Saturday, November 21, 2009 Previous editions
Thursday, November 05, 2009
IRANIAN security forces beat anti-government protesters with batons yesterday on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover.
The counter-demonstrations were the opposition’s first major show of force on Tehran’s streets in nearly two months.
The opposition sought to display unity and resolve after relentless crackdowns on their protests following the disputed June presidential election.
Though the crowds were far smaller than during last summer’s outrage, authorities were ready with the same sweeping measures: dispatching paramilitary units to key locations and disrupting mobile phones, text messaging and internet access to frustrate protest organisers.
The contrasts in the latest protest wave were stark: people chanting "Death to America" outside the former US Embassy while hundreds of opposition marchers in central Haft-e-Tir Square denounced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with cries of "Death to the Dictator".
Other opposition protesters marched silently and flashed the V-for-victory sign. Many wore green scarves or wristbands that symbolised the campaign of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims Ahmadinejad stole the election from him through fraud.
Mousavi and his allies, including former president Mohammad Khatami, appeared to encourage opposition protesters to return to the streets.
Witnesses said security forces — mainly paramilitary units and militiamen from the elite Revolutionary Guard — swept through the hundreds of demonstrators at Haft-e-Tir Square, clubbing, kicking and slapping protesters.
Pro-reform websites said police fired into the air to try to clear the square — about half a mile from the annual anti-American gathering outside the former US Embassy.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported police also used tear gas to disperse protesters in other parts of the city. There was no independent information on injuries or arrests, but state-run Press TV said no one was hurt.
In Washington, the White House called for an end to the violence against anti-government protesters in Iran. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama administration leaders are following reports of the unrest and "hope greatly that violence will not spread".
Authorities appeared determined to avoid opposition rallies overshadowing the anniversary of the embassy takeover. They had warned protesters days in advance against attempts to disrupt or overshadow the annual gathering outside the former embassy, which was stormed by militants in 1979 in the turbulent months after the Islamic Revolution.
Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days in a crisis that began a three-decade diplomatic freeze between the two nations.
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