By Sophie Bordbar
Nearly two weeks after the Ministry of Interior announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the June 12 presidential election in a landside, protests by angry voters who allege election fraud continue. According to the Ministry, Ahmadinejad received 63 percent of the votes, but his victory is contested by Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, two reformist candidates who stood against him. The third candidate, Mohsen Rezai, a conservative, has also lodged complaints about election irregularities.
On Wednesday, June 24, another protest planned for Baharestan Square in front of the Iranian Parliament at 4:00 p.m. was quashed violently. The protest took place despite warnings that protesters would be dispersed and dealt with aggressively. The streets of Tehran and many major cities in the provinces have been transformed into military bases, where the heavy presence of police, plain clothes security agents, basij militia and military personnel, including special riot police and guards, can be easily observed. According to official figures released through state run media, the violent use of force has left hundreds of protesters injured and tens of protesters dead, though the actual figures, many observers claim, are much higher. According to reports published in Persian language media sources and the international press, over 150 persons have been killed as a result of the violent suppression of peaceful protests, hundreds injured and nearly 1000 arrested, including over 100 reformists and political activists, as well as journalists and student and human rights activists.
These protests began immediately and spontaneously after the announcement of Ahmadinejad’s victory on June 13. On Monday, June 15, a call for a protest of the election results by Mousavi drew millions to Enghelab (Revolution) Square, who marched to Azadi (Freedom) Square. Despite the relative calm in which this protest took place, according to official sources seven people were shot down by gunfire in front of a basij unit. Spontaneous protests continued throughout the week. On Thursday, June 18, another protest call by Mousavi to mourn those who had lost their lives in recent clashes resulted in a crowd of hundreds of thousands who gathered in Imam Khomeini square.
All three candidates running against Ahmadinejad have objected to the election results announced by the Ministry of Interior. Mousavi and Karoubi have publicly stated that they do not view Ahmadinejad as the legitimate president of Iran and have called for new elections, while Rezai initially took his complaint to the Guardian Council, the body that oversees the elections. The council agreed to recount approximately 10 percent of the ballot boxes, which showed that three million more votes had been cast than the actual number of voters. Still, the Guardian Council claimed that this did not nullify the results but said it would continue examining presidential candidates’ complaints about irregularities. Despite his complaints about the Guardian Council’s unwillingness to provide precise information for the districts it had agreed to review, Rezai, in a surprise announcement June 24, withdrew his complaint, citing the crisis situation and the need to work toward calm and unity. The other two candidates stand firm on their demand for new elections.
While there was hope of a possible intervention by the Guardian Council and the Supreme Leader last week, this hope was quashed when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once again announced his full support for Ahmadinejad during the Friday prayer ceremonies held on June 19. Khamenei stated that, of the four candidates, the views of Ahmadinejad were closest to his own in foreign and domestic policy matters. In the same speech, Khamenei dismissed accusations of fraud by claiming that it was impossible given the nearly 11 million vote difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi. He warned against protests and promised the use of force to quash any public demonstrations, blaming those who called for protests for any bloodshed that might ensue. Khamenei claimed the protests were orchestrated by foreign powers that intended to bring about a velvet revolution. Since then this scenario has been offered by several government officials and on state television, as well as by newspapers close to the conservative government. The claim was denied by Mousavi. “How unjust are they who permit their petty ambitions to call the miracle of the Islamic Revolution a plot conceived by foreigners and a velvet revolution,” Mousavi said in a statement he issued following the Friday prayers.
The bloodshed that ensued on Saturday and the heavy military and security presence on the streets since then have been directly linked to Khamenei’s speech at Friday prayers. Analysts believe that his statements were a full endorsement for violent suppression and a green light for use of deadly force against protesters.
On Saturday, June 20, as protesters headed toward Enghelab Square, they were met by a heavy presence of security, police, basij militia and military forces, who scattered even small crowds, pushing them onto side streets, where they would be trapped and met with violence. The security forces used tear gas heavily, as well as batons, water canons and fire arms to disperse and retaliate against protesters.
Residents on side streets were quick to provide shelter to those fleeing the violence but were met with violence themselves. One resident caught in the crossfire on her way home reported that: “security forces tear gassed the homes of those residents who provided shelter to fleeing protesters and broke their doors, windows and even beat up the parked cars on the street. There was so much anger among residents and protesters, even young girls got involved in the clashes, gathering stones for male protesters to throw at the basij forces. It is amazing how the government’s handling of this situation has led to a mass uprising and general contempt among ordinary citizens, who feel betrayed and dismissed by the fact that even their limited rights have been so wrongfully denied.”
Despite the heavy security presence on the street, Mousavi made it to the June 20 protest, where, according to one eyewitness, he stood on the roof of a car and claimed that he was ready for martyrdom. He urged his supporters to continue their peaceful protests.
According to official reports, 20 people have been killed since the start of the protests but unofficial reports place the numbers much higher. Shot by a sniper, presumably a member of the basij militia, the death of Neda Soltan Agha, 27, was captured on video and has been shown around the world, inciting sympathy and anger among Iranians and the international community at the needless violence. Still, it seems that citizens are intent on continuing their protests. Other protests have been announced and more peaceful forms of civil disobedience, such as general strikes, have also been proposed.
Given the blocking of many news sites based inside and outside the country, the closure of newspapers and the blocking of satellite broadcasts into Iran, it is hard to verify news and developments. Still, citizen journalists have taken to the streets and used the Internet to convey the people’s message to the international community and fellow citizens in Iran. Unverifiable theories about what is going on behind the scenes of the conflict and at the highest levels within the state have surfaced in the past two weeks. One popular explanation, which has even made its way to the international press, is that this is a battle for power between Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads the powerful Expediency Council as well as the Assembly of Experts, an 86-member body made up of clerics who elect the Supreme Leader and oversee his conduct.
According to unverified news sources from Qom, Rafsanjani has spent most of the past two weeks engaged in high level discussions with leading clerics and members of the Assembly about holding the Supreme Leader accountable for his behavior and his role in the elections, as well other recent events. It is rumored that Khamenei is ill and intends to appoint his son Mojtaba to take his place as Leader, something he can do with a sympathetic president and a conservative parliament. This theory claims that the days of the Republic are over to be replaced by an Islamic state, where the public will have no say in the politics of the country.
Meanwhile, there are unsubstantiated reports that Rafsanjani is working toward establishment of a Supreme Council to replace the Supreme Leader. While Rafsanjani has been silent since the election results were announced by the Ministry of Interior, part of Mousavi’s statement issued after the Friday Prayer ceremony points to a possible power shift. It reads: “I view recent developments intended toward broader aims than simply forcing an unwanted government on the people. This is in fact the imposition of a new political form of life on the country.”
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Published on June 26, 2009
