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| Iran | |
| Iran May Crack Down on Reformists | |
| 2003-06-12 | |
| TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader raised the possibility of a harsh crackdown Thursday after two days of pro-reform demonstrations during which hundreds of increasingly bold young people have gone so far as to call for his death. OW! That got his attention The last two days have seen the largest demonstrations against Iran's political leadership in six months. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a speech broadcast on state television and radio Thursday, referred to violence in 1999, when vigilantes and security forces attacked students protesting media restrictions, killing at least one student and touching off the worst street battles since the 1979 revolution that ousted the U.S.-backed shah. ``If the Iranian nation decides to deal with the (current) rioters, it will do so in the way it dealt with it on July 14, 1999,'' Khamenei said.
pious youths with truncheons, weak moustachios Tehran state radio originally misquoted Khamenei as blatantly urging vigilantes to intervene. Later state television and radio broadcast the full speech. There was no sign of further protests at the university hostels at midday Thursday. Students tend to protest in the evenings during summer. It's cooler and darker. We may be threats to the mullahs, but we ain't stoopid Exiled opposition groups are seizing the opportunity created by restless Iranian youth, encouraging dissent through avenues like Los Angeles-based Persian TV channels. U.S. pressure on Iran, which Washington accuses of hiding a nuclear weapons program and harboring terrorists, may have further emboldened those who hope to see the regime toppled. On Wednesday, dozens of hard-line vigilantes on motorbikes chased about 300 mostly teenage protesters, beating them with sticks in the streets outside a Tehran University dormitory in the city's Amirabad district. Several people were seen being carried away with head injuries. motorbikes, hmmm? Ever heard of the clothesline-across-the-street trick? Around 200 students in the dormitory compound threw stones and Molotov cocktails at anti-riot police after they joined the vigilantes attacking the protesters. The protesters chanted ``Death to Khamenei'' and threw stones at anti-riot police, who tossed them back. Gotta light the wick on the Molotovs, amateurs In Iran, criticism of Khamenei is punished by jail and is rarely heard in public. things change About 80 protesters had been arrested for chanting slogans against the leadership and for participating in unauthorized demonstrations after a small student gathering Tuesday night against privatizing universities grew into an anti-regime demonstration. ``The clerical regime is nearing its end,'' demonstrators chanted. ``Vigilantes commit crimes, the leader supports them.'' Demonstrators also called for the resignation of President Mohammad Khatami, a popularly elected reformist, accusing him of not pushing hard enough for change. Khatami doesn't have the power of unelected hard-liners who control the judiciary and the security forces. But the hard-liners don't have popular support, leaving Iran at a stalemate. | |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #5 Ardalan says that during the street clashes, students also took three Islamic vigilantes hostage. The students say they will only release them if the police free students who were arrested. Bravo! About time! These brave kids have been protesting and turning the other cheek for years while these vigilante bastards with big sticks beat them black and blue. I would have broken down and hit back 6 or 7 protests ago. It appears that our presence in Iraq has made them bold enough to take a REAL stand. I hope these vigilante bastards are pissing and crapping in their pants at this very moment. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-06-12 19:58:45 |
| #4 This is not related to the entry it's under, but the Post and Article link seems to be gone. --- In Japan: Four suspects arrested for allegedly selling missile technology to Iran Four people have been arrested in Japan for allegedly exporting equipment to Iran, which could potentially be used in the production of missiles. The suspects worked at a car production company in the capital of Tokyo, AP reported. Among the four arrested is the company’s 68-year-old president. According to Tokyo police, the company is suspected of exporting without a license, industrial machines that are used, among other things, in the production of solid fuel, which is used in missiles. (Albawaba.com) |
| Posted by: growler 2003-06-12 17:58:03 |
| #3 This is even bigger than the protests about six months ago: Radio Farda correspondent Siyavosh Ardalan has been closely following the two nights of protests. "What happened is that many of the students went beside the fences separating the university from the outside and started chanting slogans against the security forces and the Islamic vigilantes who were standing outside," Ardalan said. "And then many of the students, those who were more daring, broke through the fences and went in the street and began setting on fire tires and chairs and tables they had brought out from the university. And some of them had also gone on the rooftops of governmental buildings and private homes and began throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails." Ardalan says that during the street clashes, students also took three Islamic vigilantes hostage. The students say they will only release them if the police free students who were arrested. "This whole saga has ended up in a hostage-taking situation where, for the first time in a show of force by the demonstrating students, and also in a show of organization, the students took hostage three of the Islamic vigilantes that they were having scattered scuffles with throughout the night. They have not been released, and a few of the reformist MPs have gone to talk to the students to convince them to release them, [and] this is the first time we are witnessing this development." The Iranian intelligence minister announced that 18 people were arrested on the first night of the protests. The protests began with demonstrations against reported government plans to privatize elements of the state-run university system -- something the students fear might increase their currently low tuition costs. But the anger over the reported changes quickly escalated into a sweeping criticism of the regime. [...] Ansari says the protests this week appear to be converting popular disillusionment into direct demands that Khatami step down. The protestors chanted "Khatami, Khatami, Resign, Resign" as they also shouted slogans against Khamenei and the rest of the establishment. |
| Posted by: growler 2003-06-12 17:51:27 |
| #2 More than half the population of Iran is under 25. They're the ones most affected by being ruled by old men with long beards. They're also the ones most likely to fight. They'll either have to have an outside enemy, or they'll attack those making their life miserable in their own nation. I wouldn't be surprised if the mullahs don't try to stir up something to divert attention from themselves. US assets in that area of the world need to be on hightened alert until this activity either fizzles out, or there's a major change within Iran. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-06-12 14:00:57 |
| #1 More than half the population of Iran is under 25. They're the ones most affected by being ruled by old men with long beards. They're also the ones most likely to fight. They'll either have to have an outside enemy, or they'll attack those making their life miserable in their own nation. I wouldn't be surprised if the mullahs don't try to stir up something to divert attention from themselves. US assets in that area of the world need to be on hightened alert until this activity either fizzles out, or there's a major change within Iran. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-06-12 14:00:56 |