I am an Iranian-American student in Iran. I just got back from Baharestan and here’s what I saw. I got there around 3:45 pm Tehran time and about 500-1000 people were mulling around the subway station and park across the street from the Majles. The police presence was slim so people were just waiting in the shade to see what was coming. Then it police and pasdaran started arriving from all sides and moving people away. First, from the subway stop, then from the sidestreets and sidewalks, and then from the major streets surrounding it. Of course they were polite first (Iranian custom dies hard), but no one really left when asked. I circled around several times to see if people would resist. More people were arriving from all sides. Some whispered that that everyone was going to another place, but that didn’t convince many. The lack of organization was palpable - people were expecting something but they didn’t know what. Mousavi to jump out of a moving car? Khatami to swing in like Toby McGuire?
Finally the more ominous looking black-clad guards showed up and started phalanxes that cleared the sidewalks. I was a block away until about 4:30 and heard no shots, and only heard about some beatings via others in the crowd. One phalanx came my way so I ducked into an alley, and then they turned down the same alley looking very goon squad-like so I just headed away. If there were hardcore protesters that stayed after that then I’m sure they had trouble coming. On my way back from Imam Khomeini metro station (where police were also posted outside in the square) I noticed that Baharestan metro stop had been closed - the train passed it without stopping.
Even so, the police presence was nothing like the massive buildup in Enghelab square from Saturday onwards.
Via TheLede
Thursday 25 June 2009
Eye witness account
Eye witness account
I am an Iranian-American student in Iran. I just got back from Baharestan and here’s what I saw. I got there around 3:45 pm Tehran time and about 500-1000 people were mulling around the subway station and park across the street from the Majles. The police presence was slim so people were just waiting in the shade to see what was coming. Then it police and pasdaran started arriving from all sides and moving people away. First, from the subway stop, then from the sidestreets and sidewalks, and then from the major streets surrounding it. Of course they were polite first (Iranian custom dies hard), but no one really left when asked. I circled around several times to see if people would resist. More people were arriving from all sides. Some whispered that that everyone was going to another place, but that didn’t convince many. The lack of organization was palpable - people were expecting something but they didn’t know what. Mousavi to jump out of a moving car? Khatami to swing in like Toby McGuire?
Finally the more ominous looking black-clad guards showed up and started phalanxes that cleared the sidewalks. I was a block away until about 4:30 and heard no shots, and only heard about some beatings via others in the crowd. One phalanx came my way so I ducked into an alley, and then they turned down the same alley looking very goon squad-like so I just headed away. If there were hardcore protesters that stayed after that then I’m sure they had trouble coming. On my way back from Imam Khomeini metro station (where police were also posted outside in the square) I noticed that Baharestan metro stop had been closed - the train passed it without stopping.
Even so, the police presence was nothing like the massive buildup in Enghelab square from Saturday onwards.
Via TheLede
Wednesday 24 June 2009
+ more...
Iran 'will not yield' over poll@BBC
RT IRAN: Plainclothes among the people in Baharestan- if you talk on your mobile there, you will be beaten or arrested. #iranelection less than 10 seconds ago from web
Report: Militia's Ordered To Pick-Up Protesters (List of Names) For Execution In The Streets (Unconfirmed) #IranElection Tehran Iran Neda less than 10 seconds ago from web
so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away - #Iranelection - we lose our groupless than 5 seconds ago from web
RT (3pm): Baharestan situation is too bad , police shoot ,people sent to the south of Sq #iranelection less than 20 seconds ago from Tweetie
RT a girl was shooted in Baharestan Sq #iranelection #gr88 #neda they dont allow people to help shooted girl less than 20 seconds ago from web
>More than 10.000 Bassij Milittias get position in Central Tehran, including Baharestan Sq.
>25 journalist were arrested last night.
> Mohsen Rezae popular communications office, in an open letter criticized him for getting back his complaint from the Guardian Council inregards 2009 Iran election
>Army Helycopters flying over Baharestan and Vali Asr Sq.
>'Larijani pressing for Mousavi to be given airtime on IRIB to discuss elections'
>Thousands of detainees family members have gathered in front of Tehran's revolution(Enghelaab)court. The force police has surrounded them.Fervent atmosphere in place and conflict is possible at any moment.
> Emad-e-din Baaghi was served by Enghelab court & warned for interview with Persian media outside Iran.
>Conflict at Baharestan Sq.Even police attack pedestrian by tear gas.
