IND:  These five pictures show how the regime will be brought down. First show to the regime forces that the people will overpower them no matter how powerful their forces may be and that the people’s victory is inevitable. Second show them that they have nothing to fear.  A democratic Iran will be a tolerant Iran – not a vengeful one.  The vicious cycle of hatred has come to an end. 

IND:  Our apologies for showing these two bloody pics but this what the protesters face and still they are brave enough to go out…

An Iranian police officer, pictured in a white shirt, is protected and taken away by people after being beaten by protesters in Tehran Photograph: AP

What these brave guys are probably thinking:  “F*** YOU!  MOTHER ******! Who do you think you are messing with?”

IND:  This picture says it all:  Determination, courage, grace & complete absence of hatred or even anger – despite the blood all over her face. 

Some great quality pics at Washington Post here & at Tehran Live here.

Time:  Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters brought Shiite tradition to bear against an increasingly brutal government, and the blood of martyrs was once again spilled. Witnesses say one woman was run down and killed by a Basij member driving a car.  An officer was severely beating one man, repeatedly over the shoulders and head, as he crouched in the dirt by the sidewalk. A woman in a chador tried to pull him away but she became the officer’s next target. Somehow, though, the policeman found himself alone and enraged protesters assailed him with rocks. One man hurled a half-brick at his helmet from a distance of less than a yard.  In the back alleys a tall, well-built man who had been beaten severely walked, head held high, alongside his wife. Blood streamed from a growing bulge on his forehead. He smiled. Perhaps he had given as good as he had received.
 

 Guardian:   The reformist website, Rah-e Sabz, said some soldiers refused to obey orders. One was said to have been slapped by his commander and threatened with a military tribunal unless obeyed. Rather than be cowed, however, demonstrators responded furiously. Reports from bystanders and on opposition websites described protesters attacking the security forces with stones. Some members of the security forces were assaulted with their own batons after having them seized. Other had their uniforms ripped away as they tried to assault demonstrators in Laleh park, Tehran. In a sign of open rebellion, police cars and motorcycles were set ablaze, and some reports last night said government buildings were on fire.The fury of the protesters was directed more at Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than at the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Many chanted slogans including: “Khamenei is a murderer, his leadership is illegitimate.Some of the chants linked Khamenei directly to rape allegations levelled by some opposition activists against the security forces after the election.The chants were one of the clearest sign yet of the rapid collapse of Khamenei’s moral authority. “In Iran’s conservative culture, rape is often regarded as an equally heinous crime as murder.

NY Times: IND:  We are not a believer in conspiracy theories but articles such as this provide ammunition for those that do and for the regime supporters when they argue that this democratic movement could threaten the territorial integrity of Iran. The timing of such an article couldn’t be worse. The biggest threat to the ruling ayatollahs and generals in multi-ethnic Iran does not come from the embattled democratic opposition movement struggling to reform the Islamic Republic. It comes from increasingly aggressive separatist groups in Kurdish, Baluch, Azeri and Arab ethnic minority regions that collectively make up some 44 percent of Persian-dominated Iran’s population.  Working together, the democratic reform movement and the ethnic insurgents could seriously undermine the republic. But the reform movement, like most of the clerical, military and business establishment, is dominated by an entrenched Persian elite and has so far refused to support minority demands.  IND:  Mousavi is an Azeri (Khamenei too)  and Karroubi is a Lur.Iran’s bazaar merchants are dominated by Azeris as well. For the present, the Obama administration should tread with the utmost care in dealing with this sensitive issue IND:  It shouldn’t go down that rode period , guided by a recognition that support for separatism and engagement with the present regime are completely incompatible.

NY Times:Possibly a “general strike starting Monday morning.” Ms. Fathi has also spoken with Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the renowned filmmaker and opposition supporter now in Paris. Mr. Mahkmalbaf said that the violence on Sunday’s Ashura holiday was a “strategic mistake” on the part of the leaders of the Islamic Republic. Ashura marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed by the caliph Yazid. According to Mr. Makhmalbaf: “No religious person would accept the killing of Muslims on this day. Now with the killing of Mir Hussein’s nephew, Mir Hussein is Imam Hossein and Khameni is Yazid in the minds of many people.”

AFP: The White House on Sunday strongly condemned “violent and unjust suppression” of civilians in Iran, following a fierce government crackdown on opposition protests.  The strongly-worded statement contrasted with careful initial responses by the White House following post-election protests in Iran in June and came as the nuclear showdown between Tehran and world powers reached a critical point. IND:  Better response, but not nearly good enough. “We strongly condemn the violent and unjust suppression of civilians in Iran seeking to exercise their universal rights,” White House spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.  “Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States.  “Governing through fear and violence is never just, and as President Obama said in Oslo — it is telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation.”

Guardian: The authorities tonight tried to assert control over Tehran by reportedly declaring a 7pm curfew and outlawing all gatherings of more than three people, a source inside the capital told the Guardian. Parlemannews reported that Mousavi had gone to Ebn-e Sina Hospital, where the body of his nephew had been taken. He was accompanied by the dead man’s parents and fellow reformist politicians.  Rah-e Sabz, another reformist website, reported large crowds of people moving towards Ebn-e Sina Hospital in a show of solidarity with Mousavi after the death.  Crowds prevented security forces from taking away those wounded in the Tehran shootings. According to other eyewitness reports, members of the hardline Basij militia attacked demonstrators with daggers and knives. Disturbances were also reported in Isfahan, Shiraz, Masshad, Arak and Najafabad, where the Rah-e Sabz described the situation as “severe”.

BBC:Opposition sources in Iran say that at least eight protesters have been killed in violent clashes between anti-government crowds and police.  The nephew of former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was among four killed in Tehran, while the others died in the northern city of Tabriz.  Security forces reportedly opened fire in Tehran after losing control.  It is almost certainly the worst loss of life in protests since the disputed presidential election in June.  Mr Mousavi was at the hospital where his nephew Seyed Mousavi was taken after being fatally shot in the heart at Enghelab Square.

 The opposition hoped for a massive day of demonstrations, and they seem to have succeeded.  Despite attempts by the security forces to disperse them, the protesters took over a large section of central Tehran, leaving the police watching from the sidelines. And there are similar reports from across the country.  For much of the morning there was a series of violent confrontations. Witnessess described how opposition supporters attacked the police with their bare hands, and the police eventually opened fire directly on the crowd. The day’s events will significantly worsen the confrontation, particularly if the opposition is right that several protesters were shot dead.

RFE:A nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi was said to be among the dead. Late this afternoon, the “Parlimannews” website — which has ties to reformists in Iran’s parliament — reported that Seyed Ali Musavi, the opposition leader’s nephew, had been killed in today’s violence. The report said the younger Musavi had been “shot in the heart” during “Ashura Day events” and died en route to a hospital.

Reuters:“During clashes between security forces and protesters … at least four protesters were killed in Tabriz and many others wounded,” said the Jaras website, which earlier reported four protesters were killed in Tehran.

CS Monitor: Increasingly vocal opposition groups are now calling for an end to the Islamic Republic after a weekend of violent clashes during the Shiite holiday of Ashura.

Reuters:An Iranian opposition website said police forces refused orders to shoot at pro-reform protesters during clashes on Sunday in central Tehran, where it reported earlier four demonstraters had been killed. “Police forces are refusing their commanders’ orders to shoot at demonstrators in central Tehran … some of them try to shoot into air when pressured by their commanders,” the Jaras website said.