Blogging in Iran

wired

Hossein Derakhshan is on tour. In the past few years, he has become the public face of Iran's beleaguered bloggers, more than a dozen of whom have been arrested for their politics. The crackdown has stifled Iran's exploding Web culture, and Derakhshan is making a swing along the Eastern Seaboard to drum up support for the bloggers back home. He arrives for dinner at the Brooklyn restaurant Superfine, looking like Hollywood's idea of a brainy techno-activist - rumpled suede jacket, half-rim glasses, darkly handsome. A few days ago, he spoke at a conference at Harvard. He's on his way to Washington for a talk show appearance. Soon he hopes to head back to Iran. On June 17, Iranians will go to the polls to elect a president. Derakhshan wants to be there to post reports on his blog, Editor: Myself (www.hoder.com). "I have this little window where I can go home," he says, eyeing the retro-punks squeezing past the table on their way to the bar. "But it will still be very dangerous for me. On one hand, Iran will be on its best behavior because of all the foreign press covering the election. On the other hand, all it would take is one week of torture to give me years of nightmares."

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