- 14 February 2011
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- 2 Comments
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- Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran, Iran Election 2009
Inspired by Egypt, Iran’s Green Movement Shows Its Resilience
14 February 2011 Posted By David Elliott
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWri7zoJUU0&feature=player_embedded]
On the heels of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, large numbers of Iranians defied ominous threats from their government, taking to the streets to express their own aspirations for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
The demonstrations were the largest since Ashura in 2009, with the Associated Press and Washington Post estimating that “tens of thousands” of Iranians were in the streets. While critics of the Green Movement have often tried to portray it as confined to Tehran or even just north Tehran, today’s protests were occurred all across the country. The BBC reports that there were demonstrations in Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz, while Tehran Bureau reports there were also protests in Kermanshah and Rasht.
Chants rang through the streets of Iran, including one proclaiming “Mubarak, Ben Ali, it’s your turn Sayyed Ali [Khamenei]!”
Despite cynical statements of public support for the revolutionary protests in Egypt, the Iranian government deployed thousands of security forces and reacted brutally to the demonstrations in their own country, calling them illegal attempts to stage “riots”. Opposition leaders Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi were placed under house arrest and prevented from joining the demonstrations, while tear gas was fired into crowds and protestors were arrested and beaten by riot police. And at least one person is confirmed dead in Tehran, according to the BBC.
No one yet knows if this portends a revival of the demonstrations that rocked Iran’s establishment after the June 2009 elections, but it is clear that while the Green Movement may be bruised and battered, it is in no way dead. We would all be wise to remember that, regardless of whether Iranians are risking their lives to demonstrate for their rights.
2 Responses to “Inspired by Egypt, Iran’s Green Movement Shows Its Resilience”
David, the video or pic at the top of the article doesn’t seem to be visible.
As for “rule of law” many of the videos depicted student types burning refuge containers, disrupting traffic, engaging in vandalism and in one case, assaulting another young person in the crowd. So much for rule of law!
Most of the crowd size in the videos range from a handful to the lower dozens. There are a couple where the crowd size appears to possibly top 100. “Tens of thousands” appears to be a gross exaggeration judging by the evidence at hand.
Generally, law enforcement presence appeared restrained. In fact, in many of the videos depicting arson, there is no detectable law enforcement presence.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Haha, Pirouz. To put it in your own words, “You are grasping at straws”.
Given the repression and brutality of the government forces, these protests are truly inspiring.