Iran is gearing up for elections and it isn't pretty

Earlier this month Vahid Ashgari, a computer programmer who has been in detention since 2008, was sentenced to death for spreading "corruption." He says that under torture he confessed to being involved in pornography, a capital crime in the Islamist Republic. Until his detention, he'd been involving in helping to set up websites critical of the government.

Last week the government also sentenced Saeed Malekpour, detained since 2008, to death. Mr. Malekpour is a computer programmer resident in Canada who was detained on a trip home to visit relatives. His pornography conviction stems from his development of an Internet photo-sharing tool that has been used by others to share pornography.

Amir Hekmati, an American-Iranian and former Marine translator, was also seized on a home visit and sentenced to death earlier this month, in his case on charges of spying, notwithstanding that he'd informed the Iranian government of his past in the US military and his travel plans before his visit.

Strict monitoring of online activity

And beyond Iran's arrests of reporters and death sentences, there are other attempts to intimidate would-be cyber dissidents.

This month, new rules require Iran's Internet cafes to install monitoring cameras and maintain logs of all browsing history, as well as requiring photo IDs from customers. Iranians complain that browsing speeds have been throttled down, access to many websites are blocked, and the security services have stepped up their monitoring of social networks. With the use of the Internet to organize protests in Iran in the past, and more successfully in Egypt and other Arab states in 2011, Tehran is determined to deny that outlet to unhappy citizens.

The big international news story will remain the fear and posturing around Iran's nuclear program, including its repeated recent threats to shut the Strait of Hormuz and drive up international oil prices (Scott Peterson looks at Iran's ability to do this in a piece yesterday). Ahmadinejad may insist that international economic sanctions can't hurt his country. But the rial has tumbled to record lows against the dollar recently and the Iranian Central Bank this week increased the interest for some deposits to 21 percent in an attempt to shore up its beleaguered currency.

That's the atmosphere ahead of the March elections. While the Green Movement doesn't appear from the outside to be anywhere close to what it was, the men running the show in Iran appear to be taking no chances.

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