Bloomsberg news agency reports this morning that 70 academics were taken into custody last night after a meeting with Mir Hossein Mousavi. Their location is unknown. Mousavi, a candidate in the 12 June presidential election, contests the results, and has since become the most prominent figure in the popular protest movement that has coalesced following the announce of the election results.

Because of restrictions on reporting imposed by the Iranian regime, media there are often unable to verify or investigate emerging news from Iran. The Bloomsberg report is based on one by the Kalemeh website which is linked to the Mousavi campaign. The website is in Persian, but Google introduced on 18 June a Persian translation facility in response to current events which you can use to read this and other Persian language sites.

I published a news article last night about efforts by the Iran scientific and academic diaspora to help their colleagues in Iran.