Iranian Police Clash With Up To 3,000 Protesters - Yahoo News

Iranian police clash with up to 3,000 protesters
By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer William J. Kole, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

<snip>

Riot police clashed with up to 3,000 protesters near a mosque in north Tehran on Sunday, using tear gas and truncheons to break up Iran's first post-election demonstration in five days, witnesses said.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that some protesters fought back, chanting: "Where is my vote?" They said others described scenes of brutality — including the alleged police beating of an elderly woman — in the clashes around the Ghoba Mosque.

The reports could not immediately be independently verified because of tight restrictions imposed on journalists in Iran.

North Tehran is a base of support for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has alleged massive fraud in Iran's disputed June 12 presidential election and insists he — not President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — is the rightful winner.

Sunday's clashes broke out at a rally that had been planned to coincide with a memorial held each year for Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, who came to be considered a martyr in the Islamic Republic after he was killed in a 1981 anti-regime bombing.

It was Iran's first election-related unrest since Wednesday, when a small group of rock-throwing protesters who had gathered near parliament was quickly overwhelmed by police forces using tear gas and clubs.

Iran's standoff with the West over its crackdown on opposition protesters escalated Sunday after authorities detained several local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran — a move that Britain's foreign secretary called "harassment and intimidation." The European Union condemned the arrests.

Iranian media said eight local embassy staff were detained for an alleged role in postelection protests, but gave no further details. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "about nine" employees were detained Saturday and that four had been released.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Corfu, Greece, issued a statement Sunday condemning the arrests and calling for the immediate release of all those still detained. The 27-nation bloc also denounced Iran's continuing restrictions on journalists.

"They make clear to the Iranian authorities that harassment or intimidation of foreign or Iranian staff working in embassies will be met with a strong and collective EU response," the statement said.

<snip>

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_election

Video of Demonstration in front of the Mosque: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v-OOpUbkm8

:shrug:

urging them on, but believe me, if I were there, I'd be risking life and limb every day. There's a lot of talk on the interwebs about how to disarm Basiji, encouragement to rush them in groupos, stay close so snipers won't fire into the crowd and risk hitting their own guys, etc.

I'm glad there are still huge crowds protesting. Twitter was so quiet for a while, I thought they'd subsided. I am afraid some of the posters may be either dead, injured, imprisoned or hiding. :(

spell edit

And it seems as though he's choosing his words exetremely carefully...

<snip>

12:14 PM ET -- Rafsanjani breaks his silence. From the AP:



<snip>

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/28/iran-uprising-live-bloggi_n_221946.html

Also, also...

If you look just above on that link, it says:

<snip>

A reader notes that a commenter on Mousavi's Facebook page says that Faezeh Hashemi -- the wife of Mousavi ally and former Iranian president Rafsanjani -- was at the demonstration today.

<snip>

And finally (yeah, sure, LOL) have ya seen this?: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5938892

:hi:

The world had to come together to put an end to Hitler's killings.

Now back to MSM explaining how the Iranian's movement will lose.

Is that still a go?

I think the harshness of the crackdown over last weekend, may have made them rethink that move.

Could be they are waiting for final government determinations (deal-making) regarding the election results, before making such a move.

:shrug:

it would be very difficult for the government to crack down on all of them, although the government would probably go after the ringleaders. The trick would be to utilize their communication tools for group-thinking and action.