Franchise registrations in Saudi Arabia surge 866% over 3 years    Lulu Saudi Arabia celebrates its 15th anniversary with the grand launch of 'Super Fest 2024'    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Culture minister tours Saudi pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Saud Abdulhamid makes history as first Saudi player in Serie A    Saudi Cabinet to hold special budget session on Tuesday    King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Will Iran's protesters stay strong?
By Lee Keath
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 12 - 07 - 2009

Just getting thousands of protesters into the streets of Tehran despite fears of beating and arrest was a victory for the Iranian opposition, but the first protest in nearly two weeks also displayed the movement's limitations.
Iran's clerical rulers are betting that with no clear leader and security forces bearing down, such dramatic shows of discontent will be hard to sustain.
What the thousands of mainly young men and women marching Thursday did have going for them was determination. When security forces charged, beating them with batons, protesters scattered, regrouped nearby and resumed their chants of “death to the dictator.” They pumped their fists or flashed victory signs in the air, dashing for cover when police fired clouds of tear gas.
One witness account posted on line Friday described a girl shoving a police officer who grabbed her then punching him in the stomach before escaping. Protesters blocked roads with chunks of concrete, trying to stop the motorcycles of the feared Basiji militiamen from reaching the crowds. There were also signs of support from those who didn't join in. Amid the turmoil, shopkeepers and residents let fleeing protesters slip into their homes or shops.
Notably missing, however, was the man whose name many of the demonstrators chanted: Mir Hossein Mousavi, the pro-reform candidate they say was cheated of victory in the elections by vote fraud. Mousavi and other mainstream reform politicians appear to have had little role in organizing the demonstrations.
Mousavi in part may have feared arrest if he came out in support of more street demonstrations. But he has also given signals the past week that the time for protests has past, hinting he could start a political party to press his demands for change within the system.
The election dispute has demonstrated that many Iranians are unhappy with their government – but there is no consensus on how to harness that anger and to what end.
Mousavi and most pro-reform leaders see the protests as leverage against the clerical leadership and hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but they don't want anger on the streets to get out of control, he said. “They don't want to press things too far. They don't want to bring down the system,” Nader said.
As a result, Thursday's marches were largely inspired by young activists and students using the Internet to get the word out. They were able to make a startlingly strong showing with such informal methods – but doing so consistently at a time when activists are being arrested may prove difficult.
The protests that erupted in the weeks immediately following the election were far larger, with hundreds of thousands from all levels of society filling Tehran's broad avenues. In the days that followed, raids snatched up more activists, journalists, bloggers and pro-reform politicians.
The number arrested Thursday is not known. Also arrested was an Iranian-American scholar, Kian Tajbakjsh, who was seized by police from his home late Thursday, according to a relative in the United States who is in touch with Tajbakhsh's wife. Tajbakhsh was arrested in 2007 and spent four months in prison on suspicion of fomenting unrest in Iran.
Still, despite the scenes of mayhem Thursday, security forces stopped short of the all-out assault that some authorities had promised. Police are likely wary of causing deaths that would spark a backlash and more of the public into the streets.
A leading cleric delivering Tehran's main prayer sermon on Friday took a soft tone, saying all those who voted in the election were “brothers and sisters” – but underlining that it was time for the opposition to drop its campaign.
“In most countries, defeated candidates do not continue their objections after the election. Those who do no not win should not pursue the issues any longer,” Ayatollah Mohammed Imam Kashani told worshippers at Tehran University, where a day before protesters marched on the gates, blocked by lines of riot police.


Clic here to read the story from its source.