TEHRAN, Iran – In a sign of endurance for Iran's protest movement, demonstrators clashed with police Friday as one of the nation's most powerful clerics challenged the supreme leader during Muslim prayers, saying country was in crisis in the wake of a disputed election.
The turnout of tens of thousands of worshippers for former PresidentAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's sermon at Tehran University and the battles with police outside represented the biggest opposition show of strength in weeks. Protesters faced fierce government suppression and hundreds were arrested following the disputed June 12 presidential election.
Outside the university, protests grew from several hundred before the sermon to thousands afterward as worshippers joined in, chanting, "death to the dictator," a reference to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Protesters were confronted by riot police and a menacing line of pro-government Basiji militiamen on motorcycles, who charged with batons. Plainclothes Basijis fired volleys of tear gas, and young protesters with green bandanas over their faces kicked the canisters across the pavement. Some set a bonfire in the street and waved their hands in victory signs. Dozens were arrested, taken away in trucks, witnesses said.
Protests, which flared following the election, had been stifled in recent weeks. The sometimes tearful sermon by Rafsanjani could be a significant boost to the movement's staying power. It was an open challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aired live on nationwide radio from one of the country's most potent political stages. By openly showing the divisions in the leadership, it punched a hole in efforts by Khamenei and hard-line clerics to end the controversy over Ahmadinejad's re-election.
Worshippers chanted "azadi, azadi," Persian for "freedom," during Rafsanjani's sermon, his first since the election. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the election, sat among the worshippers, attending the country's main prayer service for the first time since the turmoil began.
Many of those gathered wore headbands or wristbands in his campaign color green, or had green prayer rugs, crowding the former soccer field where prayers are held and spilling into nearby streets.
Rafsanjani denounced the government crackdown on protests and called for the release the hundreds detained.
He reprimanded the clerical leadership for not listening to people's complaints over the election, which was declared a victory for Ahmadinejad despite opposition accusations of fraud.
"There is a large portion of the wise people who say they have doubts (about the election). We need to take action to remove this doubt," he said. "The trust that brought the people to vote in such large numbers is not there anymore. We need to return this trust."
Rafsanjani's sermon lay bare to the broader public that the dispute was internal and even Iran's ruling clerics are split. He directly referred to the divisions, saying the revered topmost theologians of Shia Islam, who have millions of followers, were not happy with the government.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS Protest Killer Regime in Iran
One eyewitness estimates crowd more than a million, filling streets from Tehran University to Vali Square.
Here's a photo sent from Iran.
Outside the Tehran's central mosque at the Friday prayer where Hashemi-Rafsanjani came to speak, Iranians chanted: "Hashemi, if you remain silent, you are a traitor!"
Iranian activist Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi translated and is following the massive protest today on her Facebook page.
Former President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani called for the release of prisoners during his sermon today at Tehran University.
The Times Online reported:
Iranian police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse thousands of demonstrators outside Tehran University today as a former president who is backing the opposition movement led Friday prayers for the first time since the disputed election.The Revolutionary Road is liveblogging.
Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the influential head of the Assembly of Experts and key supporter of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, called for prisoners to be released as he preached inside the campus that Iran was in crisis.
Demonstrators gathered at the university, which has been a regular focus of the protests, despite a violent crackdown by the authorities, only to be met by a wall of officers who have made at least 15 arrests according to a witness.
BBC Persia has photos from today.
Day 34 Iran Revolution: Friday Surprise in Iran? Nightly riots continue UPDATE: Head of Iran’s nuclear program resigns, MORE PROTESTS TODAY
Twiiter: AN supporters chanting "Dawn with the thief of people's wealth [Rafsanjani]" & "Hizbollah, may god keep you!"
Tear gas fired all around Enghelab, especially Ghods ave. & 16-Azar ave.
To help with the heavy amount of tear gas attacks, people had started fires.
Even Fars News photographer (from the government) was not allowed in the sermon.(more here)
11:36 am: GUARDIAN: Iran crisis: Rafsanjani attacks regimeOne of Iran's most powerful clerics, Hashemi Rafsanjani, attacked the Iranian government for its handling of the unrest that followed the disputed presidential elections. His sermon provoked more protests, followed by another crackdown. Follow live updates
Dozens more videos of today's protests are available at Tehran Bureau. I've never seen so many films come out on a single day during these protests.
