Vol. 73/No. 44      November 16, 2009

Protests by hundreds of thousands, especially students, erupted several months ago after the government announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the June 12 presidential election. Many were arrested and scores were killed.

Faced with a government crackdown, government opponents have since taken advantage of official celebrations to continue their protests against the election results and for wider democratic rights.

November 4 is known as Students Day. It is the anniversary of the killing of student protesters in 1978 by the shah, the U.S.-backed monarch overthrown by a revolution of millions of working people a year later. The date also commemorates the takeover of the U.S. embassy in 1979 by students protesting Washington’s attempts to undermine the revolution they had just helped to make.

Government-organized rallies at the site of the former U.S. embassy celebrate the anniversary annually. While featuring anti-imperialist rhetoric, the purpose of the yearly commemorations is to bolster support for a government that has become increasingly unpopular. According to the Los Angeles Times, tens of thousands joined the official rallies this year. Many carried signs that said, “Down with USA” or “Down with Israel.”

Opponents of the government who have been fighting for more freedom of the press and assembly, for the freedom of political prisoners, and for more rights for women circulated calls for separate actions November 4 to focus on these demands.

Associated Press reported that at least 2,000 opposition demonstrators gathered at Tehran University. Several thousand more, according to CNN, attempted to march toward the former U.S. embassy, but were prevented by riot police.

Riot police and paramilitary forces dispersed demonstrators in the capital using clubs and tear gas. There were arrests and unconfirmed news reports that some people had been shot.

The Los Angeles Times said, “There were also credible reports and video footage of a sizable demonstration on the campus of the main university in the northwestern city of Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s ethnic Azeri region and historically a hotbed of political activity.” Videos showed actions in Mashhad in eastern Iran, and in Ahwaz, a city in the oil region, which has a large Arab-Iranian population.

According to the London Guardian, thousands marched in Shiraz in the south, and in Isfahan in central Iran, with smaller numbers in Rasht in northern Iran.

The government had warned that any protest November 4 other than the official ones would be illegal. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the most powerful political figure in Iran, declared that challenging the results of the June elections was “the greatest crime.” Deputy Police Chief Ahmadreza Radan threatened that “those who intend to hold illegal gatherings as well as those who encourage people … to stage gatherings will have to answer for their actions.”

The opposition struggle for democracy and more political space has taken the form of backing the presidential election campaign of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister of Iran who criticizes some of the regime’s censorship and its restrictions on women’s rights. He speaks for a substantial layer of Iranian capitalists who want an end to the imperialist-imposed sanctions against Iran and better relations with Washington.

Demonstrators November 4 chanted, “Down with the dictator” and “His leadership is over,” an apparent reference to Khamenei. Other chants included, “Obama, are you with us or against us?” and “No east, no west, a green government,” referring to the color of the Mousavi election campaign. In a video from Tehran, the Guardian reported, demonstrators chanted, “A green Iran doesn’t need nuclear weapons.”  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home