HUNDREDS OF thousands of Iranians turned out to mark the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution yesterday, but supporters and opponents of the regime held back from the angry exchanges of recent confrontations.
The regime’s opponents have in recent weeks tried to get around a ban on their rallies by hijacking official celebrations and turning them into protests. But this did not take place on a large scale yesterday.
After the deaths of at least 10 people during their last rally in December, which coincided with the Shia festival of Ashoura, the dissidents marched without their green colours.
Nor did they chant slogans against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader.
For his part, Mr Ahmadinejad refrained from attacking his domestic opponents during a speech. Instead, he criticised Israel, the US and the UK.
The president’s proclaimed “landslide” victory in last June’s election triggered months of upheaval, with predictions of further protests during the anniversary. But witnesses said the march went off relatively peacefully in spite of sporadic clashes between the security forces and opposition supporters, with tear gas fired and reports of arrests.
Mehdi Karroubi (73), an opposition leader, was harassed by security forces as he neared the main route of the march in Tehran, the capital. His youngest son, Ali, was arrested.
It had been the “harshest attack” against Mr Karroubi, another son, Hossein, told the Financial Times. He said his father retreated into a passing car, but security forces, some in plain clothes and others in fatigues, broke the windows and fired tear gas close to his face.
The website of Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the opposition leader who ran for president last year, said his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, was beaten by security forces.
The authorities had spent weeks trying to ensure the opposition did not exploit the anniversary. Dozens of activists and journalists had been arrested, along with individuals suspected of using social networking websites to encourage protests.
Ayatollah Khamenei and commanders of the Revolutionary Guard had made clear they wanted the occasion to be a show of national unity. Their hardline supporters, including those in the Islamic vigilante militias, were told not to provoke the opposition Green Movement. Government supporters carried placards with slogans directed at foreign rather than domestic enemies. Opposition leaders appealed for restraint.
Mr Moussavi urged his supporters to avoid “radical” slogans, warning that calls to overthrow the constitution would damage the Green Movement more than “the radicalism of totalitarians”. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010)
Meanwhile, a group of more than 40 Iranians living in Ireland gathered at College Green in Dublin yesterday to highlight human rights abuses committed in Iran since the disputed presidential election last June. The demonstrators called on the UN to investigate violations currently taking place in Iran and to bring those responsible to account.