Head of Iran’s nuclear program resigns following election turmoil
Iranian nuclear chief resigns
TEHRAN, Iran — The head of Iran’s nuclear agency has resigned, the government said Thursday, a move that may have been connected to the country’s postelection turmoil.
Officials gave no reason for Gholam Reza Aghazadeh’s resignation, but he has long been close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to be the victor in June 12 presidential elections and says the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is illegitimate.
Nightly riots continue in Iran Gauntlet News
Taraneh Moussavi's family says they found her burnt body on the road between the Tehran-suburb of Karadj and the town of Qazvin, north west of Tehran. Taraneh was arrested by the regimes guards just after leaving her beauty school class & was waiting for a friend to arrive. Iran Press News (hat tip Banafsheh)
Taraneh M. is a 28 year old trainee beautician who was arrested more than two weeks ago by security forces on the fringe of the rally on 7th tir (28th june).
Atlas July 14th:
Reports indicate that her family were told that she was in danger due to damage to her anus and womb.
According to reports, this young woman was arrested by plain clothes security forces at 6 pm after participating in the 7th tir ceremony at Ghoba mosque. While after interrogation all other detainees were brought to Nobonyad police station by basij and intelligence agents, the plain clothes agents kept Taraneh in a building near Hosseinie Ershad.
According to witnesses, while most of the participants in the ceremony were dressed in normal clothes and trainers, Taraneh was wearing chic clothes and high-heeled shoes, and caught the interrogators’ attention because of her hairstyle, make-up and beauty.
Iran opposition looking for boost at Friday prayer
Facebook page for martyrs of the green movement
Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the second most powerful man in Iran (after the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and one of the principal figures behind the anti-Ahmadinejad movement that has rocked the country over the last month, will deliver the Friday Sermon in Tehran this week, the first time he has been offered the prestigious pulpit in years.
Even more surprising, sources in Iran have confirmed that both the main reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi and former president Mohammad Khatami will also attend the sermon.Twiiter: Seven photographers including a Franco-Iranian arrested
Tomorrow, we shall all attend Friday's prayer wearing green to announce illegitimacy of the coup government!
Protests still continue: 4 professors of Qazvin's Imam Khomeini Int'l U. arrested by plain cloths.
Ahmadinejad seems to threaten nuclear attack
It is becoming increasingly clear that the opposition protests that have rocked Iran over the past month have seriously undermined the credibility of the regime. In the last month, four of Iran's highest ranking ayatollahs have issued statements defiantly declaring the current regime "illegitimate." Iranian Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has asked the international community to refuse to negotiate with the Ahmadinejad presidency until the crackdown on opposition ends. And two of the most important groups within the Shi'ite clerical establishment--Majma' Rohaniyat-e Mobarez and Majma' Moddaresin o Mohaggegin Hozeye Elmiye Qom--have issued statements doubting the legitimacy of the election.
But Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lives in a parallel universe peopled by corrupt sycophants whose continued presence at the trough of public funds is dependent on his continued presidency. He is as willfully ignorant of the sentiments of Iranian society as of the realities of the modern world. He talks constantly of his desire to help the world's poor and dispossessed, and expedite the return of Shiism's hidden imam. In a speech delivered about two weeks after his electoral coup in June, he claimed that his election "heralded the death of liberal democracy in the world." Though Ahmadinejad will probably be even more deluded during his second term, the changing domestic and international dynamics will likely force him back to reality.
(Read More)
I thought it was over. I had read somewhere that the shia way of protest die down, then cycle back up to mark dates of marterdom, is that what we are seeing?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. I don't pretend to be an expert on things Iranian/Persian/Shia, or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI do know the Friday Prayer sessions at Mosques are a powerful tool for social movement, and things seem to get ratcheted up on Fridays.
I know that the population there is very young, but is it just too shallow of me to observe that they are some of the most beautiful people?
ReplyDeleteMen and women. Just lovely individuals.
Or maybe it is just so poignant because of their youth?
Just an observation - does not really matter - I pray for them daily.
Ro
Ro,
ReplyDeleteI agree. Iranians are a particularly beautiful people.
except for dinnerjacket.. whats up with that zipperweasil
ReplyDelete