Tech savvy Iranians take on Ahmadinejad

Now once again the country has been electrified by street protests rivalling those of 1979 but a new development has given strength and voice to the opposition which is continuing despite a crackdown and mass arrests by the regime.

The Internet and modern technology has allowed Iranians, unhappy with what they regard as a fraudulent election result, to organise and to let the outside world know what is happening in a country which has imposed draconian media restrictions.

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The use of the web by opponents of President Ahmadinejad has highlighted the youth and technological inventiveness of a movement which faces the force of the Iranian state and the intransience of its hardline clerical establishment.

Earlier this week Twitter decided to postpone crucial maintenance work for the sake of Iranians using the service to inform the world of the latest developments.

A website run by Iranians has also called on Google to change its logo for a day to the green of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign. Over 298,000 people already voted on the site in favour of the idea.

Even social networking site Facebook, at one point banned by the Iranian government, has been used by both the opposition and Mr Ahmadinejad.

Mr Ahmadinejad's Facebook page has over 8,500 fans.

Interestingly Mr Mousavi's page, which is much more updated, has more than 61,700 fans suggesting that he either has a much more technologically savvy base of support or much more support generally among the Iranian people - or both.