Information All Star

Riot Police attacked hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas and fired their guns into the air to disperse a rally in central Tehran on Monday, carrying a threat by Iran’s most powerful security force, Revolutionary Guard, to crush further opposition protests over the disputed and highly publicized presidential election more than a week ago.

The Revolutionary Guard ordered demonstrators to “end the sabotage and rioting activities” and said their resistance was a “conspiracy” against Iran.

Reports said helicopters hovered overhead as approximately 200 protesters gathered. Hundreds of anti-riot police quickly put an end to the demonstration and prevented any gathering, even small groups, at the scene. Police did not allow anyone to stand still, asking people to keep on walking and separating people who were walking together.

A statement posted on the guards’ website warned protesters to “be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces”. Read more…

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, made his first public speech, at Tehran University, since the contested presidential election took place last week. Ayatollah asked his countrymen for peace and tranquility. He warned the opposition supporters to stay off the streets and raised the prospect of violence if the mass protests continued.

Thousands of people amassed outside the packed hall and cheered Khamenei.

It was a rare public speech by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who usually only speaks in public twice a year. Read more…

Mir Hossein Mousavi joins protesters at huge rally in Tehran. Mir Hossein Mousavi joins protesters at huge rally in Tehran to mourn those killed in the post-election demonstration, the most dramatic protests since the 1979 revolution.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters dressed in black and green flooded the streets of Tehran on Thursday in a somber, candlelit show of defiance and mourning for those killed in clashes after the disputed election.

Many in the huge crowd walked silently and lit black candles as night fell. Others wore green wristbands or ribbons and carried flowers as they filed into Imam Khomeini Square, a large plaza in the heart of the capital named for the founder of the Islamic Revolution, witnesses said. Green is Mousavi’s campaign color. Read more…

After videos and images were shown around the world of mass protests and violence following the disputed election, the government on Tuesday cracked down on journalists. Iranian authorities are restricting all journalists working for foreign media from covering the election protests against the winner of last Friday’s election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The rules cover all journalists, including Iranians working for foreign media. It blocks images and eyewitness descriptions of the protests and violence that has followed last week’s disputed elections.

The order issued Tuesday limits journalists for foreign media to work only from their offices, conducting telephone interviews and monitoring official sources such as state television.

The crackdown on journalists prevent media outlets from sending independent photos or video of street protests or rallies. Read more…

Supporters of Iran’s defeated presidential candidate, Former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, plan a rally on Monday to protest against the winning of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mir Hossein Mousavi has appealed to the Islamic Republic’s top legislative body to change the result of Friday’s election, which gave the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad a landslide victory over him. Mousavi insists that there were irregularities in the said election.

Ahmadinejad held a triumphant rally on Sunday, attended by a cheering crowd of tens of thousands of people. It was not clear whether authorities would allow any demonstration by his opponents. Ahmadinejad appeared at his rally amid a sea of red, white and green Iranian flags waved by supporters thronging Tehran’s Vali-e Asr square, some perched on rooftops or cars, to applaud his win. Read more…