"Just off the phone with Teheran with several people who were out on the streets. One of them is an Iran/Iraq war veteran from the volunteer forces. People are out all over the city, there is not a single march, but protesters gather in groups of 200-300, and do not move when attacked. The basijis are trying to prevent large groups to form, but people are not forming such large groups, however there is so much protest that it cannot be contained.

Until my contacts had returned home there was no shooting, but lots of tear gas. They marched in Karegar, Vali Asr, and tried to get to Teheran University. People of all ages are out, but the young are more present. All the garbage cans in major streets are on fire. People are honking their horns. The sense is that this is the beginning of the end.

The regime assumed that with Khameni’s speech last week forgiving the protesters, and arresting all the reporters and heads of reformist movement, the issue of unrest was resolved. Today’s marches and protests are not supported by Mousavi, Khatami, and Karoubi. It is a grassroot uprising meant to let the Islamic regime know the people will not be silenced. Twitter has unconfirmed reports of growing protests in Mashad at the shrine of Imam Reza with the participation of the clerics. There are also reports of police firing on the plainclothes tugs, but these are all unconfirmed."

Labels: brutality, election, free speech, Iran, vote