Earlier Dish round-up here. An Iranian protester talks to Tehran Bureau:
The number of demonstrators was about the same as Feb 14, but scattered across two axes instead of one (which was the case with Feb 14). Violence by the security forces was significantly lower than Feb 14, although their numbers were much much more (the whole city was virtually turned into a military fort). Demonstrators were mostly walking in silence, except when attacked by the security forces.
Hamid Farokhina also describes the scene in Tehran today:
Many of the security personnel wore masks to conceal their identities, as was also true on Monday. In last year's protests, only a handful of these men wore masks. Today, most of the Basij and Intelliegence Ministry personnel did so. Even some of the regular NAJA cops, whom many people regard as civil servants with batons, were wearing masks. Some Basijis were wearing ski masks that gave them a seriocomic look, especially when they were seen eating snacks with their masks on.
Tehran Bureau again:
[W]e described the measures being taken by the regime to isolate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife, Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, including the erection of a large metal wall blocking the entryway to their house. Here's a video, allegedly of that new wall (the extreme slant of the image suggests the videographer's efforts to conceal the camera)
It is safe to say that today, people in Iran once again showed tremendous bravery by being out in the streets to have their voices heard. It is also clear that Ahmadinejad is no longer the story. In fact, I don’t actually recall seeing any videos with anyone chanting against him. What we have definitely seen is people asking for a wholesale change in the regime — with chants of “Death to Khemenei” and “Independence! Freedom! Iranian Republic!”. It would appear that the people have moved in front of the leaders of the opposition Green Movement–virtually all of which are either in jail or under house arrest.
(Dave Siavashi of Iran News Now translates the above video: Chants of “Independence! Freedom! Iranian Republic!” and “Revolution! Freedom! Protest! Freedom!)
The chant is "Mubarak! Ben Ali! Now it's time for Seyed Ali", a reference to the coup-leader, Khamenei. Other reports are that many of the protestors were silent to avoid provocation of plain clothes baseej.
Thousands of demonstrators chanting against the government poured into the streets in nationwide protests on Sunday, clashing with security forces trying to disperse them, according to witness accounts. In Tehran, protestors targeted government landmarks such as the national broadcast company Seda va Sima–seen as a mouthpiece for the regime–chanting “God is great,” and “Death to the dictator,” witnesses reported on opposition websites. Since early Sunday morning thousands of anti-riot police and Basij militia on motorbikes stood guard along the protest route all along Vali Assr Avenue, the capital’s longest road that connects the affluent northern part of town to the poor southern neighborhoods.
0945 GMT: A Military Message? Some Internet eyebrows raised this morning by a report, on a Revolutionary Guard site, of a speech by the head of Iran’s armed forces, Hassan Firouzabadi. Firouzabadi, ostensibly addressing generals in the Arab world, declared that a nation guided by divine principles “cannot be stopped by bullets”: “Other governments must learn the lessons of Tunisia and Egypt and align themselves with their peoples.” He pointed to the example of military commanders executed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to indicate what happens to those who don’t defend the new nation. On the surface, that is a call to militaries in Arab countries to uphold the “proper” revolution. But, with rumours of splits in Iran’s military forces swirling, some are wondering if Firouzabadi might be sending a message closer to home. And there’s another theory: Firouzabadi’s references to the past 30 years and puts out the message that a regime cannot win by oppression. So if that is true in Egypt and Tunisia, could the head of the military be indicating that it is also true in Iran?
Pro-Ahmadinejad Fars News Agency claims this today: total calm in Tehran. Internet connection has been slowed down by the government, Rahe Sabz reports. It also adds that cell phone lines have been disconnected in Central Tehran. Khamenei’s website has been rendered useless by cyber attacks. BBC Persian reports of clashes in the intersection between Mirdamad Avenue and Valiasr Avenue of the use of tear gas on protesters. Witnesses are telling BBC that today, there are more security forces on the streets of Tehran than February 14.
The Islamic Republic finds itself in a precarious position. As protests in Egypt grew, the regime could no longer stay silent on such a seismic shift in its backyard. The official spin — calling it an Egyptian “Islamic awakening” — was of course necessitated by its own crackdown on post-election protests in 2009 and into last year. While such propaganda may serve well with older and more susceptible classes, Iran’s youth knows the power of information and watched Egypt’s youth achieve what they could not: the overthrow of their ruling dictatorship. The hypocrisy of Khamenei’s praise towards Egypt has surely not been lost on them.
