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Iran says will show no mercy to opposition protesters

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1 of 2. Student supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi hold red roses during protests in central Tehran December 7, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/via Your View

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN | Tue Dec 8, 2009 4:04pm EST

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will "show no mercy" toward opposition protesters seen as threatening national security, a judiciary official said on Tuesday, a day after thousands of students staged anti-government rallies.

A nationwide rally on Monday to mark the killing of three students under the Shah turned violent when students clashed with security forces armed with batons and tear gas in the largest anti-government protests in months.

"From now on, we will show no mercy toward anyone who acts against national security. They will be confronted firmly," said prosecutor Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Witnesses said scuffles occurred between students loyal to opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi and others who support hardline President Ahmadinejad in Tehran universities on Tuesday.

Reuters could not confirm the report independently because journalists working for foreign media have been banned from leaving their offices from December 7 to December 9.

Mousavi's website, Kaleme, said security forces had a heavy presence around Tehran universities. It said Mousavi was harassed outside his office on Tuesday.

"If you want to beat me, threaten me or kill me, go ahead and do your job," Mousavi told a group of 30 masked, plainclothes men, Kaleme reported. "The men left after a few hours."

The protests were a renewed show of force following demonstrations that erupted after the June re-election of President Ahamdinejad, which the opposition says he won by rigging the vote.

Monday's protests in Tehran were smaller than the post- election rallies but the mood seemed more radical with protesters chanting slogans against the clerical establishment and not just criticizing Ahmadinejad's re-election.

Analysts say students have formed a bastion of support for opposition leader Mousavi.

"Silencing universities will be difficult for the establishment. Ahmadinejad's fate may well hang on them," said one analyst, who asked not to be named.

Iranian university students played a major role in toppling the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi 30 years ago and have always been a leading force behind political movements in Iran, both before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"PEOPLE LEADING OPPOSITION"

A fierce crackdown on anti-government rallies, sweeping arrests of activists and harsh sentences imposed on leading reformists, including five death sentences, have so far failed to keep Iranians off the streets or quash the opposition.

"They feel they are being humiliated by the system. As long as the authorities continue to ignore their demands, protests will continue," said the analyst. "Now the people are leading the opposition leaders."

Dozens of people were arrested and several hurt in clashes in different Iranian cities on Monday. The opposition leaders did not attend the rally.

"About 200 demonstrators have been detained in Tehran. Some 39 of them are women," the semi-official ILNA quoted a senior police official as saying.

Also on Monday, the government banned the pro-reform Hayat-e No newspaper, a move which the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said was linked to the crack-down on demonstrations.

"Since the disputed presidential election in June, journalists have been censored, harassed and imprisoned. Iran now holds the dubious distinction of being second only to China as a jailer of journalists," the CPJ said in a statement.

When Ahmadinejad won the June election with a wide margin, his reformist opponents cried foul and thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the biggest anti-government demonstrations in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic. Authorities deny any vote-rigging.

Prosecutor Mohseni-Ejei said the authorities had no intention of letting the demonstrations continue.

"Intelligence and security ... forces have been ordered not to give any leeway to those who break the law, act against national security and disturb public order," he said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards and their allied Basij militia, which suppressed post-election unrest, have warned the opposition not to stage rallies against the establishment.

In September and November, opposition demonstrators clashed with government backers during rallies.

Mousavi criticized the clerical establishment on Sunday for suppressing students, saying the reform movement was alive despite pressure from the authorities to end it, his Kaleme website said.

Thousands were arrested after the election. Most of them have since been freed, but the judiciary continues to impose harsh sentences on arrested reformists, including former senior officials, lawyers, students and journalists.

In Geneva, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay voiced concern on Tuesday that Iran is using more force to suppress protests and urged the Islamic republic to respect opposition supporters' right to protest.

"The suppression of protests is escalating, it is much more serious," Pillay told Reuters.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
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Comments (4)
kschltr wrote:
It is most unfortunate that the theocracy and administration of Iran conduct themselves in the fashion they do today. Consider the fact that Iran’s President, Mahmoud Achmedinajad was one of the STUDENTS who overran and controlled the US Embassy during the Summer of 1979. Now President Achmedinajad was a senior student leader in the revolt and was personally involved in the day to day “checking up on” the condition of the hostages themselves during that 444 day period between the Summer of ‘79 and the eventual release of those hostages in 1981. How could a man intent upon defending the rights to choose a government defined by the principles of Islamic Law be so cruel and support the cruelty and human rights violations of his fellow followers of Islam and the citizens of his own country?

