Witnesses report fierce clashes on Tehran streets

[Turborama]

Source: AP

Witnesses said police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied in Tehran Saturday in open defiance of Iran's clerical government, sharply escalating the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The eyewitnesses described fierce clashes near Revolution Square in central Tehran after some 3,000 protesters chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to dictatorship!" Police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

The witnesses told The Associated Press that between 50 and 60 protesters were seriously beaten by police and pro-government militia and taken to Imam Khomeini hospital in central Tehran. People could be seen dragging away comrades bloodied by baton strikes.

Helicopters hovered over central Tehran. Ambulance sirens echoed through the streets and black smoke rose over the city.

Tehran University was cordoned off by police and militia while students inside the university chanted "death to the dictator," witnesses said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_election;

[rpannier]

1. The speech on Friday doesn't seem to have worked as intended

Something else the supreme leader and Dumbya have in common

[vadawg]

2. difference is the supreme leader has the ability to order his troops to fire on the protesters it

seems, as much as people might hate Dumbya he never ordered troops to fire on the protests as far as we know that is.

[rpannier]

4. very true

[On the Road]

6. That is True, But it is Not Clear Whether the Troops Will Obey

in 1979 the military refused to fire on demonstrators. The Russian coup of 1990 failed largely for the same reason.

[ohio2007]

35. 3:25 PM ET -- Riot police target people with cell phone. (huffpo link)

A brave Iranian photographer has been sending us photos (through an amazing Iranian-American reader who has been helping us cover the situation since we started). The photos are in the slideshow currently on the homepage.

The photographer also included this note:

I could not get through. the guards were hitting people really hard to block their way. I got hit a few times, fortunately a few bruises but nothing major. they were hitting the women as hard if it didn't seem harder. they smashed all mobiles and then smack the mobile owners with batons. they also blocked all above ground routes out. the only way out was via the metro
This isn't the first we've heard of the riot police and basiji targeting people with cell phones and mobile devices. A contact from the National Iranian American Council wrote this today:

Security and police have been confiscating cameras and arresting those who are taking footage. I saw this young guy taking a video and 5 people attacked him and throughout it all he help his hand up with a peace sign.- then they arrested him. They have also handcuffed students to the Tehran University fence.

We talk to some normal police and patrolling cops- they are nice and are trying to help people. But it is the Basij and anti-riot that are ruthless.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html




Ayatollah Warns Iranians: "I am Following You...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/ayatollah-warns-iranians_b_217896.html

[On the Road]

50. Yes, It's a Matter of What Orders Will be Followed

I think Ahmedinajad the mullahs know that ordering regular troops and policemen to fire on peaceful civilians is risky. If those orders are disobeyed, the whole control system can come crashing down very quickly. So the police are limited to crowd control and confiscating cameras and special units are the ones engaging in more violent crackdowns. Or at least that's what would be expected.

[Life Long Dem]

3. The world is watching

[SkyDaddy7]

14. This is what they are watching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simply horrible!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmmixxfKggk

[Life Long Dem]

16. Here

http://twitter.com/madyar

[SkyDaddy7]

17. I follow this person as well...

[tocqueville]

5. people are shot down - video and tweets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGcSU7FcgQw


AdrienneVergara TODAY's VIDEO: http://bit.ly/uScnR (Don't know exact location) #iranElection #gr88
less than 10 seconds ago from web

pilotwoman RT f/iran: i'm dying with worry. please pray for us. #iranelection #gr88
less than 10 seconds ago from TweetDeck

a_twitr RT @illuinon RT From Iran: they shoot ppl and take away the wounded with vans #iranelection #gr88 #Iran #Tehran
less than 10 seconds ago from Twitterrific

groumpffff RT tonight to the streets - for freedom - #Iranelection RT RT RT
less than 10 seconds ago from web

NoExpAffiliates rt @Iranianvotes "I have one vote. I gave it to Moussavi. I have one life. I will give it for Freedom." #IranElection RT please
less than 10 seconds ago from web

ApePirate #iranelection AP reports eye withnesses: 50 to 60 demonstrators seriously injured and brought to the Chomeini hospital
less than 10 seconds ago from web

[tocqueville]

7. suicide bombing reported (France 24) nt

people prevented entering the Azadi square, French reporter talks about "mini urban gerilla"

an italian journalist and a greek one incarcerated

the bombing was at the Khomeini mausoleum

[tocqueville]

8. helicopters pouring boiling water over demonstrators

Dystopia_Dream RT Iran: Two reports coming from Tehran about helicopters pouring boiling water on protesters. #iranelection
less than 5 seconds ago from web

unslugged Several reports coming from Tehran about helicopters pouring boiling water on protesters. #iranelection
less than 10 seconds ago from UberTwitter

[ohio2007]

30. They are not "black helocopters" but they are dumping some dust

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=922_1245519887

[WestSeattle2]

9. This is critical and a turning point...

the government is no longer legitimate in the eyes of their middle-class. This is huge, and yes the world is watching.

Iran will never return to what it was two weeks ago. If the current revolt does not topple the regime, the regime's days are numbered.

I would think now is a good time for the Ayatollah's to explore asylum options.

They are coming for you.

[shadowknows69]

10. Yep, this is a war zone now and I doubt there's any going back from it.

And we need to stay the hell out of it and let the Iranian people decide their own fate.

[Odin2005]

11. This is the point of no return. The legitimacy of the theocracy is gone.

[DavidDvorkin]

12. Yahoo headline says "fierce clashes" but

the fierceness seems to be on one side. These aren't clashes. These are attacks by armed thugs against unarmed demonstrators.

