IND:  A Disappointing Day for the Greens.

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One protester insisted the opposition had come out in significant numbers, but “the problem was that we were not able to gather in one place because (the security forces) were very violent”.

Times: Iran crushes opposition protests with violence

Iran’s regime thwarted the opposition’s hopes of turning the 31st anniversary celebrations of the Islamic revolution into another massive protest today.

It out-manoeuvred the so-called Green movement by swamping the official proceedings with huge numbers of its own supporters, preventing the media from covering anything else and blanketing the rest of the capital with security forces who forcefully suppressed the opposition’s relatively muted demonstrations.

Opposition websites claimed a young woman named Leila Zareii, was killed and many others were wounded or arrested. The opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammed Khatami – a former president – were attacked, as was Zahra Rahnavard, wife of the Green Movement’s other leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Even Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 revolution, was briefly arrested. She and her brother, Hassan, are both opposition sympathisers and she is married to Mr Khatami’s brother.

“It’s pretty clear that Greens everywhere will feel demoralised… The overall feeling is one of disappointment,” one well-placed source in Tehran told The Times last night. “The opposition miscalculated,” said another.

The regime was determined to prevent the so-called Green Movement from hijacking the biggest day in Iran’s calendar and largely succeeded.

Opposition websites said Revolutionary Guards and basiji militiamen were stationed everywhere and that they moved swiftly and violently to break up opposition demonstrations.

They claimed the security forces used live ammunition, knives, teargas and paintballs that would enable them to identify protesters later and that they were beating and arresting women as well as men. They were backed up by water canon, new Chinese anti-riot vehicles and helicopters. Some, wearing plain clothes, infiltrated the protesters. The mobile telephone, internet and text messaging systems were seriously disrupted.

Mr Karroubi’s son, Hussein, said his father had to get out of his car and walk towards Sadeghieh Square, where thousands of supporters had gathered, because the roads were blocked. He was joined by other protestors, but they found their way blocked by plainclothes security forces who attacked them with knives, batons and tear gas.

Mr Karroubi’s bodyguards had to bundle him into a passing car which managed to drive him away, but not before the security forces smashed its windscreen. One of the bodyguards was seriously injured. Mr Karroubi’s other son, Ali, was arrested.

Film clips taken with mobile telephones showed opposition supporters chanting “Death to the dictator” on streets and in subway trains and ripping down a poster of Ayatollah Khomeini. Unrest was also reported in Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashad and other Iranian cities, but it was impossible to verify the reports.

BBC: Son of Iran opposition leader describes attack

Iran’s two main opposition leaders, Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, have been beaten up by security forces at a rally marking the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.  One of Mr Karroubi’s sons, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, told BBC Persian TV what happened when his father tried to join his supporters at the event in Tehran.

There was heavy traffic leading up to Saddeqiya Street, so my father Mehdi Karroubi got out of his car with some of his friends and started to walk.

As soon as the Green movement supporters spotted him they started cheering.

Special forces, the police and some plain-clothes forces then started to attack both my father and his supporters.

They used tear gas, batons and other weapons. They were armed and some were carrying cleavers and guns.

They sprayed tear gas into my father’s face, burning him, and he was also hit on the head with a stone.

My father’s face is burnt from the tear gas and his eye is injured

People in the crowd helped him to get away. A kind man gave him a lift but then the special forces started attacking cars.

They smashed the window of the car my father was in.

My father is back at home under medication and doctor’s supervision. He has breathing problems, his face is burnt from the tear gas and his eye is injured.

We are worried because I was with him on Students’ Day [7 December 2009] and I saw a guard deliberately point his gun at him. Everyone who was there today believes that the violence used is beyond belief.

My father’s security situation is very vulnerable at the moment. We heard from his official state bodyguards that some opponents of the regime might cause trouble, so we decided to rely on friends and people we know.

We asked some of our war veterans from the Iran-Iraq war to help us. But in the last 48 hours some of these people have been arrested.

They were called this morning and told that if they guarded certain people they would be arrested.

So we ended up with security guards provided by the Security Council who Mr Karroubi had already stood down. But the authorities were adamant they should stay.

So the only security he had today was the official guards and his sons. One of my brothers got arrested today. The authorities’ behaviour is very hard to understand.

CBS: Iran Reform Leader’s Wife Beaten at Rally As hundreds of thousands of government supporters massed in Tehran to mark the 31st anniversary of the revolution that created the Islamic republic, gangs of hard-liners attacked senior opposition figures as they tried to attend the rallies – including the wife of the head of the reform movement.   Plainclothes Basiji militiamen beat 65-year-old Zahra Rahnavard with clubs on her head and back until her supporters formed a human ring around her and whisked her away, according to the Web site of her husband, Mir Hossein Mousavi.   The assault on Mousavi’s wife took place in the square, and government supporters also blocked Mousavi himself from joining the protests, his Web site said.

TB: Tehran Bureau interview with Hossein Karroubi, opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi’s son.

How is your father Haj Agha Mehdi Karroubi?

We’re treating him for burns to his face and eyes. He’s having trouble with his lungs too. He was badly attacked with pepper spray. Plainclothes agents (vigilantes) approached him and kept spraying it in his eyes. He’s resting at home though; he’s not been hospitalized.

Government officials are touting the celebrations today as a referendum on the past few months, on the Green Movement. What do you think? Was this a defeat for the Green Movement?

Well, they bussed in as many people as they possibly could from many towns and locations and depositing them at Azadi Square, surrounded by and escorted by thousands of officers. I have even seen them rounding up people myself. This is while they started beating the others (opposition) starting at 8 am. Of what value is such a pro-government turnout? If they allowed this side (opposition) to gather, they would see how the masses really turn out. For example, at Sadeghi Square, where we were, folks told us they started beating up on them since they started arriving at 8 am. They kept gathering and they kept dispersing them. What value was their [the government's] turnout under these circumstances?

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