Tehran: Hundreds of thousands of people marched in silence through central Tehran on Monday to protest Iran’s disputed presidential election in an extraordinary show of defiance that appeared to be the largest demonstration in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
The march began hours after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for a inquiry into opposition claims that the election was rigged in favour of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The ayatollah’s call—announced every 15 minutes on Iranian state radio throughout the day—was the first sign that Iran’s top leadership might be rethinking its position on the election. Khamenei announced on Saturday that the election results showing a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad were fair, but on Sunday he met with Mir Hussein Moussavi, the former prime minister and moderate who was the main opposition candidate, to listen to his concerns.
As evening fell, Iranian state TV reported that shots had been fired at the rally, and an AP photographer reported that one person had died. The reports came after hours during which government security forces stood by at the edges of the avenues, allowing demonstrators to stream past in a deliberate and striking contrast with the chaos of the past few days.
Starting Saturday, after Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, riot policesprayed tear gas and wielded clubs to disperse scattered bands of angry and frightened young people. Ahmadinejad dismissed the protesters as soccer hooligans who had lost a match in remarks on Sunday, and called them “dust,” and many at Monday’s demonstration said they could not let the insult pass.
Gathering on Monday in defiance of a government ban on protests, the broad river of people—young and old, dressed in traditional Islamic gowns and the latest Western fashions—marched slowly from Revolution Square to Freedom Square for more than three hours, many of them wearing the signature bright green ribbons of Moussavi’s campaign, and holding up their hands in victory signs. When the occasional shout or chant went up, the crowd quickly hushed them, and some held up signs bearing the word “silence.”
“These people are not seeking a revolution,” said Ali Reza, a young actor who stood for a moment watching on the rally’s sidelines. “We don’t want this regime to fall. We want our votes to be counted, because we want reforms, we want kindness, we want friendship with the world.” Moussavi had reportedly attempted to stop the protest, calling it too dangerous, but in the end, he appeared amid the sea of supporters, addressing them from the roof of a car in his first public appearance since the disputed vote. “The vote of the people is more important than Moussavi or any other person,” he said. “God willing, we will get back our rights.” NYT NEWS SERVICE
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