The Burmese military regime has censored news of the Iranian demonstrations since protesters took to the streets to dispute the election results during the past three weeks.

Analysts said Burma’s military leaders see a kindred spirit in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a politician who dares to challenge the United States and the West. The state-run media often quotes from his speeches criticizing US “interference” in Iran.

Iranian demonstrators protested that the election results were rigged. The Iranian government officially said 20 people were killed by security forces in the demonstrations and many more were injured.

A Rangoon resident told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that state-run MRTV4, which carries some international news stories, censors most stories, but runs some stories about Iraq and Afghanistan, two countries where the US military is engaged in combat operations against terrorists.