“This report was written in the late hours of 16 Azar. Since then, many things have changed. A lot of new news has come out of Iran that might contradict this. I have not included those in here, but will so in the next brief. ”
December 7, 2009 yet again brought fresh waves of opposition protests across Iran. While slightly smaller than those of November 4, the protests showed, yet again, that the government in Iran is facing a serious challenge by the opposition. December 7, National Student Day, is traditionally a day when students gather to celebrate. That students and opposition supporters this time came out onto streets without their leaders is a troubling sign for a government that has already tried everything from shooting at peaceful protesters to torture and imprisonment of reformist activists .
Because of the government ban on foreign media and severe restrictions on reformist news outlets, the flow of information was very slow – compared to previous protests. However, opposition protesters were able to get the news out through online social media and it gives us a fairly complete picture of what happened in Iran.
Protests can be confirmed to have taken place in the cities of Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Kerman, Hamedan, Arak and Najafabad. There is also partial confirmation of protests taking place in the cities of Sanandaj and Yasuj. There was, however, no real confirmation for the protests that were reported to have taken place in Tabriz, Ahvaz and Shahre Kurd. There were also reports of protests in other cities which included Rasht, Zahedan, Sari, Karaj and Oromieh. No part of Iran seemed to have escaped the anger of the opposition.
Here’s an account of what happened in Tehran and some information about other cities where protests could be fully confirmed:
Tehran
In preparation for the protests, the government had already restricted internet access across the city. Cell phone connections were jammed in the central part of the city where most previous protests had taken place. Even though protests were to start at 1500 hours Iran time, all major universities were surrounded by security forces in the early hours of morning and only students with valid identity cards were being allowed to enter the premises. There was an army of security forces in Central Tehran today. In some parts of the city, there were more security forces than protesters.
Despite this, protests started around noon in the area around Tehran University when students started to chant anti-government slogans. Chants also started in Tehran’s Sharif Industrial University, the Polytechnic University, Elm o San’at University and Amir Kabir University. They were soon joined by hundreds of other Tehranis who started gathering in Enghelab Square and Valiasr Square, chanting.
Clashes broke out when other protesters started attempting to enter Tehran University. Protesters chanted ‘Death to the Dictator’, ‘Death to Khamenei’ and ‘You traitor Mahmoud … you destroyed our homeland.’ Although there were clashes in Valiasr and Enghelab Squares and other areas where students and ordinary Tehranis had gathered to protest, Tehran University was the major scene of confrontation.
Riot police beat people with batons and fired tear gas indiscriminately at Enghelab and in Tehran University. People were attacked in other parts of the city as well. Reports confirm dozens injured; however, no one was reported to have been killed. By the end of the day reports emerged that at least three dozen people and possibly many more were arrested by the security forces. There were reports of gunshots being fired in some parts of the city, but all were confirmed to have been fired in the air to scare the protesters.
The only major opposition figure that took part in the protests was former president Hashemi Rafsanjani’s daughter, Fayezeh Hashemi. She joined protesters in Tehran and videos of her emerged being accompanied by other protesters. The video shows protesters accompanying Hashemi and chanting, ‘Thank you, thank you’.While it cannot be independently verified if she indeed took part, she has in the past joined almost every opposition protest. There were also rumors of Mousavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard joining the protests, but this could not be confirmed by reliable sources. (This can now be confirmed. Rahnavard was also attacked in Tehran University and Basijis women used pepper spray on her. Reportedly, her eyes were badly hurt in the incident.)
It is fairly difficult to estimate how many people joined the protests. However, by looking at pictures and videos from different parts of the city and universities, it can be safely said that AT THE VERY LEAST somewhere between five to ten thousand people took part in protests throughout the day. (Please, remember, this is just an estimate. I can most certainly be wrong about this. I wasn’t there and I didn’t see it myself. I only saw videos and pictures and got to that number. I cannot account for people that were not in the videos or who’s presence was not reported to me.) It is worth noting that there was a government-sanctioned protest in Tehran University as well and there were claims that more than a thousand government supporters took part in that as well. However, this could not be reliably confirmed.
Mashhad
Several hundred students gathered in Mashhad University and chanted anti-government slogans and sang the patriotic song Yaare Dabestani. There were confirmed reports of clashes or protests outside the university.
Shiraz
Hundreds of students and ordinary Shirazis protested in Shiraz’s main university and the central part of the city as well. People were again stopped from entering the institution’s main grounds if they weren’t students. Reports of clashes from the city have been confirmed. There were also reports of arrests, but none could be verified.
Kermanshah
More than a thousand students gathered in Razi University, which is the largest institution of higher education in the city. At least 200 security forces were present around the university and prevented people from entering the premises unless they had valid student ID cards.
Hamedan
Bu-Ali Sina University was the main site of protest. Clashes here were perhaps the most violent. Reports of bloodied students being carried away from the scene of clashes were reported by multiple sources. Numbers here were also in the hundreds.
Arak, Kerman and Najafabad
Protesters chanted in the three cities’ main universities. The protests remained largely peaceful. Not much further could be confirmed. Numbers in these cities were also comparable to Shiraz and Mashhad.
This report was compiled using information from eye-witnesses, Iranian opposition websites and media contacts outside Iran. Government-run media in Iran reported almost nothing about the protests so their view of the events is anyone’s guess.
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Thanks for the coverage. I’d have liked to read some commentary on the slogans as well as there were several new ones, some rather radical. It would be interesting to know/guess whether they were specific to a group/s or whether they represent a more general sentiment. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if we hear them again over Moharram.
