Thousands defy ban to join Iran protests

Source: ABC (Australia)

Tens of thousands of Iranians have defied a government ban to join a mass opposition rally in protest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election win.

Shouting "Allah Akbar" (God is great), the protesters marched towards Tehran's Revolution Square, where defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was expected to address them and call for calm after two days of violent unrest in the capital.

But they have been confronted by supporters of Mr Ahmadinejad riding motorcycles and armed with sticks.

Hours earlier the major rally was called off by Mr Mousavi amid rumours that security forces had been authorised to use live ammunition to disperse demonstrators.

Read more: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5654378/thousands-defy-ban-to-join-iran-protests/

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Iran protesters 'defy ban'

Source: BBC

Thousands of Iranians have staged a rally against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, defying a government ban on protests.

Reuters agency reports marchers have clashed with Ahmadinejad supporters.

Defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said he would attend and urge calm. He wants the election results annulled, alleging fraud.

=snip=

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, says he understands plain-clothed militias have been authorised to use live ammunition for the first time.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8099952.stm



Internet brings events in Iran to life (lots of good links embedded into this story): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8099579.stm

Some twitters claim millions on the streets of Tehran now.

Instead we let the son of a bitch get away with stealing an election.

"Iranians riot when their elections are stolen. Americans riot when their favorite team wins. Ahhh...democracy!"

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's main opposition leader appeared at a rally in Tehran Monday, the first time he has been seen in public since last week's elections which he says were rigged to give hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad overwhelming victory.

Reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi appeared before hundreds of thousands of people, a reporter for Iran's Press TV said.

Moussavi may be trying to get Tehran's Freedom Square to address the demonstrators, Moussavi supporters told CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

There was no chanting, with demostrators quieting anyone who tried to shout slogans, Amanpour said, because the Interior Ministry has banned political demonstrations. The rally is a repeat of a march which Moussavi supporters staged Wednesday, before the election.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/15/iran.elections.protests/index.html

Video: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/15/iran.elections.protests/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

live ammunition for the first time" OP

Selected provisions of the Constitution of the United States


A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The Congress shall have Power
...
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

...

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment"



1/ I wonder what it would take for Americans to "take to the streets' (or the lawns, as the case may be).

2/ If they did, could all owners of guns in the United States be authorized to use live ammunition against demonstrator?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/tv/2009/01/000000_ptv_live_s.shtml

Huge!

they haven't shown any footage of the protest itself yet though.

Iranian government probably cut them off.

If you have Twitter, it's impossible to keep up with #iranelection (and it's filled with all kinds of nonsense).

Reliable people tweeting from inside Iran for anyone who wants to follow them:

http://www.twitter.com/stopahmadi
http://www.twitter.com/persiankiwi
http://www.twitter.com/mohamadreza
http://www.twitter.com/mousavi1388
http://www.twitter.com/change_for_iran

An Iranian in the UK who has been getting reliable reports from friends in Iran via sporadic phone service:

http://www.twitter.com/oxfordgirl

Scroll back for the last 24-48 hours of tweets on their pages for interesting info. StopAhmadi seems to be leading the twitter effort.

SOS to any tech savvy people out there. They have been using proxies to access twitter. Internet service slowed to a snail's pace (to prevent uploading of pix and video), but tweets of 160 characters or less are getting through. The government has been shutting down the proxies as soon as they find them, so the students are asking for a supply of open proxies to use throughout the next day or two.

My twitter page is
http://www.twitter.com/razzmichi

I've been trying to post a digest of all the Iranians I'm following. If you can, post info regarding proxies to my twitter page, I can pass them on to those involved.

The rally is still growing in size over there and the numbers they're talking about are more than 1 million people on the streets of Tehran. They are saying nothing of this size since 1979.

Read carefully -- some messages are bogus.

Or whatever the verb is, lol.

It's not bad and kind of addicting.

Marée humaine dans les rues de Téhéran
AFP
15/06/2009 | Mise à jour : 16:41 |

La manifestation de soutien au candidat à la présidentielle Mir Hossein Moussavi lundi à Téhéran attirait une foule monstre, impossible à chiffrer précisément mais comptant plusieurs centaines de milliers de personnes au moins, selon des reporters de l'AFP.
Deux policiers surveillant la manifestation, interrogés par l'AFP, ont affirmé qu'elle réunissait "au moins un million et demi de personnes" pour l'un et "jusqu'à deux millions" pour l'autre.

L'avenue Azadi sur laquelle se retrouvaient les manifestants dans l'après-midi est le lieu traditionnel des rassemblements de commémoration de la révolution islamique de 1979.Elle mesure plus d'une cinquantaine de mètres de large et s'étend sur un peu plus de quatre kilomètres de long.

En fin de journée l'essentiel de cette artère de Téhéran était occupé par des manifestants massés en rangs serrés, ont constaté des journalistes de l'AFP.

La télévision iranienne n'a montré aucune image de la manifestation. En revanche elle avait amplement couvert la veille celle de soutien au président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, réélu vendredi dans un scrutin contesté par ses adversaires.
.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2009/06/15/01011-20090615FILWWW00490-maree-humaine-dans-les-rues-de-teheran.php

they count on an avenue wich is 50 yards wide and 4 km long (2 miles) and crammed with people.

more here: http://www.radiofarda.com/content/f35_After_Elections_Pics_I/1753506.html

Thanks for the share.