Iran Revolution: Day 16 THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS, Sunday Bloody Sunday

New Pictures from today's bloodshed (and the media keeps talking about the addict MJ)

7:28 pm: Perhaps the impotent and perfidious media can stop saying alleged. Check out this video, where you see the Basij firing at people from rooftops. It was shot on the 20th, giving a stark aerial view of the chaos at the start of the brutal crackdown.

The hierarchy of Power in Iran:  Understanding Iran - Repression 101 -

The history of using repression to save regimes is long. But when the hammer comes down, the impact is unpredictable. (NY Times)

 

hat tip Banafsheh

3:45 pm: First video of violence today. More of Obama's "lively debate":

Crackdown Drains Iranian Dissidents

3:26 pm: Tear Gas And Truncheons Are Used To Break Up Post-Election Demonstration

Witnesses said riot police used tear gas and clubs to break up a crowd of up to 3,000 protesters who had gathered near north Tehran's Ghoba Mosque in the country's first major post-election unrest in four days.

Some described scenes of brutality, telling The Associated Press that some protesters suffered broken bones and alleging that police beat an elderly woman, prompting a screaming match with young demonstrators who then fought back. The reports could not be independently verified because of tight restrictions imposed on journalists in Iran.

3:00 pm: My piece in Canada Free Press on the media's silence on Iran. It seems the media and Obama share the delusion if they don't cover it, then it ain't happening. Sort of like ....if a tree falls in the forest. This is, if a news story isn't covered, did it happen?

Video from today

John Jay on why there are no stringers in Iran (apart from the fact that most Middle Eastern stringers are Palestinians, and we know whose side they're on).

2:55 pm: Tightening the fiscal screws: Insurance companies are not paying for the damages to people's home or car. Insurance companies are telling people, "We are asked not to help 'rioters'".

 "I'm so lucky that you're alive."

2:05 pm: TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A 19-year-old woman who was wounded by Iranian paramilitary forces with clubs escaped with her camera and shared her photos with CNN -- after tricking a paramilitary soldier into thinking she had given him the images on a disk.

The woman -- whose identity is being withheld by CNN -- said Sunday that on the previous day "the streets were full of guards and policemen."

"They were hitting everyone, and everywhere was fire because of the tear gas they throw at us," she said.

She was walking to Freedom Square in Tehran with a group of fellow demonstrators, but the Basij -- voluntary paramilitary forces that answer to the government -- wouldn't let them get through, she said.

They warned the group to turn around. "They said, 'Just run, and don't even walk.' We were just running away -- and we were hit, of course," she said.

It was too crowded to flee quickly, she said. "I said, 'I can't run. How can I run? It's so crowded in here.' Watch the iReporter talk about the pictures she took »

"He hit me and he was twice [as big] as me -- he was so big. And I said, 'You want to hit me?' And he said, 'Yes' and then he hit me with a club."

She told CNN a Basij member hit her with a club, and then her foot was hit by a stone.

"Today I couldn't go out because my foot was injured and I couldn't run anymore. And I was sure: If I go out, I'm going to die. So I didn't go out today."

The group fought back by throwing stones at the soldiers, she said. "We had nothing to defend ourselves. Just the smallest stones we throw at them."

There were many women among the crowd of demonstrators trying to get to Freedom Square, she said. "We gave the boys the stones because we can't throw them so far. We gave them the stones, and we said the slogans."

The young woman said many in Iran think Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is lying about the results of the June 12 election, in which incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner with more than 62 percent of the vote.

"We don't care who is the president now," she said. "We had rather [opposition candidate Mir Hossein] Moussavi, but now when our leader says it was fair and we know that it's not, I think that it's about our country. We want the truth."

She said her father, after learning of all that had transpired, said to her, "I'm so lucky that you're alive."

1:50 pm: Mousavi is dropping the ball. I hope the Iranian people follow suit and drop him and get behind a real reformer. They need a leader.

