Month: December 2009

A reader writes:

Watching your continuing coverage of the people of Iran continuing their fight for freedom I was struck, and touched, by the presence, in every picture, in every piece of footage, by the universal presence of cellphones and cameras. No matter how chaotic, no matter how frightened they may be, the protesters held their phones high. Not a brave few but a brave many pressed into the violence, stood right next to the regimes thugs and pointed their cameras. It seems like the ultimate act of defiance; no matter how you try to shut us down or shut us up, we will expose you. You can kill us, but the world will know that we never stopped fighting.

I urge you to continue to use your platform to show us this incredible fight. Before this started, the people of Iran seemed alien and vaguely threatening. Now, I see a young woman, veil shoved back and cellphone in the air, and this lefty atheist woman sees a sister clear across the world.

(Iranian protesters wipe the bloodied face of a man who was allegedly shot during an anti-government protest in Tehran on December 27, 2009.  -/AFP/Getty Images)

Another must-see video (and not for the faint of heart):

Josh Shahryar notes that the building ablaze is a police station.

Iranians flee a familiar feature of the past six months:

"Frightening, apocalyptic video: tear gas covers the sky — so thick that sky is black," IranNewsNow says of the following:

Another gas attack here.

IranNewsNow describes a dramatic scene:

Things get intense approximately half-way through when a struggle ensues between people wanting to beat up a captured Basiji, and greens chanting “Leave him alone!”, “Velesh kon! Velesh kon!” meaning “Let him go!”. These chants are proof that although anger runs high against the regime, the peoples movement is largely peaceful and seeks non-violence.

Such a display of decency harks back to this iconic image from June.

Reuters:

An Iranian opposition website said police forces refused orders to shoot at pro-reform protesters during clashes on Sunday in central Tehran, where it reported earlier four demonstraters had been killed. "Police forces are refusing their commanders' orders to shoot at demonstrators in central Tehran … some of them try to shoot into air when pressured by their commanders," the Jaras website said.

In an unprecedented fashion, protesters have been hitting back at the security forces as well as the Baseej militia. Footage of the flaming car can be viewed here. Another clip of a flipped police vehicle here. And the AP captured a striking image of a policeman being carried away from a brutal beating; see it here.

More details emerge from the mayhem today:

The reformist website, Rah-e Sabz, reported that an elderly man was among the dead after being shot in the forehead in Valiasr crossroads in Tehran city centre. Three others were said to have been shot nearby at Kalej Bridge in Enghelab Street. Rah-e Sabz, citing witnesses, said crowds held up the elderly man and started chanting slogans against Iran‘s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Crowds also prevented security forces from taking away those wounded in the shootings. According to other eyewitness reports, members of the hardline Basij militia attacked demonstrators with daggers and knives. Disturbances were also reported in Isfahan and Najafabad, where the Rah-e Sabz described the situation as “severe”.

( -/AFP/Getty Images)

IranNewsNow:

Unbelievable video showing Basij motorcycles on fire and people chanting, “I will kill, I will kill, those who kill my brother!” Massive clashes. Nearing the end of the video several fights can be seen in what appears to be people beating a plainclothes agent. Also, it looks like a protester or perhaps a plainclothes agent is lying motionless on the ground.

More incredible footage after the jump (one of the burning bikes sets a building on fire):

More details on the dead protesters:

“Three of our compatriots were martyred and two were injured in clashes. The reporter who was on the scene said these three were directly shot at by military forces,” Rahesabz.net, an Iranian opposition website said. The website added that a fourth protester was also killed at a different location in the city centre. “The people are carrying the body of this martyr and are shouting slogans,” it said, citing witnesses.

According to the AFP news agency, police had earlier fired tear gas and used batons to beat back the protesters, who had surged in their thousands on to the streets of the capital for the second straight day chanting anti-government slogans.

Photo: An Iranian opposition protester holds stones as he stands opposite security forces during clashes in Tehran on December 27, 2009. ( -/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranians carry an injured or dead compatriot through the streets: