Gunfire heard in Tehran as hundreds of Iranian pro-clergy militiamen attack protestors

Haaretz News Ticker ^ | 6/13/2003

[yonif]

23:01 Gunfire heard in Tehran as hundreds of Iranian pro-clergy militiamen attack protestors against clerical rule (Haaretz)

[mattdono]

Uh-oh...

[DoughtyOne]

This is the outcome I had feared. Let's hope it doesn't get too bad. It may backfire on the the nation's leadership.

[DoughtyOne]

...kids today, parents tomorrow!

[Frank_Discussion]

Fit hits Shan...

[Travis McGee]

BUMP! Keep us informed, please!

[AntiGuv]

It would get ugly, as these things do, but I hope this is the 'big one'!! And, if so, hoping it's quick & all for the best..

[Petronski]

Pray for the freedom fighters.

[yonif]

This is the outcome I had feared. Let's hope it doesn't get too bad. It may backfire on the the nation's leadership.

I hope it is not another Tiennamen.

[Constitution Day]

[pgyanke]

Religious leaders attack their "subjects." Religion of peace my @$$.

[IGOTMINE]

We need to send guns. I wonder if Ollie is available for a "just for old time's sake" mission of arming Iranians? My Farsi is a little weak, but I'll go over and help, if they'll have me.

[Mo1]

It may backfire on the the nation's leadership.

I think it will too ..

[VaBthang4]

"He came to set the bruised at Liberty"

Lord, the Persians showed many of your people grace and mercy while they were captive...my request is that they now reap what they've sown.

:o)

[DoughtyOne]

Agreed. If it is we'll likely be conduction huge trade with the nation's present leadship within a a few years.

[jimbo123]

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2927469

Gunfire Heard as Vigilantes Attack Iran Protesters
Fri June 13, 2003 04:27 PM ET


By Jon Hemming

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Automatic gunfire was heard in the Iranian capital early Saturday as hundreds of Iranian pro-clergy militiamen, some armed with Kalashnikov rifles, attacked groups of people protesting against clerical rule.

In the most serious violence since pro-democracy demonstrations started four days ago, witnesses also reported seeing riot police and hard-line vigilantes pulling young women out of cars and beating them with sticks.

Reuters journalist Jon Hemming said more than 100 of the Islamic militiamen, who wear no uniforms, swooped on a group of a few dozen youngsters protesting around a bonfire in a side street not far from the Tehran University dormitory which has been the focal point of demonstrations.

"They piled out of pick-up trucks and off motorbikes. Most were armed with sticks and chains but a few had Kalashnikovs," he said.

"I heard automatic gunfire but I couldn't see where it was coming from or what it was aimed at."

The youths had been throwing stones and chanting slogans including "Death to Khamenei," a reference to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has blamed Iran's arch-foe the United States for stirring up unrest in the country.

Washington, which labels Iran a member of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and accuses it of building nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism, has welcomed the protests which have drawn up to 3,000 people on previous nights.

CHECKPOINTS

In a tense atmosphere in central Tehran, Islamic militiamen, mostly belonging to the hard-line Ansar-e Hizbollah group, manned checkpoints and looked carefully into vehicles which were circling the streets around the university campus.

"They pulled some people out of their cars and beat them with their fists and sticks. Even young girls were beaten," a photographer at the scene said.

"I've seen at least 10 injured people. One man had a knife wound," he added.

Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state in Iran, had called Thursday on vigilante groups such as Ansar and the Basij volunteer force linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards "not to enter the scene."

Influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Friday struck a conciliatory tone during a Friday Prayers sermon, saying police had been ordered not to take "brutal action" against protesters.

"It's all right for some young people to be angry and they have to say some things and we shouldn't be very sensitive about that," he said.

While venting most of their anger at unelected clerics who wield ultimate power in Iran, the protesters have also lambasted moderate President Mohammad Khatami, who they accuse of failing to deliver promised reforms after six years in power.

Analysts say the protests, while small, reflect widespread frustration among Iran's mainly young population and are likely to continue in the run-up to the July 9 anniversary of violent student protests in 1999.

[Ford Fairlane]

We need to send guns.

forget that - lets send half of what we've got right next door & give them some real help

A few M1's, some Apaches, etc. (and the people to use them)

[swarthyguy]

Shiites are hitting the fan!

Someone had to say it.

[ellery]

Praying hard for our brave, liberty-seeking Iranian brothers and sisters!

[prophetic]

the Persian version of Tinamein (sp)Square eh?