From the tweet deck:

Clashes are continuing

Rafsanjani: secret "agents" are creating a gap between people and the system.

Rafsanjani: Dysfunctions should not increase grudge & division b/w ppl, obstacles & problems should be eliminated w/ cooperat'

Mousavi could not join people today but apparently he's spoken to them through a mobile & a loudspeaker

Minutes ago: Ghoba Mosque closed, but more than 20,000 ppl around chanting against regime, some clashes, more trying join

12:43 pm Tweetdeck: There are reports of clash between military forces and people

Thousands used the anniversary of 7th. tir martyrs memorial at the Ghoba mosque to take to the streets.

Iran arrests local staff of British Embassy Jihadwatch

Continuing the campaign against Great Satan 2.0, in a move evocative of the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis three decades ago. "Britain assails Iran over embassy staff detentions," by Karin Laub for the Associated Press, June 28:

Iranian authorities have detained several local employees of the British Embassy in Iran, a move that Britain's foreign secretary Sunday called "harassment and intimidation."

Iranian media reported Sunday that eight local embassy staff were detained for an alleged role in postelection protests, but gave no further details. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the employees were detained Saturday, but did not say how many were taken into custody.

12:30 pm: O-vomit moment: Obama officials say talks with Iran still possible

We have no guts, no pride, and no humanity now? That's the change people voted for?

Tweets: All streets & alleys leading to Ghoba mosque are loaded with people.

Thousands march in silent Tehran protest

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — About 5,000 protesters marched slowly and silently through Tehran on Sunday near a mosque where the government was allowing a demonstration for the first time in days.

Twitter is reporting tens of thousands, many sources.

Authorities are riding on motorcycles alongside the marchers, who are telling each other to walk slowly and drag their feet. Police are telling the demonstrators to move faster.

The marchers are walking from north to south down a major street, Shariati Street, near the Ghoba Mosque, where a memorial is being held in honor of a hero of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Some of the protesters are telling the police that they have the legal right to protest in peace.

All  previous Atlas Iran revolution liveblog archives here.

MORE VIDEO FROM TODAY'S PROTEST CLICK BELOW!

Comments

[jj]

pamela, friends:

obama is a fool and a coward, and, ... , well, ... , an absolute twit.

he shames us.

that we could elect such a buffoon to represent us in world affairs.

john jay
milton freewater, oregon usa

[Killer Bear]

This is what is coming to America...sooner than later...if we don't take note from these brave people.

Thank you Pamela Geller for your audacious and undaunted spirit as a Freedom Fighter and a supporter of those who seek Freedom and Justice.

To show my symbolic support, I wear a blue ribbon for the Nation of Israel and the Jewish people, a green ribbon for Iranian people, the Resistance, and I wear an American (USA) flag for my country, our troops and the Constitution, but not for this President.

[Will48]

"O-vomit moment: Obama officials say talks with Iran still possible

We have no guts, no pride, and no humanity now? That's the change people voted for?"

Yes it is exactly. It is Brzezinski's New Grand Global Management Strategy of UNIFY (with EU top 3), ENLARGE (by including China, Russia etc), ENGAGE (regional powers like Iran by ACCOMMODATING them) and PACIFY (Israel, specifically).

All in the name of Stability.

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEHqNyDRQdY

[Vincent Bordini]

The video of the rooftop snipers is the most important. I can't believe people didn't think that was real. There were videos every single day of someone getting shot.

[jayeeegee]

REALITY CHECK: Let's be honest. Amid all these protests and tweets, has anyone heard a word about Iranians seeking to free themselves from the shackles of Sharia Law?

As the imcomparable Diana West wrote in her blog a couple of days ago: "Their Jail Is Islam, and Changing the Warden from One Thug to Another Won't Set Them Free."