> The Islamic Republic of Iran does not allow under any circustances any form of mourning ceremony for NEDA AGHA SOLTAN
>The streets, squares and around BAHARESTAN (Approx. South-eastern of Tehran) is swarming with military forces, civilian forces, the security motorists@RevolutionaryRoad
1.40pm:
Hundreds of people, many from the families of those arrested have gathered outside Revolution Court, according to usually reliable Twitter user.
A reader emails with the correct spellings of the locations for today's demonstrations: Baharestan Square, Enghelab Square, Vanak Square, Vali-asr Square, Tajrish Square and Sadeghieh Square.
1.31pm:
Anne Applebaum focuses on the important role of women in Iran's upheaval.
But regimes that repress the civil and human rights of half their population are inherently unstable. Sooner or later, there has to be a backlash. In Iran, we're watching one unfold.@TheGuardian
The Islamic Republic of Iran does not allow under any circustances any form of mourning ceremony for NEDA AGHA SOLTAN
If anyone can translate from Farsi and send to:
monastreet @ gmail dot com
I would be very grateful
Iranian updates (keep refreshing page#45)
Despite fantasies of insurrection in some of the more fevered Western media assessments of the confrontation, the balance of forces appears to militate against a knockout blow by either side. U.S.-based Iran scholar Farideh Farhi, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, stressed that Ahmadinejad and the Supreme leader may not have the majority of the people behind them, "but they do have support. They also have the resources of the state - both financial and military. So that makes them quite robust."
At the same time, Farhi notes, the opposition coalition includes some very powerful figures from within the regime, who together command the support of a large section of the population. Thus, she warns, "To assume that this will lead ultimately to a victory of one over the other is unrealistic as well as dangerous because it may come at the cost of tremendous violence." More likely, she argues, is the pursuit of some sort of compromise that allows the regime to back down to some extent, without necessarily surrendering.@Time via HuffPo
Army Helycopters flying over Baharestan and Vali Asr Sq. #iranelection less than 20 seconds ago from web
7:13 AM ET -- Demonstrations going local. An editor for the Kahylan newspaper notes to Al Jazeera that university students are now returning to their home towns, and bringing demonstrations with them. "In provinces, where people were before gathering in universities, in recent days were are seeing people gathering in main squares."@HuffPo
Jomhouri Islami newspaper is blaming her shooting on snipers from the MKO (a militant group calling for the overthrow of the republic). It said the group exploited the lack of security created by the demonstrations.
Javan, another pro-regime paper, blamed an even more unlikely source - my friend and recently expelled BBC correspondent Jon Leyne. It claims that Leyne hired "thugs" to shoot her so he could then make a documentary film.
Meanwhile, the government has forbidden hospitals from releasing deaths certificates that give shooting as the cause of death.
"I am personally prepared to legally represent her family against the people who ordered the shooting and those who fired at her. This act was against the law," she told al-Jazeera.
monastreet @ gmail dot com
"I had insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue ... Neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost," Khamenei said in his first remarks since Obama's press conference.
Unrest in Iran: Incident Statistics and Map for Protests, Arrests, and Deaths@IranTracker
Iranian updates (keep refreshing page#44)
+ more...
Protests in Iran capital 'halted'@BBC(with new video)
To the Bazaar, Comrades!
The torture of a 17-year-old in Iran - A teenager's story, with graphic photos, of abuse at the hands of Iran's religious paramilitaries, the Basij @Salon
Iranian updates (keep refreshing page#43)
Does anyone have any more pictures of clerics marching in the streets?
Please send them to:
monastreet @ gmail dot com
Thanx
The Guardian reported:
Their gesture attracted worldwide comment and drew the attention of football fans to Iran's political turmoil. Now the country's authorities have taken revenge by imposing life bans on players who sported green wristbands in a recent World Cup match in protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.
According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul.
The Arabs’ Forlorn Envy of Iranians
The End of the Beginning?
"Above all, we have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets. While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history."
Obama's speech
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Down/time...
THE GUARDIAN
DAILY DISH
NIAC
THE LEDE
REVOLUTION ROAD
#gr88
#iraninternational
(@ twitter)
ANONYMOUS IRAN
ETC>
Another long day here in the 'Exile' compound down here in downtown 'teh-ran' and about to put away the brain for another night. Please follow what goes on at the links above/
Again thanx for following.
If you follow on all the links that I have posted today again there is some very interesting reading...
Finally a message to all the people following this blog in Iran:
Any pictures or words would be gratefully accepted here at Exile...
Monastreet @ gmail dot com
twitter/exilestreet
Later/