February 14-2014
Massive crowds poured into the streets of Tehran Tuesday, walking to converge on Azadi Square for the ceremonies marking the 35th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. One young man looking at the scene above said, “There are a lot of people. But if it were the opposition coming into the street, it would be in bigger numbers.” Whether that was true could not be known, but the streets Tuesday clearly belonged to regime supporters. Some of them carried mockups of centrifuges (below), although Iran is likely the only country where people know what a centrifuge looks like. There was also much belittling of the United States. Dart ganes featured President Obama painted like a sinister Joker. He was also portrayed as an American clown with a bulbous red nose. One poster showed flames rising from an American aircraft carrier. But the US wasn’t the only target. As seen at the bottom, some showed up with a large banner showing (from left) former President Mohammad Khatami, Mir-Hossain Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi all being hanged for crimes against the state.