telephoned Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, marking the first U.S. Cabinet-level conversation with the Nobel Peace laureate in more than 15 years, according to U.S. officials and Burma experts…

…Clinton wrote to Suu Kyi after the Burmese leader was released from house arrest in November and followed up with Wednesday’s call, in which she “pledged to support [Suu Kyi] in her efforts to strengthen civil society and democracy in Burma.”

This comment at the end of the article by Tom Malinowski, director of Human Rights Watch’s Washington office has it right:

“I’m very glad that Secretary Clinton reached out to Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s a good way of showing American solidarity with her. But ultimately, what Suu Kyi needs from the U.S. is action.”

Why didn’t I vote in the latest elections for the president of the country of my birth, Iran? Because no matter who is the president of Iran, they would stone me!
As a woman whose husband refused to divorce her when she escaped the country and came to Canada as a refugee, I am considered this man’s wife as long as I am alive.

I would be lashed in public, raped in jail and stoned to death for selling my body in order to bring food to my family, as so many unfortunate Iranian women have been forced to do, as a single mother with no social assistance in a rich but deeply corrupted country like Iran.

No matter who is the president of Iran, I would disappear and be found dead (if I was lucky) if I were to keep writing and demanding my basic rights as a woman and intellectual who has no say in politics.

No matter who is the president of Iran, I would not be able to be a judge or even a witness in court, as a woman.

No matter who is the president of Iran, I would be lashed in public if I did not cover my head and body in public in compliance with the mandatory Islamic dress code.

In the spirit of the above cartoon, we will continue to blog the events in Iran.  As I have noted previously, there are several excellent sites for up-to-the-minute news out of Iran, they include:

The Guardian (UK) live blog

Nico Pitney’s live  blog on the Huffington Post

Zahra Rahnavard’s Facebook Page (she is the wife of Hossein Mousavi)

#iranelection on Twitter

And via Nico Pitney’s blog comes this phenomenal  music video by Weapon-X with inspiring and amazing lyrics and photos:

And lastly, a reminder that protests on other issues are taking place elsewhere:

Two Burmese women’s organizations in the Indo-Burmese border town of Moreh were forced to cancel a planned protest rally to be held on Friday after authorities pressured the officer who had issued permission for the rally to cancel the authorization.

The Kuki Women’s Human Rights Organisation (KWHRO) and the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) sought permission from the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Tengnoupal Subdivision of Moreh in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, bordering Burma, to hold a protest rally demanding the release of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her 64th birthday on June 19.
The program was planned as part of the global action for commemoration of the detained Burmese pro-democracy leader’s 64th birthday, on June 19. On Friday, Burmese activists and supporters across the world are set to hold prayer meetings, protest rallies, solidarity concerts and speeches in honor and solidarity with the Burmese democracy icon.

Pressure from the ADC on the women’s groups to cancel their program came after the Imphal-based online Hueiyen News Service published a critical article on June 17 questioning the authority of the ADC to grant permission to protest to foreign organizations.

The Burma Campaign UK today called for an intense diplomatic effort to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, after she was detained in custody in Burma’s notorious Insein Jail.

Aung San Suu Kyi is being tried for breaking the terms of her house arrest, which forbids visitors, after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake and refused to leave her house. Her trial is due to begin on 18th May.

“The United Nations and ASEAN must dispatch envoys to Burma to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all Burma’s political prisoners,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK. “Burma’s generals will use any excuse to keep Aung San Suu Kyi detained. If strong action isn’t taken, Aung San Suu Kyi could face the rest of her life in jail.”

The Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government, EU and USA to use their influence to ensure the UN sends an envoy to Burma.

“Aung San Suu Kyi has committed no crime, she is the victim of crime,” said Zoya Phan. “There was an intruder in her house who refused to leave, but she is the one being imprisoned.”

Today Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent a total of 13 years and 202 days in detention. The United Nations has ruled that Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention is illegal under international law, and also under Burmese law. The United Nations Security Council has also told the dictatorship that they must release Aung San Suu Kyi.

Join the call to set  Aung San Suu Kyi free here.