Iranian U of I Students React to Presidential Vote

University of Illinois students from Iran say it's incumbent upon foreign media to spread the word of protests in their country following the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

More than 40 of these students and their friends rallied in downtown Champaign Monday. One of them, going by the name 'M', says while election fraud in his country is nothing new, two things separate Friday's votes from elections past. M says the huge voter turnout is part of a new reformist agenda there, and that the large military presence during the violent protests is a result Ahmedinejad's ties to the officers. But he says pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi will learn through foreign press that he has the support to challenge election results.

"We think that media is the guardians of democracy,' says M. "We think think that reporters are soldiers of freedom. Our reporters inside Iran, our media, is shot down inside Iran. We expect from the reporters and the foreign media to spread information inside Iran." M says if information of election fraud is spread, the military is faced with either waging civil war against 2 million people, or giving in to their demands. A high-level clerical panel called the Guardian Council is expected to investigate the claims of voter fraud.