Dear Night Owl,
I found your piece on 16 Azar, both disappointing and misleading. As a journalist, I’m assuming your main objective is to get to the facts. It seems that in this case you not only omitted certain facts, but also stated others incorrectly. Do you realize that in Tehran alone students protested at 6 different universities and if so, why did you not mention any of them in your piece? Also Did you not see the videos from Qazvin, Tabriz, Gilan, Karaj and numerous other cities? What exactly is your definition of a rumor may I ask? In the absence of official news organizations, the people are the media. Pictures speak louder than a thousand words. What assumptions did you used to come to your extremely inaccurate estimate of 5-10 thousand protestors? The students in Tehran alone were more than that estimate. Mr. Night Owl, if you are going to take it upon yourself to report on the events in Iran, I suggest in the future that you do your homework before you put paper to pen. Thousands of people put their lives at risk today to fight for what is rightfully theirs, basic human rights, democracy and freedom. The least you can do is respect their courage by getting the facts right. As one of your regular readers I found this piece mediocre and inaccurate to say the least.
Sincerely,
N Chevre
Dear N Chevre,
Thank you for the feedback. I mentioned that the protests were MAINLY centered in the universities and areas that are listed. This means there were protests elsewhere in Tehran as well. That is certainly not the case.
As for the rumor thing. The reason I put that up is because there are daily news briefs posted online on dubious websites mostly run by MKO. And at the time of writing the blog entry, I only saw those cities on MKO-run websites. If I was going to be honest, then I should had also included that protesters fought back and beat Basijis and IRGC personnel and that the Greens are militarizing.
You know why? Because that’s exactly what was claimed in those articles. I cannot just choose the hopeful part and ignore the not so hopeful part. I hope you see what I’m saying.
I would also like you to look around and read as many other sources as you can who are writing blogs or for MSM. You will notice that I have included more cities than ANY OTHER reporter.
I support the Green Movement and I always have tried to report on them when I can. However, almost ALWAYS err on the side of caution when reporting because of two reasons:
1. If I do not, I risk sounding like a propagandist. A LOT of people have accused me of this before. And if I don’t be careful, this will hamper my efforts at getting as much as I can out to people. Besides that, many in MSM also use my reporting and if they distrust me, then that’s one more source they lose and more voice that won’t be able to report on the atrocities that are being committed in Iran.
2. It is unethical. I would be lying to myself if I reported something I didn’t believe in.
As you can see, I have posted caution after caution that my account of the event could be different from what actually transpired. Especially regarding the numbers. 5-10 thousand in Iran ALONE and that to is a LOWER BOUND estimate. Which means that the number was possibly MUCH HIGHER.
Let me know what you think.
N Chevre,
I have also removed the word rumor from the other protests. You’ll notice that even in the older version there was a line right after the mention of city names:
“No part of Iran seemed to have escaped the anger of the opposition.”
Peace.
the number of protesters may have been lower than some of the previous ones (still far more than 10,000 people, 100’s pf thousand I estimate) for the following reasons:
1- today was the student’s day and many of the non student protesters in the following protests didn’t participate because most protests took place inside the universities while only students with ID were allowed inside
2- The pro-Mousavi reform opposition was almost missing. watching tens of videos today, in comparison to earlier protests when people’s slogans were mainly aimed at the election’s results, today you could barely hear Mousavi slogans and instead down with Khamenei, this is the last message people are ready to rise, Mousavi is just an excuse the entire system is our targets, etc. and also anti-Ahmadinejad was replaced with anti-Khamanei.
when Khamanei as the regime’s supreme leader and the holiest religious figure, the most powerful political figure (an Islamic version of a shah)and the backbone of the Islamic constitution is attacked and people are calling for the dismissal of his position and status without suggesting a replacement, that indicates a common goal, regime change.
so many pro-reform oppositions were absent
3-the lack of communications as a mobilizing force
4-unexpected and irregular blocking, guards, checkpoints, etc surprised many
5-the true opposition is growing underground. they feed the student supporters with tactical and strategic ideas and plans and will only use their own forces when the exposed operating opposition (mainly students and younger people) caused enough damage and set the ground for new leadership to emerge. this new leadership currently underground is made of intellectuals, university professors, businessmen, military men and even some from the current system will openly take part and introduce new leaders when regime is breathless and only take a sudden push to make it fall.
also many are scared of regime’s brutalities doesn’t mean their changed their opinion and not opposing it anymore. for example many women’s fear of rape, keeps them back. personally, as a man, if you warn me of danger to my life about something, i may have no fear, but if warn me of rape i’ll think twice before making a decision
since the day after the elections, I was arguing that people used Mousavi as a more legitimate opposition to mask their true intention (regimechange) to avoid tougher penalties and day after day i point at more evidence. I also predicted that if the opposition protest & support remain active, it’ll not only grow in numbers, but will also lead to a split within the regime, make it easier to defeat
at the end let me assure you of one thing, disagreement with the Islamic Republic has been growing very fast and no power in the world could stop the regime change process and establishment of a secular democratic government, the Iranians have been fighting for the past 30 years
Nite Owl
Thanks for your post. Not only did the protestors succeed again in defying the Iranian goverment, they managed to defy goverment attempts to stop news getting to the outside world. Ahmadinejad is now extending his intimidation to Iranians outside the country who dare to be critical -linked here are two Wall St Journal articles on these points:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126024226622081309.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125978649644673331.html
Its important that the movement isnt detered by this new tactic.
By the way, Im now following you on Twitter (Ghoul_Sabz)
Thank you for your quite balanced reporting, and willingness to err on the side of caution. All the best to you in your work.