Iranian students are staging anti-government protests today, managing to send photos and videos purportedly from the unrest despite the authorities' interruption of Internet and cell-phone lines to prevent the activists from communicating.

As of an hour or so ago, the official state news agencies didn't have anything on the demonstrations, which are reportedly erupting at several universities in Tehran and others in outlying provinces.

The few foreign reporters still in Tehran have been ordered to stay inside their offices for three days to bar them from coverage of the much-anticipated demonstrations to mark Students Day, the annual memorial for three students killed by the shah's forces in 1953.

Already, reports are emerging that Iranian security forces and basij militiamen have used tear gas and batons in clashes with students. Photos and video from today's events show cordoned-off campuses swarming with authorities.

It's hard to glean the size of the demonstrations or overall mood of the country today from the breathless, constantly updated Twitter and Facebook messages related to Students Day. But without official news or direct access to events, foreign media will have to rely on the government's non-statements and the unconfirmed, amateur video and accounts of protesters.

Far from ideal? Yes, but it's pretty much all the access we've had since the disputed Iranian elections in June.

You can follow the latest from Iran on Twitter, trending at #iranelection. This Gulf News page is collecting the tweets on Iran in case you don't have a Twitter account. And this blog has up-to-the-minute accounts of the unrest (though it's all impossible to independently verify).

Of course, there's still Payvand and all the other more famous Iranian portals you can find with a quick Google search. If you have other good information sources on Iran, please share.

Note: The above photo of Tehran University was posted on Twitter and has been picked up by several news services. I don't know the original source of the photo.