If and when all of this turns into real clashes, with both sides armed and aggressive, then things will really blow up.

[Turborama]

21. Good points, well made. n/t

[Wizard777]

13. Paint it black and take it back!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-o-s6adAag"> Join The Black Parade!

[janx]

15. Andrew Sullivan's blog:

He is all over this.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

[ohio2007]

18. interesting live stream video link

http://persianq.com/

[twitomy]

19. Now you know why we have the second amendment..

As George Washington said:

"A free citizenry must be armed and disciplined.. to guarantee its independence from all who would abuse it, including its own government."

God Bless these young Iranian students.

[wordpix]

22. give it a f---ing rest, you NRA supporters

[twitomy]

23. Truth hurts eh?

I am not an "NRA supporter", but I do support the 2nd Amendment...

[ohio2007]

27. Your "foul language" argument is not much of a point and weak in detail

just saying the constitution isn't really outdated when they said; "If the government held all the guns,they could easily point them in any direction they chose;
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=44e_1245522614



http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0db_1245519048

[Codeine]

34. You mean "Bill of Rights supporters" nt

[twitomy]

40. Owned! NT

[canetoad]

24. Oh yeah

It was really put to good use, ending 8 years of Bush ....NOT.

[twitomy]

39. No, term limits put an end to Bush

Thankfully and no uprising required.

If Bush would've refused to leave, perhaps those weapons might have been used.

What a great country we have :thumbsup:

[Trajan]

42. A gungeonite emerges from the depths ...

And hurls a few polemical grenades ....

Tell ya what: Re-submerge to the Gungeon, and keep going all the way back to "The High Road" ....

The Gungeon: DU's weakest link ....

[Blandocyte]

44. Bullshit

When our election was stolen people didn't do shit.

[Trajan]

45. HAH ! ... Great point ....

Where were the screaming meemies then ?

At home : Stroking their barrels ....

I am MORE towards gun rights than at any time in my adult life, but the triumphal declarations border on the manic obsessive ....

[ohio2007]

48. it's a great excuse to take the gun out of the hands of a mother trying to protect herself and her

children from a foreign or "domestic" intruder ...


...while your bullshitting


oh

you only think red neck beer drinking deer hunters will have their guns taken away ?

Maybe you should spend a summer weekend in a nearby urban jungle.

[Trajan]

49. As I said ...

I support gun rights, but the cretins who inhabit the Gungeon are laughable fetishists who molest the DU population with their righteous 2nd Amendment pronouncements ...

Keep your fucking guns, but get the fuck outta my face ...

[Barrett808]

20. Horrible video of murdered woman:

http://www.youtube.com/v/MrdRwOlmIxI

A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes.

The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gas used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.

[ohio2007]

25. Your video has been removed from YouTube. Probably too graphic for their standards

It was reposted here;

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0db_1245519048

[Barrett808]

26. Wow, thanks for catching that. Here are the Google Video uploads:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=girl+killed+iran&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=girl+killed+iran&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f&st=day

[ohio2007]

28. Here are some "disenfranchised" voters protesting in a place I doubt is downtown Tehran

IRAN: Ahwazi Arabs in anti-government demonstration

ahwaz has a large arab population.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ab1_1245522890

Ya think the Persian mullahs pencil whipped their votes as A-job supporters?



http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/

[ohio2007]

31. Same woman,different camera phone angle

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ff3_1245517919

[newspeak]

41. the woman who was shot in cold blood

This is a time that I pray there is a hell, cause I'd curse the SOB there for his actions. I CURSE THEE, I CURSE THEE, I CURSE THEE. (Isn't "I divorce thee" said three times?)

[Dogmudgeon]

32. Dr. Hamed Rad

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=89928823259&ref=mf">What appears to be the original, on Dr. Rad's Facebook page

(Corrections welcomed.)

--d!

[Blandocyte]

43. Fukken GUNS

Yeah, everybody needs GUNS.

[Ex Lurker]

29. Periodically the question comes up whether DU'ers and Freepers agree on anything.

The Iranian protests are a tiny sliver of common ground.

[ohio2007]

33. Embassies Accepting Injured People in Tehran

Embassies Accepting Injured People in Tehran

AUS
Australian Embassy in Tehran

FIN
Finnish Embassy in Tehran

GER
German Embassy in Tehran

UK
British Embassy in Tehran

NED
Netherlands Embassy in Tehran

NOR
Norwegian Embassy in Tehran

BEL
Belgian Embassy in Tehran

MEX
Mexican Embassy in Tehran

POR
Portuguese Embassy in Tehran



http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108089191184151933961.00046ccb4946d8e0073dd&z=12


via a tweet link to huffpost

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html

Thats funny.
North Korean embassy isn't on the list .....
They probably don't have an embassy in the city....like most of the rest of the phukking world eh ?
;)
who knew?

[Arrowhead2k1]

36. And peole are tweeting that the Canadian Embassy is actually refusing the injured.

Welcome to Harper's Canada.

[ohio2007]

37. How many embassys are within 'staggering' distance of these targetted squares ?

imo
This is one story that requires a 48 hr rule despite what twitter spews

Ayatollah Warns Iranians: "I am Following You All on Twitter"

[subcomhd]

38. Unless

the army or a sizable portion of the security forces join the people, this will be crushed. Like all of you, I've been watching the beatings and the gut-shot women and the people's determination to stay in the street. But in the end the government has the guns and if they continue to use them on unarmed people they will win. Go to you tube and watch videos of the '79 Revolution. The revolutionaries then got their hands on weapons and people with weapons on their side before they were finally victorious.

[Strong Atheist]

46. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[subcomhd]

47. thank you