Iranian police have fired tear gas and used
batons to disperse opposition protesters chanting antigovernment slogans in
central Tehran, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. Critics of the country's
disputed presidential election had vowed to use today's commemoration of
Students Day, when officials traditionally stage anti-Western public
displays, to show that Iran's reform movement is still strong.
WATCH:
Students at Amir Kabir University hold up money to taunt
plainclothes members of the Basij militia, chanting, "We are not
like those who get money to stand [and supress]."
There was also fighting between government
critics and supporters.
Witnesses say opposition acts of defiance began overnight, when supporters
braved pouring rain to climb to Tehran rooftops and shout "Allahu Akbar" and
"Death to the Dictator."
Tough Tactics
Iranian riot police cordoned off Tehran University -- Iran's largest university
and the scene of student-led, pro-democracy protests in 1999 -- in an apparent
effort to prevent opposition plans to disrupt a state-organized rally. Hundreds
of security officers and antiriot motorcycle units had been deployed outside the
campus.
A crowd at
Amirkabir Technological University, where pro- and antigovernment
protesters were on hand.
"Police and security forces aren't
allowing people to get close to the university and people can't even walk in the
pedestrian area around the campus," one man told Radio Farda from the scene.
He described "a very big clash between riot police and people" as authorities
used tear gas to disperse a crowd on Jomhuri Street, south of Tehran University.
The eyewitness added that security forces were videotaping the events, possibly
to help identify participants for subsequent prosecution.
protesters in Tehran streets were
attacked by security forces
Reuters quoted an opposition website as saying
that at least two women were arrested outside Tehran university today. Both were
reportedly wearing green ribbons to symbolize support for the opposition.
Later eyewitness reports suggested more arrests, but those claims could not be
confirmed.
The same reformist website claimed the main mobile telephone network in Tehran
and at the university had been shut down, according to Reuters.
There are reports of other gatherings, including at Tehran's Amirkabir
Technological University, a hotbed of antigovernment protest, where officially
organized groups are competing for space with opposition supporters.
"Police are not allowing people to get together, and Basijis and police are
attacking people [in Vali Asr square]," a Tehrani woman told Radio Farda. "At
the moment, I am close to the main entrance door of Amirkabir University, and
people have crashed the main entrance door and are getting onto the campus."
An Amirkabir student website was quoted as saying that authorities were
preventing people from leaving the Tehran University campus in order to keep
them from joining protests elsewhere.
Reform Hopes
Authorities on December 5 banned foreign media from reporting on Student Day
events -- saying they may not leave their offices between December 7 and 9 -- in
their latest attempt to avert fallout from the divisive June election that they
called for hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
Mir Hossein Musavi has challenged authorities' plans to suppress
rallies and subsequent protests.
The opposition led by former Prime Minister
Mir Hossein Musavi has rejected that vote as fraudulent.
In a statement on his website,
Musavi indicated the opposition protests would continue indefinitely. He said
that even if the authorities managed to quell the opposition rallies today,
there was still tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.
The clampdown by Iran's clerically led establishment has included mass arrests,
reports of torture, and disappearances. But after all these pressures, the
movement has not ended,
Musavi said.
Meanwhile, another reformist presidential candidate, Mehdi Karrubi,
suggested in "Le Monde" today that it is too soon for a
government-opposition rapprochement. He said "restoring confidence between the
people and authorities" was necessary but that "some fundamentalists, the more
moderate ones, share this view but unfortunately they don't have a lot of
power."
Making Life Difficult
Police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had warned that any "illegal"
rallies will be fiercely confronted.
A snapshot of riot
police guarding Tehran University this morning, in anticipation of
opposition protests.
Internet speeds had slowed dramatically over the past day in an apparent effort
to hamper opposition communication.
Associated Press has quoted residents of the capital as saying they were unable
to access e-mail, and that the government's blockage of opposition websites has
been tightened.
Iran's clerically dominated authorities traditionally organize large rallies on
Students Day to condemn the United States and other alleged Western interlopers.
written in Prague from Radio Farda and wire reports
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Copyright (c) 2009 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
