Tehran commemorates Islamic revolution amid media blackout
France 24, February 11, 2010
Foreign Affairs Analyst and Iran Expert
Mr. Jafarzadeh's comments appear inside the report.
Tens of thousands of Iranians gathered Thursday in a Tehran
square to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic
revolution amid high security and reports of new skirmishes
between opposition protesters and regime supporters.
Tens of thousands of Iranians gathered Thursday in a Tehran
square to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic
revolution amid high security and unconfirmed reports of new
skirmishes between opposition protesters and regime
supporters.
Click here for direct reports from our Observers in Tehran.
The Green Voice opposition website reported Thursday that
new clashes had broken out between protesters and police,
who it claimed had fired tear gas and water cannons on
anti-regime demonstrators. Other opposition reports on the
Rahesabz website and elsewhere said that thousands of
anti-government protesters had turned out in the streets of
Tehran. Rahesabz reported that clashes with security forces
broke out where opposition supporters were gathering in
Sadeghieh Square.
Reformist leaders attacked
Hossein Karroubi, the son of reformist opposition leader
Mehdi Karroubi, told journalists that his father's entourage
came under attack as it was on its way to Sadeghieh Square
and that Karroubi's other son, Ali, had been arrested.
Iran's reformist former president, Mohammad Khatami, was
also attacked on his way to an opposition rally in Tehran
and his car window was broken.
Opposition supporters claim to have taken control of some
parts of the capital, says FRANCE 24's regional
correspondent and Los Angeles Times reporter Borzou Daragahi,
reporting from Beirut. Those reports could not be confirmed
due to restrictions on the media coverage of today's events.
Daragahi said the state is also doing its part to inspire
pro-regime supporters to counter the protesters themselves.
"Loudspeakers are calling upon people to kill the opposition
movement," he said.
Celebrations for the 1979 return from exile of hardline
cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini began on Monday, an
anniversary that has traditionally been a chance for Iranian
leaders to showcase popular support for the regime. The
climax of celebrations in Tehran’s Azadi (freedom) Square on
Thursday – which included a speech by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad – marks the day the US-backed shah fell, after
ruling Iran for nearly four decades.
But this year, the regime is facing protests by opposition
supporters who continue to reject Ahmadinejad's re-election
in a disputed June 12, 2009 poll. The June vote sparked
weeks of demonstrations, led in part by Mousavi’s “Green
Movement” supporters.
Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Karroubi have
refused to give up their claims of fraud – despite the
brutal repression of opposition demonstrations – and urged
their supporters to turn out en masse during this week’s
anniversary.
Mousavi said Tuesday that the Islamic revolution had failed
to achieve its goals and that the "roots of tyranny and
dictatorship" of the shah’s era still exist in Tehran. In an
interview posted on his website Kaleme.org, Mousavi said
that present-day Iran was adopting the "attitude of historic
tyrant regimes everywhere".
The opposition has been exploiting internet sites like
Facebook and Twitter, as well as mobile phone text
messaging, to organise rallies and spread news and pictures
of its protests.
As the anniversary approached, reports filtered in that
internet access in Iran had slowed and that text messaging
services had been disrupted. The government is blaming
trouble with underground cables, but others cry foul. Iran's
telecommunications agency announced Wednesday that it was
planning the permanent suspension of Google mail services
(via gmail.com) in the country and would soon roll out a
national email service.
"Internet access has slowed to a trickle," Daragahi said.
Restrictions on journalists have also been part of the
regime's bid to suppress coverage of opposition activities
today. “Tehran has not allowed the foreign media to film any
other places except freedom square,” Iran analyst Alireza
Jafarzadeh told FRANCE 24. He says the few journalists who
are being allowed to cover the day's events are carefully
monitored, including being escorted to and from the square.
But Jafarzadeh added that, in the era of mobile phones and
Twitter, the regime’s precautions will likely fail.
“The pictures – and the video – are going to get out," he
said.
In the latest deadly unrest last December, eight people were
killed on the holy day of Ashura and hundreds more were
jailed as the authorities battled opposition protesters. The
deadly crackdown, coming on Shiite Muslims' most sacred day,
sparked outrage and underscored the depth of Iran's current
crisis.
A 'punch' to the West
The regime’s authorities accuse the demonstrators of siding
with Iran's enemies abroad and of seeking to topple the
Islamic Republic. They want Thursday's anniversary to be a
show of national unity as in past years. For Khomeini's
all-powerful successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hopes are
high that the day will deliver a stunning "punch" to
"arrogant" outside powers.
Khamenei – who has the final say on all key policy issues –
supports Ahmadinejad’s re-election and has dismissed
allegations of fraud. He blames Western powers for the
post-election unrest and continuing dissent, which he has
slammed as "sedition".
Alireza Jafarzadeh is a FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs
Analyst and the author of "The
Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear
Crisis" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
Jafarzadeh has revealed Iran's terrorist network in Iraq and
its terror training camps since 2003. He first disclosed the
existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and the
Arak heavy water facility in August 2002.