Opposition websites say that the riot police and plain-clothes basiji militia are using tear-gas and wielding batons to disperse protesters in different locations in Tehran. The demonstrations are larger than the one last week that left two people dead.
Update from a correspondent at Frontline’s Tehran bureau:
9:25 p.m. I walked from Vali Asr Square to Vali Asr Crossing to Enghelab Square towards Azadi Square. People (hundreds of thousands I think) were walking densely in the sidewalks, with smiles on their faces. It seems that the security forces were given specific orders not to engage with the demonstrators unless they start shouting slogans. I saw many many Basijis and anti-riot police and plainclothes and bikes and so on. With the events of Feb 14 protests, people seemed to prefer demonstrating in silence in order to reduce the level of tension and violence.
Despite a steady rain, large crowds of protesters gathered throughout Tehran, the capital, from the main thoroughfare to city squares, according to opposition Web sites and witnesses. Those sites and witnesses reported that ambulances were being driven into crowds and officers were making arrests. Security forces, some on motorcycles, deployed tear gas to disperse crowds near Valiasr Square. A hazy cloud of tear gas hung over Vanak Square.
Plainclothes officers randomly stopped and frisked people on the streets and removed people from vehicles, witnesses said. There were reports of police officers firing on the crowds, although that could not be immediately verified because foreign journalists were largely not allowed to report in Iran.
1635 GMT: It Ain’t So. The Deputy Governor of Tehran is denying anyone has been killed in clashes today. The denial is carried in Fars News, which earlier today reported “total calm” in Tehran. However, Fars breaks that line to report on the arrest and release of Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani (see 1547 GMT). Fars says she ws freed when she denied she was making “provocative statements” but was merely out shopping.
1655 GMT: After Dark. Daneshjoo News is claiming that protests are expanding in Tehran tonight, including in Mirdamad, 7 Tir Square, and Vanak Square.
Details have emerged of huge casualty figures in the Libyan city of Benghazi, where troops have launched a brutal crackdown on protesters. More than 200 people are known to have died, doctors say, with 900 injured. The most bloody attacks were reported over the weekend, as funeral marches were said to have come under machine-gun and heavy weapons fire.
It could be bloody or it could be pivotal, or both. But this story hasn't got enough attention and if true, is a very big deal:
Senior officers in Iran's Revolutionary Guards have written a letter to their commanding officer demanding assurances that they will not be required to open fire on anti-government demonstrators… Following the recent violence that occurred during anti-government protests in Egypt, the officers argue that it is against the principles of Shi'ite Islamic law to use violence against their own people.
In a suggestion of a major split within the Islamic Republic's ruling hierarchy over its handling of anti-government protests, the letter has been circulated widely throughout the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards, the body responsible for defending religious system. The letter, a copy of which has been seen by the Daily Telegraph, is addressed to Major Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Guards' commanding officer. It calls on Major Gen Jafari to issue guidance to both the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij paramilitary militia to use restraint when handling anti-government protests.
The letter asks for the basij to leave their truncheons at home this coming Sunday, when a major Green protest is planned. It's signed by RG commanders in Tehran, Qom, Isfahan and Tabriz. Today, however, the streets of Tehran have been filled with tens of thousands of regime loyalists calling for Mousavi and Karroubi to be hanged. A sign of regime strength or nervousness? This quote from the IRG commanders' letter staggers me:
"We promise our people that we will not shoot nor beat our brothers who are seeking to express legitimate protest against the policies and conduct of their leader."
Here’s footage from February 14th. Amazing scenes given the brutality of the regime (especially after the 7 minute mark). The hardliners want Mousavi and Karroubi executed. Both are under house arrest. But the diaspora is spreading the word that the revolution continues – and Sunday could be bloody.
Olivier Roy argues, in French, that newer Muslim generations don't desire Islamic revolution. Yglesias translates and comments:
The basic idea here is that in part thanks to the example of Iran, you just don’t have a mass constituency that’s prepared to believe that Islam or Islamic rule offers answers to the concrete problems of poverty, corruption, and slow economic growth. People may be religiously observant or culturally conservative in ways that western liberals (or even western cultural conservatives) would find alarming, but the Egyptian people are asking “where are the jobs?” and don’t think the answer is going to be found in the Koran.
