Clashes in streets of Tehran on anniversary of embassy takeover

police attack anti-government protesters amid anti-american demonstrations

Published:

TWO SIDES: A pro-government Iranian demonstrator holds a picture of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in front of a satirised drawing of the Statue of Liberty at the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran

Iranian security forces attacked anti-government protesters on the streets of Tehran yesterday as state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover took place nearby.

The counter-demonstrations were the opposition’s first major show of force since mid-September after crackdowns on their protests following the disputed June presidential election.

Although the crowds were far smaller than last summer, authorities were ready with the same measures – dispatching paramilitary units to key locations and disrupting mobile phones, text messaging and internet access to frustrate protest organisers.

The contrasts in the latest protest wave were stark. People chanted “Death to America” outside the former US Embassy while hundreds of opposition marchers in central Haft-e-Tir Square denounced Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with cries of “Death to the Dictator”.

Other opposition protesters marched silently and flashed the V-for-victory sign. Many wore green scarves or wristbands that symbolised the campaign of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the election from him through fraud.

Mr Mousavi and his allies, including former President Mohammad Khatami, appeared to encourage opposition protesters to return to the streets.

Security forces – mainly paramilitary units and militiamen from the elite Revolutionary Guard – swept through the demonstrators at Haft-e-Tir Square, clubbing and kicking them.

Pro-reform websites said police fired into the air to try to clear the square – about half a mile from the annual anti-American gathering outside the former US Embassy.

stormed

The embassy was stormed by militants in 1979 in the turbulent months after the Islamic Revolution. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days in a crisis that began a diplomatic freeze between the two nations.

Outside the former US Embassy, thousands of people waved anti-American banners and signs praising the Islamic Revolution.

The main speaker, hard-line politician Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, denounced the United States as the main enemy of Iran. He did not mention the talks with the west, including the United States, on Iran’s nuclear program.