Nico Pitney: Jubilation. It's striking, after the last few weeks of fear and anger and frustration we've heard from people in Tehran, just how joyful people seem to be in returning to the streets and being together again.New York Times: There was initially a festive air even though bands of dozens of police officers in heavy riot gear had shut down the streets surrounding the city's Revolution Street... A middle-age woman ran through the crowd, her coat covered with blood stains... The security forces did not fire on protesters, witnesses said. A 55-year-old woman on the streets in support of the marchers said: 'This is Iran. We are all together.'...
For weeks prior to Thursday's protest, much of the popular unrest had taken more subtle forms in the face of the government's heavy crackdown. A flier circulating in Tehran asked people to turn on all their electrical appliances at the same time to crash the electric grid as a sign of defiance, and opposition leaders had issued statements of continued defiance on their Web sites... In the nation's clerical establishment, a dispute about the results of the election continued to grow.
Eyewitness messages: The crowds are too huge to contain. Riot police running up and down Fatemi Street beating people... The crowds just get out of their way and come back. Saw two undercover Basij, one was actually a late 40s businessman in a suit, whipped out a collapsible metal baton and started beating someone with a camera... Another Basij came on motorcycle to help but crowds started surging and booed them away... The main theme is that people are surprisingly non-violent. They seem hopeful and energetic. People from all levels of society are out...
There is not a single march, but protesters gather in groups of 200-300, and do not move when attacked. The basijis are trying to prevent large groups to form, but people are not forming such large groups; however there is so much protest that it cannot be contained... People of all ages are out, but the young are more present... The sense is that this is the beginning of the end...
One 26 year old engineering student said: 'Tell the world what is happening here. This is our revolution. We will not give up.' Asked what he wanted he said 'We want democracy.' Men and women are in the streets, but young men are mostly in the side alleys where it's hard to see amidst the trash fires...
The police are desperately trying to contain crowds by shooting tear gas... Crowd keeps coming back -- there's one bus full of people that's inching along and everyone on board is chanting. Saw two men carrying a huge floral arrangement of yellow and purple flowers on green leaves above their heads in commemoration of those killed in the last month and 1999. Someone beside me said: 'They're risking their lives to do that. The police will not be afraid to kill them for that.'
Juan Cole, Informed Comment: A new and significant feature of this demonstration was that simultaneous rallies also occurred in cities all around the country. Although the crowds were relatively small, this national coordination suggests a national underground organization is emerging.
Los Angeles Times: The screams of a woman being beaten could be heard from nearby buildings, a witness said. Business owners could be seen hustling protesters into their buildings to shield them from plainclothes officers and anti-riot police who fired tear gas canisters. Passing drivers and motorcyclists honked their horns and flashed the 'V' sign in support of the clumps of demonstrators. Many of the demonstrators wore surgical masks to protect their identities from cameras stationed at adjacent buildings. They could be seen escaping into side streets and regrouping as shops quickly were shuttered...
Protesters urges the security forces to join them... The Basiji militiamen could be seen fanning out throughout side streets to block demonstrators trying to flee. Armored police vans to haul away protesters could be seen parked along the roadways. But as the militiamen tried to drag away demonstrators, protesters joined together to overpower them and rescue their comrades. The witness also said he saw some women with their headscarves pulled off being forced into police vans. Another woman taking pictures with her cell phone camera was dragged away... One witness described how five Basiji militiamen pummeled an elderly lady who loudly warned them that they would receive their comeuppance on Judgment Day.
