Iranian Lawmakers Demand Execution of Opposition Leaders After Protest against Regime
Protests in Iran (noliesradio.org)
Protests in Iran became very strong on Monday, when tens of thousands of people took it to the streets of Tehran, chanting “Death to the Dictator!” “Death to the Islamic Republic!” and engaging in clashes with the police, which used teargas and batons to crack down on protesters.
On Tuesday, Iranian lawmakers denounced the protests and called for the execution of the opposition leaders, considered responsible for inciting the people to protest.
According to Iranian media, the members of Iranian parliament asked for the execution of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi in chants like “Moussavi and Kerroubi… execute them!”
Mohammad Khatami, former president of the republic was also named in those death chants.
The regime had placed them under house arrest last Thursday night, before Egyptian President’s ouster, because they were supposed to have called the people to gather in the Azadi Square to demonstrate in support of the Egyptian revolution.
Protests in Iran (nytimes.com)
The Islamic authorities protested against Mubarak, considered in Tehran an ally of the Americans and Israelis, thus an enemy to Iran, during the rally that marked the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
However, after Mubarak resign office the wind of change started to blow again in the Arab world, bringing serious demonstrations in Barhain and Yemen, and the resignation of the cabinet in Palestinian territories.
It soon engulfed the non-Arab Muslim Iran, in spite of the precautions taken by the authorities who were not able to clear the center of Tehran of protesters until Monday night, in spite of a day full of brutal action against them.
The protests already claimed the life of a person, who was shot by the security forces, while dozens were arrested and chased by the police for their participation in the unrest.
There are videos posted on youtube that document similar protests in other major cities of the country.
Authorities tempered with the speed of the Internet to prevent people from getting organized via Facebook or Twitter, and the news to be broadcasted outside the borders.
The protest in Tehran embarrasses the president of the country, who had boasted that his regime was behind all the unrest in the Middle East and that the region would reshape without the influence of Americans in it, as well as the Ayatollah, who deemed the ouster of Mubarak and Ben Ali as the “awakening” of Muslim faith in those countries, but now had to hear the protesters in Tehran saying that it was his turn to leave.
It would seem that what Khomeini deemed an “echo of the Islamic revolution” of Iran is now backfiring on his own rule, and many analysts already speak of “a new Egypt,” when referring to the situation in Iran.
So that Ahmadinejad’s embarrassment be complete, the protests broke out at a time when the President of Turkey Abdullah Gul is paying a four-day visit meant to create “all-out ties” with the neighboring Iran.11
