Tehran again sees protests and violence

Anti-government protesters in Iran hijack a pro-government demonstration.

Iason AthanasiadisNovember 4, 2009 10:09Updated May 30, 2010 12:12

Iranian supporters of the country's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi protests in central Tehran November 4, 2009. Police clashed with supporters of Mousavi in Tehran on Wednesday when a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy turned violent. (Reuters/via Your View)

LONDON, U.K. — Iran’s opposition movement showed it may have staying power Wednesday as thousands of opposition protesters took to the streets alongside a regime-backed demonstration marking the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

A multitude of security forces and plainclothes militias cracked down violently on the protesters, shooting tear gas and leading baton charges throughout central Tehran.

Students defied government warnings and the forced closure of some universities to gather at Tehran and Sharif universities, the Iranian capital’s main campuses. Riot police closed down the city center and assaulted groups wherever they gathered.

Grainy videos streaming out of the Iranian capital on YouTube and Facebook showed gas mask-wearing demonstrators jumping over trash fires as they fled from security forces. Injured members of the public were carried to side streets and parking lots to be treated. Other alleys were transformed into temporary detention centers for demonstrators who were detained by riot police who sallied forth to disperse protesters.

“I have been amazed by the steadfastness of the protesters and their bravery,” said James Spencer, a Middle East expert specializing in defence and security issues. “The regime is weak, they’ve been unable to stop the protests using the current level of force and, as with the Shah, don’t dare increase the level of violence too much for fear that the IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] will refuse.”

One demonstrator freshly returned from the streets described how she disguised herself from traffic cameras used to identify protesters by wearing sunglasses and a gas mask. Golnaz, 23, described how she shouted anti-regime slogans with her boyfriend, and both were hit by tear gas and struck with batons before seeking refuge in a nearby house.

“I lost my mother and another friend while a guard attacked my boyfriend, striking him on the shoulder with a baton and smashing the door’s glass on his head,” she recounted, in an email from Tehran. “He managed to escape inside (the house) however.” Once inside the house, they sat with a number of other protesters in terrified silence.

“There were several harsh knocks on the door but no one dared to open it so they left,” Golnaz recounted. “In between there was the sound of shooting but I’m not sure if they shot anyone. Then there was the sound of female shrieking so we looked from the window and saw this girl with no scarf, messed up and hysterical as if she had been beaten. She was walking shocked and constantly screaming.”