Government Supporters Pack Iranian Cities To Condemn Opposition, U.S.
Thousands of Iranian political supporters jammed the streets of the capital and other cities Wednesday in response to anti-government rallies during Sunday's observances of the holy day of Ashura.
As crowds headed toward Revolution Square, they cried "Death to America," "Death to Israel," and "Death to Moussavi." The latter refers to Mir Hossein Moussavi, the main opposition candidate in Iran's June 12 presidential election that swept incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into office for a second term.
Moussavi and his followers declared the election fraudulent, touching off a wave of protests over the summer that left several demonstrators dead and dozens jailed.
No government opponents were seen at Wednesday's rally in Tehran, said CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr from the capital. Opposition Web sites advised their supporters to stay home.
After the rallies, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported that "two known plotters" have left Tehran for northern Iran. The identities of the two could not immediately be confirmed.
Bozorgmehr, who watched the demonstrations from the sidelines, said that at Vali Asr square, the crowd was so dense he could not make his way through on foot. From a bridge, he overlooked an area from Imam Hossein Square to Revolution (Enghelab) Square, a distance of about 18 kilometers (11 miles).
There were "easily hundreds of thousands, if not over a million people," he said. There also were protests in Tabriz, Shiraz, Arak, Gilan and Sistan-Baluchestan province, according to government-funded Press TV.
Wednesday's rallies, which also denounced France and the United Kingdom, lasted at least two hours, and state television ran messages across the bottom of the screen indicating the nationwide gatherings were "huge."
"Millions of Iranians gather to condemn insulting Ashura," one ticker read. Others reported that marchers had renewed their allegiance to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, supported the Iraniansystem and renewed their allegiance to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran for a decade after the 1979 revolution.
Ahmadinejad said Wednesday's march showed that the harsh criticism by foreign nations can never have a negative impact on his country.
"The officials of these countries should understand that their attempts will not affect the Iranian nations' equations, stances and idealistic and perfectionist move," Ahmadinejad told reporters at the end of a Cabinet meeting.
He said the United States and certain European countries were trying to foment unrest in Iran, and described those efforts as futile, the state-owned Fars news agency reported.
The president also advised President Obama and his European allies to learn from the experiences of their predecessors.
"Officials of the U.S. and certain European states showed again that they have embarked on wrong plans, stances and attitude," Ahmadinejad said.
Protest organizers distributed a news release after the march that condemned the Ashura demonstrations. They accused those who participated of acting against Ashura, the holy Quran, Islamic values and the Islamic Republic, according to ILNA (Iranian Labour News Agency).
The declaration called the rioters "Mofsed Bel Arz" (corrupt on Earth) and said they had waged war against God. The declaration also demanded that Iranian authorities review the country's relations with Britain and France, which, along with the United States, have criticized the Iranian government's intolerance for anti-government protesters.
The document praises Iran's state media for their "courageous work" in exposing the "plotters" and those in the media who were influenced by foreign spy agencies and had "incited people to riot."
Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, Tehran's chief prosecutor, told reporters Tuesday that seven people were killed in Sunday's riots. The toll makes them the bloodiest since June, when demonstrations over the disputed election left at least eight dead.
Sunday's face-offs came on the anniversary of Ashura, a major Shiite Muslim holy day that marks the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, as a martyr.
Among the seven who died was Moussavi's nephew, Seyyed Ali Moussavi, who was buried quickly on Wednesday with security personnel watching from nearby. There were no demonstrations or disturbances during the burial, and several plain-clothed and uniformed security personnel patrolled the area.
The Iranian parliament held a closed session Wednesday to discuss punishment for "insults that were made" (to the holy Ashura Day) in Sunday's anti-government protests. State media sourced an official as saying that around 500 people had been arrested in conjunction with the weekend clashes.
The crowd shouted slogans denouncing government reformists: "[Mohammad] Khatami should be defrocked," referring to the moderate former Iranian president who sought democratic reforms; and "Karrubi is illiterate and should leave politics and religion," a reference to former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi, a backer of Khatami.
"The blood that runs in my veins is a gift to the leader," one person yelled, referring to the Supreme Leader.
According to Bozorgmehr, "The march was orderly and I saw no sign of security forces in any large numbers. The crowd was a mix of men, women and children, as well as large religious processions accompanied by loud speakers denouncing Sunday's protests."
According to NoroozNews, a pro-reformist news Web site, at least six journalists and political and civil rights activists were arrested early in the day.
Among them were Badr-Alsadat Mofidi, director of the Professional Journalists' Association; Keyvan Mehregan; political director of the Eetemad Meli newspaper; Nasrin Vaziri, who covers parliament for the semi-official ILNA; and Morteza Kazemian, a staff writer and political activist for the opposition Web site Rahesabz.net, who was detained at 1 a.m.
Another journalist, Masha-Allah Shams Alvazein, was arrested Tuesday morning, NoroozNews said. According to its report, "three young agents showed up at his house with a nameless arrest warrant, and about one hour after he resisted and asked for a name-specific arrest warrant, two older agents showed up and threatened to take him by force if he did not go willingly."
NoroozNews said Mansoureh Shojaey, a women's rights activist, also was arrested Wednesday, shortly after midnight, at her house.
There are reports that a prosecutor has signed arrest warrants for 200 journalists, NoroozNews said.
In Jerusalem on Wednesday, international representatives of jurists, parliamentarians, human rights activists and Iranian dissidents held a news conference to reveal their petition for additional sanctions against Iran.
They cited the country's "harsh crackdown on opposition demonstrators" as well as its defiance over its nuclear program.
Leading the coalition of about 60 people was Irwin Cotler, a former Justice Minister of Canada, now a Liberal Party member of the Canadian Parliament. He accused the Iranian government of "gross violations of international law."
"What we are witnessing in Ahmadinejad's Iran is a toxic convergence of four distinct yet interrelated dangers: the danger of a nuclear Iran, the danger of state-sanctioned incitement to genocide, the danger of state sponsorship of international terrorism and the danger of a massive assault on human rights," Cotler said.
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