anniversary of President Ahmadi-nejad’s disputed reelection, while Iran-focused groups in the US demonstrated against companies partnering with Iran.
An unknown number of arrests were made and tear gas was reportedly fired at some clusters.
The green opposition movement had called for a silent protest, which meant it was difficult to tell who was walking in protest and who was walking to a shop. But many people were seen carrying political posters and draped in green to signal they weren’t out on a shopping trip.
Witnesses said security forces prevented large groups of pedestrians forming and making their way down Tehran’s Vali Asr Avenue, with The Wall Street Journal reporting at least 15,000 demonstrators in the city Sunday.
One protestor told Radio Farda, “We started walking on Vali Asr Street. As [expected], special forces were deployed on both sides of the street like a human wall, but people ignored them and continued walking on the sidewalks without chanting.” While the previous night in Tehran was marked by rooftop shouts of “God is great” and “Death to the dictator,” Sunday was silent as intended.
“We tried to stay calm and proud. You could feel the security forces were desperate because they didn’t know what to do with us,” said Rayhaneh, a 22-year-old college student.
Officials tried to shut down businesses in some areas to stifle opportunities for large congregations of people, but it did not seem to work. “Shopkeepers were ordered to close their shops.… Hundreds of people have gathered in other areas of Tehran,” said the opposition Sahamnews website.
The website also reported that riot police and plainclothes agents beat protestors with batons. Agence France Presse reported police carrying paintball guns as they patrolled the area on motorcycles. Basij militia members were also said to be seen guarding the streets. The paintball guns have been used to mark protesters for later arrest.
The opposition Kalame website reported several hundred were detained. Other sources placed the number of arrests at around 100. The police gave no number.
Iranian media dismissed the number of protestors as small and praised security forces for keeping the peace. “The conspiracy of a small number of the proponents of sedition and rioting who intended to create insecurity and disturb public order in Tehran on the anniversary of the glorious election of 22 Khordad 1388 (12 June 2009) has been foiled thanks to the acuity and clever presence of citizens,” reported the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
“According to IRNA’s reporters in Tehran, the law enforcement forces arrested some of the people who were trying to disturb public order and to provoke pedestrians and passers-by.” IRNA added that the “trouble-makers” were working “with guidance from abroad.”
An IRNA reporter quoted Police Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan as saying, “There is a need to gather foreign-based rogue media, to hold a meeting with them and to decide when they will give up disgracing themselves in society.” The deputy chief of the national police reported no incidents June 12 “contrary to the widespread propaganda of foreign-based rogue media.”
There were many demonstrations abroad as well. On Friday, activist groups, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and Iran180 demonstrated in Manhattan in front of five corporations they say, “continue to have economic ties” with Iran and indirectly fund the country’s nuclear activities.
Using street theater actors and a 10-foot-tall puppet of Ahmadi-nejad, the groups gathered outside the offices of Italian oil company Eni Corp., Chinese petroleum company Sinopec, German engineering firm Siemens AG, Indian petroleum company Essar Oil, and telecommunications firm Nokia Siemens Networks. During that time, Eni Corp dispatched a spokesperson who said the company would stop doing business with Iran.
Iran180, a coalition of organizations and people demanding the Iranian government “do a 180 degree” turn by ending regime brutality as well as the development of nuclear weapons, also marked the second anniversary of the 2009 elections by issuing Hero Awards to recognize dissidents seeking change in Iran.
The event honorees included Ahmad Batabi, Shabnam Assadollahi, and Homayoun Mobasseri. Also honored were former Canadian Parliament member David Kilgour, and student movement groups, The Transparent Movement of Iran and the Anti-Suppression Student Movement in Iran. All the awardees that do not currently live in Iran attended the event at New York City Hall.
The ceremony also included speeches by American officials including US Representatives Charles Rangel, Carolyn Maloney, and Edolphus Towns; New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; and New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.