Iran Protests
Hundreds of marchers chanted, “Down with the dictator”, “death to the dictator,” and “God is great.” These were defiant protests by demonstrators who once again crowded the streets of Tehran, resuming a strategy of direct confrontation.
Iranian security forces fired repeated rounds of tear gas, and large groups of the feared Basij militia wielding batons, patrolled the area on motorbikes.
The demonstrators gathered on the 10th anniversary of violent confrontations at Tehran University, reported the New York Times, both to mark that event and to commemorate the demonstrators who were killed in the turmoil after the June 12 election. In the crackdown since the election, at least 20 protesters and 7 Basijis were killed.
Many of the marchers held their hands high in the defiant V for victory, witnesses said. Others clapped their hands or shouted slogans in support of defeated presidential challenger, Mir Hussein Moussavi.
The combined security and Basij forces, in support of the official threat to “crush” any revolt, reacted once again to the crowds of demonstrators. Their efforts to halt the protest quickly turned violent, people at the scene said. A middle-aged woman ran through the crowd, her coat covered with blood stains. Trash fires burned, cloaking the streets in black smoke, as protesters lobbed rocks at security forces.
Cellphone messaging was disconnected Thursday for a third consecutive day, and internet blocking and censorship is continuing.
In Iran, a new day is dawning. The genie is out of the bottle and can never go back.
“Tell the world what is happening here,” one 26-year old engineering student demonstrator said. “This is our revolution. We will not give up.” “We want democracy.”
