MORE than 25 years ago, the cassette tape played an important role in the revolution that got rid of the Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
The tapes, which were smuggled in, carried the sermons of religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and was spread to the masses.
Ayatollah Khomeini eventually deposed the Shah in 1979 after mass protests, spearheaded mainly by youths.
Today, new technology is again at the heart of a protest against a repressive regime by many youths in Iran.
This time the prime movers are Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
These new technologies are ushering in a new age of youthful activism in Iran.
Iranian political analyst Saeed Leilaz told AP that women, young people and even a foreign-based opposition group can play a role inside Iran more than they could before.
This was clearly seen when youths mobilised in violent protest over the election results which saw the current president, hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, win by a landslide on Friday.
His opponent, former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi a moderate, lodged a formal appeal on Sunday for the cancellation of the election results which he called a 'charade'.
On Saturday, Teheran witnessed widespread clashes between baton-wielding police and stone-throwing protesters who set bins and vehicles on fire in violence on a scale not seen since 1999 when student demonstrations led to a week of deadly nationwide unrest.
Riots continued on Sunday and the violence is expected to continue as thousands defied a ban against gatherings and congregated for a rally yesterday.
Much of the communication between the youths comes through websites like Twitter and text messaging. At the height of the protests Twitter was used to give graphic accounts to a worldwide audience - even if they were a maximum of 140 characters, reported CNN.
Tweets from Change for Iran were among several that offered real time updates: '...my friend saying more than 100 students arrested, I can't confirm this but the numbers are high. (they) just attacked us for no reason, I lost count of how much tear gas they launched at us ...we have now some students with urgent need of medical attention I'm calling out to all ppl who can come here don't leave us.'
ShareIran's communication company says handphone SMSing has reached 110 million per day since the election campaign officially opened three weeks ago, double of what it was in the pre-election period in 2005, reported AP.
Facebook is also very popular in Iran, aspiring journalist Ali told CNN.
'Mr Mousavi's Facebook page got huge amount of fans on it, pictures spread extremely fast,' said Mr Ali.
It was used on Saturday and Sunday to organise and announce street protests, to send out warnings about police activity, but especially to keep followers abreast of his whereabouts. They were the first to talk about his forced house arrest.
Worried
Said columnist Thomas Friedman in the New York Times: 'The Internet, blogs, YouTube and text messaging via cell phones, particularly among the young - 70per cent of Iranians are under 30 - is giving (them) cheap tools to communicate horizontally, to mobilise politically and to criticise their leaders acerbically, outside of state control. It is also enabling them to monitor vote-rigging by posting observers with cell phone cameras.'
In fact this has so worried the current government that Iranians were unable to access Facebook or send SMSs on Sunday. The services were restored somewhat yesterday.
The authorities have warned that they would crush any 'velvet revolution' in Iran and police said they have rounded up 170 people over the protests, including a number of reformist leaders.
The election campaign highlighted deep divisions in society, with Mr Ahmadinejad commanding massive backing in the rural heartland and among the poor, while Mr Mousavi gained ground among the urban youth calling for a less confrontational stance towards the West and easing restrictions in society.
