Politics | June 24, 2009 | 7 comments

Tehran Protests Turn Into "Bloodbath"

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capt_ayhab
(CBS/AP) Last Updated 1:48 p.m. EDT

A demonstration near Iran's parliament turned into a "bloodbath" Wednesday, a source in Tehran told CBSNews.com.

Thousands gathered at the parliament building for a silent protest, reported the unnamed source. But scene took a violent turn when more than 1,000 police and Basij militia arrived to disperse the crowd.

"It turned into a bloodbath ... they threw some people off the bridges...after the Basijis came, they began to use tear gas, sticks and shooting," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader said that the government would not give in to pressure over the disputed presidential election, effectively closing the door to compromise with the opposition.

But reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's official Web site said that a protest was planned nonetheless outside Iran's parliament Wednesday afternoon. It distanced him at the same time, calling the demonstration independent and saying it had not been organized by Mousavi.

Mousavi's mixed messages about the demonstration reflected the dilemma facing the unlikely opposition leader, a longtime supporter of Iran's government thrust to the head of a pro-democracy protest movement.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered protests to end, leaving Mousavi with the choice of restraining followers or continuing to directly challenge the country's ultimate authority despite threats of escalating force.

Other reports of the violent crackdown flooded the Internet Wednesday, though accounts of the clashes could not be confirmed.

CNN interviewed a female witness to the clashes who hysterically described the violence.

"They beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood," she said.

The woman also said she saw "security forces shooting on people."

There were rumors a young girl was taken to the hospital after being shot by security forces, though that report could not be confirmed.

State media continued to insist Wednesday that the dissent was being stoked by outside groups bent on destabilizing the country, including the CIA. State TV also reports that two terrorists have been arrested in connection with the protests.

Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, a former university dean who campaigned beside her husband, said on one of his Web sites that his followers had the constitutional right to protest and the government should not deal with them "as if martial law has been imposed in the streets."

She called for the release of all activists and others arrested at protests.

Meanwhile, Tehran's mayor is calling for Iranian authorities to legalize peaceful opposition protests, according to a report on Iran's PressTV.

In an interview on Iranian TV, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said easing restrictions on rallies would prevent "saboteurs who draw weapons and kill people."

Mousavi, a former prime minister, saw his campaign transform into a protest movement after the government declared that hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the overwhelming winner of the June 12 election.

Mousavi said the result was fraudulent and Western analysts who have examined available data on the vote said there were indications of manipulation.

His supporters flooded the streets of Tehran and other cities after the vote, massing by the hundreds of thousands in protests larger than any since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Security forces initially stood by and permitted the demonstrations.

Khamenei ordered an end to protests on Friday and security forces beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at rallies the next day. At least 10 protesters were shot, according to official tallies.

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    capt_ayhab J. Tahouni
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7 comments // Tehran Protests Turn Into "Bloodbath"

  • Birdmanbob4
  • capt_ayhab
  • capt_ayhab
    • 0
      capt_ayhab  

    • people are dying and being mascaraed on the streets, by machine guns. Following is a letter by an ER doctor in Rasoul Akram Hospital in Tehran after yesterdays PEACEFUL demonstrations.
      -------------------------------------
      Translation of letter:
      http://shooresh1917.blogspot.com/2009/06/letter-from-tehran-hospital.html
      Date: Wednesday 24th June 2009

      The following email in Farsi we received today (Wednesday 24th june). It is written by a doctor from “Rasul Akram” hospital in Tehran who says that some people were killed not only by one bullet as they found two or three bullets in some bodies, close to one another, showing that shooters used barrage shooting against people and not only a single shot. A 68 year old man had 3 bullets in his body, two on his left shoulder and one in the left side of his stomach. The doctors of the “Rasul Akram”hospital say they had been faced with 38 people killed during last week’s protests. Apparently, police took the corpse of the dead bodies out from the hospital and carried them away by truck. Most of their families still do not know if their children have been killed. Besides, among the corpse there were some 15, 16 years old kids.

      According to the email, the crew of the hospital protested in the street next to the hospital giving out the information about the violence to the people. The photos attached are from this demonstration which appears to have taken place earlier this week.

      Regards
      -Where s my vote?

    • 2 years ago
  • Birdmanbob4
    • 0
      Birdmanbob4  

    • I am deciding weather Obama's responce falls under the old saying: "A day late and a Dollar short" Or "Better late than never" The words he said were like reading my mind or my blog post's or hundreds of thousands of Blog post's just like mine. Or maybe it was Neda who got to him and woke him up! He mentiond her twice. in his news Confrence. He was asked weather he recived a lot of pressure from John McCain and others he replied with a smile. "What do you think" Reglardless of what woke him up I hope he stays awake. When the leaders of the world want to start to act like Hitlers or little Hitlers the best thing they could here from America is Scilence. It does not matter weather you are Republican or Democrat nobody wants to see American Blood spilled to Stop a Hitler. witch is why the last time the Real Hitler commited the Murdering of innocent got to continue for so long. There was a Lesson to be learned from that war and our sitting on our hands for so long. The invention of the internet this time will open our eyes to all the killing of the Nedas much sooner than before. The World now can see that the brutal un elected Government of Iran is a Hitler. it is inevitable he will be taken out. How long we wait is the Question. The soonen we act the less Nedas have to Die. We all hate to be forced to be the Police of the World. We all agree that is the case. President Clinton used US forces to go in to Bosniea to Stop the Murdering of Thousands of Muslams and no one refers to that as Meddeling. President Obama must do the same....It is time to lead Mr. President

    • 2 years ago
  • Zurama
    • 0
      Zurama  

    • What ties with Iran? Even the "Winnie" French President expressed his outrage long before Pres. Obama.

      I'm not suggesting invading the country, but put the pressure on the regime and implement strict sanctions and make it clear that killing civilians is a direct violations of human rights. We are better then this!!

    • 2 years ago
  • Bushido
    • 0
      Bushido  

    • It is not shameful at all. We are in a no-win situation. If we took a harder stance, we run the risk of worsening our ties with Iran and allowing them to paint the west as the antagonist, when the protests do (and they will) get crushed.

      We have publicly made it clear that America supports any move towards democracy, however, that does not mean the citizens who want it won't have to fight and die for it. If we assist the protesters, it should be in a more subtle fashion, such as Iran's arming of insurgents in Iraq. The cliche' about freedom coming with a price tag is true. We have cemeteries in every state to attest to that fact.

      Not only this, but as someone who has spent significant time in the middle east, I can assure you that their idea of democracy would be much different than ours. Logic and rights take a backdoor to their religion. As such, their elected leader would still wish death to the west, as we are infidels regardless of the extremist "voted" into power. America had rational philosophers like Locke guiding its principles, who does Iran have?

    • 2 years ago
  • Zurama
    • 0
      Zurama  

    • Shameful, just shameful and now the Iranian regime knows that they can do whatever they want and the US will look the other way.

      I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss President Bush!!

    • 2 years ago
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