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”.
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):
“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)
"So once again, we have the U.S. government, as in the case of the Fort Hood attacks, knowing about someone, knowing that they were suspicious, but that information didn't get to the right people in time," – Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar.
Because of protesters, traffic on Azadi Avenue was very slow today. As drivers started to honk their horns, plainclothesmen attacked many of them in order to stop the noise. According to reports, many cars’ windows were broken. In some instances, plainclothesmen would drag drivers out of their vehicles and beat them on the streets for honking their horns. In recent months, honking car horns on protest days has become another symbol of the Green Movement.
In Tehran, a new chant is being heard: “Tehran has become Karbala!” (Karbala is an Iraqi city where Imam Hossein and 72 of his family members and followers were massacred in the 7th century A.D. In the Islamic calendar, the day falls tomorrow.)
Government forces also attacked cars whose drivers had honked in support of the protesters, and smashed their windows. Many vehicles’ license plates were taken away.
“They beat up people relentlessly although many were in mourning groups for Imam Hussein,” said a witness, who spoke via Skype on the condition of anonymity. “I saw many people with bloody noses or limping away. It was clear that they particularly targeted women and savagely beat them.”
My own paper, the Sunday Times, relays reports that journalists are also being attacked:
The opposition Jaras website claimed security forces had attacked a building housing Isna, an Iranian news agency, where it said some demonstrators had sought shelter during the clashes. An eyewitness said at least two people were injured when police chased after protesters into the building.
“They fractured the skull of one Isna person and badly beat up another employee,” the witness said. Isna’s news service appeared to be working normally and it later issued a report on the incident, saying one of its reporters had been injured without specifying who was to blame.
They live increasingly under a military dictatorship. Unless they can find a way to bring it down.
As Khatami speaks, the thugs from the coup regime surround the meeting hall and chaos erupts. Pray for the people of Iran. This is yet another moment of great trial, requiring great courage:
The Dish 