Widespread Peaceful Protests Against Khamenei - For Freedom and Democracy - 2003-06-11

Last night (Tuesday night), following the siege of the dormitory of Tehran University students by the Islamic Republic's security forces, spontaneous and unexpected protest movements began across Tehran. According to Reuters, a crowd of about 3,000 people protested in Enghelab Square with the slogan 'Political prisoners must be freed.' Residents along the protest route considered the slogans to be among the most intense in recent years, reminiscent of the protests of July 9, four years ago. According to emails received by the Voice of America Internet office, the government immediately took action to close several streets to counter these widespread but scattered protests from Amirieh to Amirabad. Around 3 AM, Northern Kargar Street from the area of Laleh Park northward was blocked by police forces. Side streets leading to the Amirabad area were also closed. Some streets were blocked by individuals in plain clothes. According to ISNA, the police present in Amirabad between Keshavarz Boulevard and the University Campus attempted to calm the atmosphere. Police soldiers even prevented plainclothes individuals carrying radios from approaching the protesters. According to ISNA, around 4 AM on Wednesday, Northern Kargar Street from the Keshavarz intersection to Fatemi was open, but northward from Fatemi was blocked by a crane. Little traffic was seen from the Fatemi intersection to Jaleh Al Ahmad, but slightly further up, about 200 to 300 plainclothes forces were present. The report indicated that public property had also been damaged, including broken windows of several banks and shops, some traffic signs torn down and left in the middle of the street, and broken glass scattered in some areas. Reports from listeners of the Persian section of Voice of America indicated that buses were seen in the city to confront the students. These buses are black and differ from the municipal buses. Additionally, the sound of car horns was heard throughout the city. Pedestrians asked drivers of private cars to honk in support of the protests. According to a report, the Office of Strengthening Unity explicitly condemned the top official of the Islamic government during its late Tuesday night annual meeting and demanded that he choose between democracy and the dismantling of the regime. The latest news we had from Iran by the time of this report indicated that the first group of the government's anti-riot forces had acted at Amirabad intersection, but police prevented their attack on the people.