1900 GMT: A Tehran witness to Reza Sayah of CNN (1630 GMT): "Thousands security forces block protester path to Azadi Square on Azadi Avenue. Security forces beat protesters in side streets."
1850 GMT: Senior Mousavi advisor, Ardeshir Amirarjomand, has told the BBC that security forces prevented the participation of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, but Greens have participated with great numbers and the regime has learned suppression is no longer effective.
1830 GMT: Mardomak reports that 10,000 security personnel are preventing people from spending the night in Azadi Square.
1825 GMT: An EA correspondent brings up to date, "Electricity interrupted along Enghelab [Avenue], ostensibly to ease repression. BBC has also posted unconfirmed report of two people being wounded by gunfire." He warns, "All very ugly and leading to increased repression in next few days. Expect a new wave of arrests to begin tonight or tomorrow."
Tehran Bureau, live-blogging along with EA, details a dramatic video:
A large poster described as bearing images of ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei is at the center of the action. In the first video, a man dressed in a sweater identified as a member of the Basij militia attempts to gather up the poster off the street as the crowd of protesters in the vicinity chants, "Na Ghaza! Na Lobnan! Tunis o Misr o Iran!" (Not Gaza! Not Lebanon! Tunisia and Egypt and Iran!). Suddenly, a fight breaks out and the purported Basij member is swarmed. We cannot confirm the man's membership in the militia, but this description of the event has been independently supported by @madyar via Twitter.
More from bloggers Muhammad Sahimi, Josh Shahryar, and Dan Geist:
The gates of Amir Kabir University of Technology (Tehran's Polytechnic) were shut down in the afternoon. It seems the authorities wanted to prevent students and faculty from joining the crowd gathering in Enghelab Avenue. An eyewitness told our correspondent that he saw a few individuals being arrested. There were dozens of plainclothes agents among the demonstrators, most with their faces covered. …
More on Mousavi's thwarted attempt to join the protests from Kaleme website via homylafayette: "Mousavi's bodyguards were told he could not leave [his house]. Mousavi then tried to obtain his car keys in order to drive to the protests, but was rebuffed. He and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, then decided to leave on foot, at which point the police van was driven into the alley to seal off the exit."
The Green movement may want to appropriate the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings as inspirational models for their own struggle, but that doesn’t mean that they can obtain the same result. For that matter, it has never been clear that all of the Green movement supported full regime change of the sort that Tunisians and Egyptians have been demanding.
Some in the movement may want that, but if the Green movement is best understood as an Iranian civil rights movement rather than a revolutionary one it does not even have the same political goal that opponents of Ben Ali and Mubarak had. To the extent that their opposition has focused on Ahmadinejad rather than on the entire system, their political goals are much more limited. As long as the movement’s leaders remain committed to Iran’s form of government, the success of the Iranian opposition in securing some political reforms will not directly lead to the toppling of the Iranian regime and it may never result in this.
We’ll see what shape the new regimes take in Tunisia and Egypt, and I understand that Tehran, unlike Cairo and Tunis, is run by blood-thirsty Islamofascists who think nothing of mass murder of civilians, but I wonder what part of “Death To Khamenei!” Daniel doesn’t understand?
1630 GMT: The BBC's account of events in Tehran reports use of tear gas by police against thousands of protesters. A BBC producer, affected by the gas, described central Tehran as "total chaos" with "severe clashes" and many arrests. …
1500 GMT: … Reports of violence are now widespread, with comparisons with the march of 15 June 2009 flowing in. BBC Persian is quoting a "secure and certain source" that tear and pepper gas deployed in Imam Hossein Square. Police deployed everywhere along Enghelab Avenue, blocking traffic. People are trying to get to Azadi Square on foot, with security forces getting more aggressive as marchers near the square. …
1343 GMT: According to CNN's Reza Sayah, there have been violent clashes in front of Tehran University, where some protesters have been taken away on motorcycle. There are also many protesters clashing with security forces at Iman Hossein Square, where people are chanting "Death to the Dictator, Death to Khamenei."
More footage after the jump:
An Iranian reader translates the chant:
Mubarak … Ben Ali … Now it’s your turn, Seid Ali (first name of the Supreme Leader)
down in the afternoon. It seems the authorities wanted to prevent students and faculty from joining the crowd gathering in Enghelab Avenue. An eyewitness told our correspondent that he saw a few individuals being arrested. There were dozens of plainclothes agents among the demonstrators, most with their faces covered. …
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