IRAN: Protests Mark Two-Year Anniversary of Contentious Polls

• by Yasaman Baji (tehran)
• Monday, June 13, 2011
• Inter Press Service

The so-called Green Movement that emerged in the wake of Ahmadinejad's controversial reelection to a second term was recently energised by the news that Parliament had green-lighted an investigation into alleged use of government funds to buy nine million votes prior to the 2009 election.

Sunday's march saw sporadic clashes and a few arrests but, in general, an uneasy calm enveloped the major thoroughfare, Vali Asr Avenue, where thousands of protesters had gathered. More accurate numbers are difficult to estimate due to the dispersed nature of the protests.

In the coming weeks, the Green Movement will also mark the anniversaries of major protests in 2009 and the murder of Neda Agha Soltan, a young student whose shooting death during the bloody post- election crackdown became a symbol of government brutality.

The larger dilemma at this point for the Green Movement, according to an Iranian political analyst who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisal, is that intra-conservative conflicts are beneficial to the Greens, but lack of action could weaken the movement.

Even limited street protests and the government's overreaction through a heavy security presence make them important players that the government cannot ignore, he told IPS.

'It is the government's constant fear of a popular eruption without a heavy security presence that keeps the Green Movement in the game,' he said.

Still, there was disagreement Sunday among the marchers regarding the strategic usefulness of staging public protests at this time. Some believe that the movement is better off avoiding any activity that could dampen tensions among the conservatives who control all branches of government in Iran.

The recent conflicts have centred around Ahmadinejad's attempt to shift political power towards his office and coterie of loyalists in ways that challenge both the office of the Leader and the predominantly conservative parliament.

The Parliament and Khamenei have in turn reacted by challenging Ahmadinejad’s ministerial appointments and dismissals. Parliament has lodged several complaints against the executive branch for its refusal to follow legislative mandates.

Ahmadinejad loyalists have also been accused of crimes ranging from corruption to sorcery and several have been arrested.

Davood, a chemistry graduate at Sharif University, told IPS, 'Our protests scare the government and may lead to unity, albeit a temporary one, among conservatives, but our silence reveals the conflict among them.'

His friends, acknowledging the importance of conservative infighting, disagreed. One of them, who did not want to be identified, said, 'The Green Movement exists, has a variety of demands, and on days which have given it birth and identity, we should come into the streets.'

Security forces weren't taking any chances. Unlike previous announced protests, Internet speed was not reduced, but well before the announced start of the march at four p.m., security forces of various stripes, on foot and on motorbikes, materialised in full force.

One set consisted of the very young plainclothes militia known as the basij, who this time wore a light jacket that clearly identified them as basiji. They completely surrounded Vali Asr Square until it looked like a garrison.

Another group wore dark green. Protesters who spoke to IPS identified them as members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), although the backs of their uniforms identified them as police.

One group of unidentified security forces wore black and was referred to as 'commandos' by a protester who claimed that they were also present during President Ahmadinejad's inauguration ceremony in 2009.

The most eye-catching group of security forces wore khaki uniforms and sunglasses. But despite their variety of appearance, the security forces worked in tandem to close off all entrances to Vali Asr Avenue, causing traffic jams in adjacent streets and preventing cars from expressing support for the marchers by honking.

In the streets, the news of Hoda Saber, a political activist who died on Jun. 11 in Evin prison of a heart attack after 10 days on a hunger strike, as well intra-conservative conflicts, were frequently discussed topics.

One protester who did not want to be identified said, 'His [Saber's] death was intentional and intended to radicalise the Green Movement.'

An older woman shouted to the security forces standing by, 'If as you say the sedition has been taken care of, then why aren't you taking care of yourselves by leaving the streets?'

Despite the heavy security, very few physical clashes occurred. IPS witnessed only one in front of a popular park. The police attempted to arrest a motorcyclist. Passers-by came to his defence, and a brief altercation ended with the arrest of a few young people.

After two years of attempted protests, security forces and protesters seem to have reached an uneasy coexistence. The security forces closely watch the protesters, who act as though they are merely window-shopping even though all the shops have been shut down.

Every once in a while, they grab the hand of a young man and take him away to instill fear the crowd. The crowd and even the young man's companions continue walking without expressing surprise or concern. Life goes on.

Few Iranian websites reported on the protests. Khabar online, which is reportedly close to Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani, did acknowledge that there were protests, but described them as smaller and less disruptive than the accounts provided in Western-based Persian media such as BBC Persian or Voice of America.

Even some protesters themselves agreed that the number of people who showed up was smaller than the protests held on Feb. 14, 2011, which was immediately followed by the house arrests of presidential candidates and opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mussavi and Mehdi Karrubi.

Some blamed the chosen route as too easy for security forces to control, in contrast to the route chosen for the February protests. Others suggested that Vali Asr Street is particularly sensitive for the regime because the main building of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting (IRIB) service is located there.

The message from the street, meanwhile, was echoed in Washington where a self-exiled spokesman for the Green Movement told a briefing of Iran specialists that there was general agreement among its adherents that it wanted to avoid situations that could play into the regime's hands.

'Radicalising the movement won't benefit it at all,' said Ardechir Amirarjomand, spokesman for The Coordinating Council of the Green Path of Hope of Iran, a broad coalition established by Mousavi and Karroubi before they were put under house arrest. 'That is exactly what the other side wants, because it would help the government survive longer.'

'We are a peaceful movement, and measures we take will not be short term or quick,' Amirarjomand, who was a top adviser to Mousavi during the 2009 campaign and was himself detained after the election, said, adding that the movement's main goal for now is to 'force the government to accept free elections.'

He noted that the ongoing power struggle among conservative forces — with Ahmadinejad and his supporters on one side and the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Parliamentary leadership on the other — was a 'lose-lose situation' for both.

'They have both lost legitimacy, and each side blames the other,' he said. 'There are no differences in terms of how to run the government; the differences are over their shares of power.'

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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