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Middle East Rises Up As Thousands March In Iran On "25 Bahman"

Kevin Douglas Grant |
February 14, 2011 | 9:34 a.m. PST

Executive Editor

The latest wave of Iran's Green Revolution has its own Twitter hashtag: #25Bahman.  

That is Monday, Feb. 14 on the Persian calendar, a day that galvanized thousands to march in Tehran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The situation has pitted young Iranians against police, with 250 arrests and one death:

"A BBC producer in the Iranian capital described central Tehran as 'total chaos'.  He said 'severe clashes' were taking place between protesters and police and there had been many arrests."

Ironically, Ahmadinejad pledged his support to the opposition movement in Egypt, but has made it clear he will not tolerate demonstrations in Iran.

Analysis in the Jerusalem Post suggested Iranian activists can learn something from the Egyptian revolution: 

"The protesters of Egypt, who brought down Hosni Mubarak over the weekend after 18 days of sustained demonstrations, have given the Iranian public a clear lesson, according to Menashe Amir, the veteran Israeli expert on Iranian affairs: When you take the streets, don’t go home again."

Iranian opposition leaders have already announced they will demonstrate every day at 5 p.m.

A crackdown on the leadership is underway, reports the New York Times:

"Phone lines to the home of one opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, had been cut and that several cars had blocked access to his home, preventing him from leaving. Restrictions have also been imposed on the movements and communications of another opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi, and the authorities refused an opposition request for a permit for a demonstration."

These protests are a reprise of anti-Ahmadinejad protests that followed Iran's June 2009 elections.  A large contingent of Iranians believed Moussavi was the rightful winner of the election, and the ensuing conflict led to 150 deaths and thousands of injuries and arrests.
CNN reported that street demonstrations continue in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.


 

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