十二月 09, 2009 1:07am EST  --  Report as abuse
kschltr wrote:
While it is true that violent protests against authority have always been considered unacceptable by all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism as well as Islam, the right to express oneself and to vote one’s opinion in peaceful assembly has been traditionally accepted by those charged with upholding the laws of most nations, whether they be theocracies or democracies throughout history. The behavior of the theocratic government in Iran is no different than the behavior of a Monarchy, such as the Shah’s or a Dictatorship like Hitler’s, Pol Pot’s, Napoleon’s and Stalin’s. It is imperative that the protestors remain peaceful. The murder of Buddhist monks in Myanmar (former Burma) and the isolation imposed upon the people and lawfully elected representatives cause nothing but grief and should be considered a source of national shame for any country. Unfortunately Iran is heading down the same road. It is imperative the demonstrators remain peaceful and use the principles taught by Gandhi, the Chritian saints and martyrs, and not attack the authorities in way considered to be violent. Many times the authorities will initiate the violence, just as they did here in America during the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. Martin Luther King and Gandhi had much in common with Suu Kyi, now under house arrest in Myanmar. Gandhi was not successful immediately but he and his followers, both Hindu and Moslem alike, eventually succeeded in ousting the Raj and forming a free India and free Pakistan. Why do we continue to do this despite all of the lessons of history; many recent?

十二月 09, 2009 1:24am EST  --  Report as abuse
kschltr wrote:
As an additional word of caution; in the mid 1860’s right in downtown New York City there was riot by Irishmen who were recent immigrants to America. They came to escape British tyranny and the Potato Famine. As soon as they got off of the ships in New York harbor most were immediately conscripted (drafted) and put in uniform to fight in the American Civil War against the Confederacy. If one had the sum of $300.00 they could purchase a deferment and be excluded from the draft, as the Union was in need of funds to support the war. Most of the Irish and German immigrants, mostly Irish did not have anywhere near that amount of cash in their pockets when they got off of the ships. (They expected to find the streets paved with gold). After the Emancipation Proclaimation and after being forced into military service the Irish protested. The protest turned violent and over the course of a couple of days approximately 4000 people were killed. Many lynched by the Irish mob. Those they lynched were for the most part wealthy New Yorkers who’s homes they invaded, dragged the wealthy into the streets and hung them from lamp posts. The US Army suppressed the riot and when it was over the casualties were estimated at approximately 4000 dead. 20% of Manhattan (New York City) was burnt to the ground. To this day no one really knows exactly who or how many died, nor do they know where their mass graves are located. Most likely on one of the islands nearby Manhattan which is the site of today’s Potter’s Field. I find it appalling that after ten years of demonstrations (1964 – 1974) to abolish the military draft in the US than none of the anti-war and anti-draft protestors ever bothered to find out where those 4000 Irishmen were buried and put up a memorial. A movie was made a number of years ago called the GANGS OF NEW YORK which featured a historical fictional account of the events leading up to the Draft Riot in New York City during the Lincoln administration. Of course, most young people today don’t believe that really happened right in downtown Manhattan. It’s kind of surrealistic just as the accounts of the sinking of the Titanic were historically fictionalized (starring the same leading actor – Leonardo DiCaprio). But the murder of Buddhist Monks just a couple of years ago by the government of Myanmar (Burma) happened too. Be careful out there. The Iranian government’s order that journalists were to remain in their offices for two days served two purposes; 1. To round up dissident journalists and 2. To ensure they couldn’t report the government’s planned attacks on demonstrators. Find a way to make your position known to the world without getting yourselves killed. A neighbor of mine was one of the 4 students killed by the US Army National Guard at Kent State University in Kent Ohio in 1970. They were protesting the US Invasion of Cambodia. He just happened to be there that’s all.

I served in the military with some of the Shah’s sailors who were in training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center to learn how to operate the systems on the ships the US government had sold to them and to Saudi Arabia in 1977. I was still in the Navy at the time of the ouster of the Shah and the fall of the US Embassy in Tehran. Don’t endanger yourselves needlessly and ensure that you assign a system of monitors locally and internationally to witness and maintain descipline in order that the protests do not turn violent. The police and the military may stage or incite violence. In this particualr situation you cannot afford to allow that to happen.

十二月 09, 2009 3:50am EST  --  Report as abuse
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