I recommend this sobering article to anyone who thinks there is a chance in hell that things might change in Iran regardless of the current protests. Here's the link: http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/941/-Their-Jail-Is-Islam-and-Changing-the-Warden-from-One-Thug-to-Another-Wont-Set-Them-Free.aspx

[Pamela Geller]

jayeeegee, I disagree with West. She's wrong. And she's a fatalist to boot, not to mention her compete and utter lack of humanity. To dismiss such courage with a wave of the hand? Breathtaking.

The Iranians are breaking every preconceived notion in the arsenal of the cynics. And everyone is writing the post mortem on this. Back on June 12th (and 14th) I exposed Mousavi for who and what he is. I laid it all out in 'sheep vs wolf in sheep's' clothing. But that was weeks ago. Everything has changed.
It's not as if they could write Reagan in on the ballot. They had a choice of four preselected candidates so they voted for the "reform candidate". It stopped being about Mousavi weeks ago. These people are not going into the street taking bullets for more sharia. They are not returning to the streets knowing what brutality awaits them for more Islam. They are fighting and dying for freedom. This should be encouraged, not derided.

What is the downside? What is there to lose? If you are right, it's more of the same. Same shiz, different day. But if I am right, wow. What an opportunity to start this long awaited ball rolling.

I disagree with West. I strongly recommend you read my piece in the American Thinker tomorrow: The Case for Iran (not to be confused with my other piece running in World Net Daily tomorrow on Syria).

I address this very thing.

Brilliant? One man's brilliant, is another's buffoon.

[CHOI]

The Media's ALMOST Total Michael Jackson Grief FEST would be nauseating in the Best of Times.
That it's Happening During what certainly are the MOST Serious Times in most of our lifetimes, TO THE NEAR COMPLETE EXCLUSION of the Important News of the Day is so far Beyond Disgraceful, and probably is Deliberate.

[Sarastro]

I think Mousawi's heart will surely have been changed by all these events, he will recognize his chance to go down in history as a great liberator and hero of the people if he can only overcome his ego and doesn't just want the power for himself, but agrees to give the people the freedom they are longing for. This would in no way minimize his importance, it would inhance it, and win him the love and gratitude of the Iranian people.
If the uprising fails, the first thing the regime will do is to install maddrass schools to brainwash the students to prevent them from thinking and make them into typical moslem robots. Thanks to the wonderful teachers and professors these young Iranians know what is true and what is false, they can think and are educated without the Moslem tinge that is laid on all information. 70 Professors were arrested, but then 66 were released. What Islam fears more then anything else is the white light of truth shining down on their lies. The truth is always like a small blade of grass surrounded by huge trees of lies. But remember, a little plant can break through and crack concrete as it searches upward towards the sun --- this takes more energy but it is possible. The hard wall of resistance of the clerics and their minions may seem formidable, but this is an illusion, behind the scenes everything is in disarray, they are quarreling and their concrete is cracking.

[Rockmelon]

American's, take note. This is the path that Obama is leading us down.

I seriously see myself participating in a revolution one day soon. As it stands, I am now a one woman revolutionary who is waiting to queue up alongside those of like minds. Will it take 30 years? We don't have that much time! Every morning when you wake up, a new "Bill" has been pushed through congress, an old "freedom" has been taken away and new "threats" are awaiting an immediate answer.

You may recall the documents found when a Swiss villa was raided in November 2001 relating a detailed plan for Islam to take over the world. The name of this plan was simply called The Project and the document was already twenty-one years old when found. The plan was not fiction. It had been carried out and continues to be carried out around the world.

Then look at Obama. This too was a plan that was well in the works before Obama even announced as a candidate. Obama was handpicked to work this plan and he is working it well. You must have noticed how we never have time to actually "read" the bills that are passed on our behalf. And the total disregard for the will of the people. When no one wanted the Stimulus, it went through in spite of our protests. It's all smoke and mirrors! It's all distraction and wham! The Iranian demonstrations were a perfect cover for Obama to move around. While we are distracted, we end up losing our nation to his slight of hand! Wake up America! You are losing your country! You are losing your freedom and you are completely destroying any future your children and grandchildren may have had!