This morning a fresh round of opposition demonstrations erupted across Iran and there have been widespread clashes reported between protesters and various state security forces, the police and the paramilitary Basij militia. The troubles are seemingly focused in the main on Tehran's universities, as well as those in the provincial cities of Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz and Karaj. Troubles have also been reported elsewhere in Tehran.
The protests are testimony both to the extent of grievances still widely held among a large section of the Iranian population and to the bravery of the Iranian people even in the face of state violence and repression.
Today – the 16th of the Iranian month of Azar – is Student Day in Iran, an anniversary commemorating the shooting dead of three students protesting at the 1953 visit of Richard Nixon, then US vice-president. Earlier in 1953 a coup had ousted elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and restored the hegemony of Muhammad Reza Shah. More than a half a century later, many feel that a potent historical parallel renders Student Day this year especially poignant.
A few months ago in June, forces loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad carried out an election-grabbing soft coup. Since then Iran, long authoritarian, has moved ever closer towards a totalitarianism intolerant of any criticism. Ex-president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani has, while calling on protesters to keep their demonstrations "within the framework of the law", complained that "the situation in the country is such that constructive criticism is not accepted".
Iran once enjoyed what was, for the region, a surprisingly open and sophisticated political pluralism and debate. There was even tolerance of criticism – albeit neither of the system of Islamic government à la Khomeini nor of the supreme leader.
However, during the last few months, rights have been severely curtailed. The granting of clemency by supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei to 793 prisoners only highlights the number incarcerated by the regime. Trials of many opposition figures have violated Iranian constitutional and legal norms, and several, including the Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbaksh, have been sentenced to long imprisonment on bogus espionage charges. Security forces continue to arrest and harass critical voices and have even targeted the Mourning Mothers, a group of women, including the mother of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose children were killed during post-election protests. Amnesty International reports plans to establish a "cyber police" unit to track down those "spreading lies" and "insults" that will further attack freedom of expression.
From the early hours of this morning security forces occupied various points across universities' campuses and nodal locations throughout the capital. As demonstrations got under way the forces used batons and tear gas against protesters, and fired bullets into the air. Communications including internet access and mobile phone networks were also reportedly disrupted.
Protesters gathered nonetheless and shouted anti-government slogans against both Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. As with previous demonstrations since the disputed elections, chants of "God is Great" and "Death to the Dictator" – both slogans of the anti-Pahlavi protests that culminated in the 1979 revolution – were co-opted and used against the current regime.
Given that Iran has banned foreign journalists from reporting the protests, seeking to stifle international and domestic coverage of the troubles, it is hard to gain accurate information. Nonetheless blogs and internet media have carried reports and videos of demonstrations. While western and Arab media widely covered the events there was no mention of any upset during the news bulletin at midday GMT on Iranian state-funded Press TV or on the website of the Islamic Republic News Agency. During the afternoon a report appeared on Press TV's website noting that "a number of anti-government protesters have attempted to hijack the occasion" of Student Day but that "their efforts were foiled thanks to the presence of anti-riot forces". The blatant bias of this reporting further underscores that Press TV has lost any impartiality it once claimed and serves now as a propaganda organ of the Iranian ruling regime.
During the last fortnight authorities attempted to forestall protests planned for Student Day. There were a series of arrests of student leaders, and others were summoned to disciplinary committees, called in front of a Revolutionary Court or otherwise intimidated. Hadi Ghaemi of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran describes the actions of the authorities as "a wholesale crackdown on Iranian students". Universities across Iran were focal points for protests under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami and after his election Ahmedinejad promised a new "cultural revolution" to purge out dissenting figures. Nonetheless, despite the best attempts of the authorities, campuses in Iran – like in other countries – remain a favoured political space for protest.
It seems likely that state forces will successfully quash today's demonstrations. However the recurrence of protests and the regime's use of violence and oppression to suppress the uprisings highlights the ongoing political crisis in Iran and the fundamental lack of legitimacy of the ruling elite. The intolerance of criticism by the Iranian state will surely only further radicalise protesters.
At sunset in 10 days' time the Muslim month of Muharram will begin. This holy period culminates on the 10th day of that month, Ashura – 27 December. On Ashura, a national public holiday, major commemorations are held in remembrance of the martyrdom of the Shia Imam, Hussein, grandson of the Muslim prophet. It is certain that the opposition will use this day of mourning to highlight the plight of another Hussein: Mir Hossein Mousavi, figurehead of the opposition's Green Wave.
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