Iranian Regime Tear Gasses Opposition At Prayer

I've been saying that the fight for control of Iran wasn't over by a long shot. There would be lulls in the conflict between the regime and the opposition, but things have once again heated up following Friday prayers. Today's events show that the regime, led by the illegitimate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continue their assault on the intelligence of all Iranians and once again directly attacked the opposition as they met for Friday prayers.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters packed Iran's main Islamic prayer service Friday, chanting "freedom, freedom" and other slogans as their top clerical supporter, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, delivered a sermon sharply criticizing the country's leadership over the crackdown on election protests.

Outside Tehran University, where the prayers were held, pro-government Basiji militiamen in front of a line of riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of opposition protesters who chanted "death to the dictator" and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign. Some protesters kicked away the tear gas canisters as others scattered and regrouped.

The opposition aimed to turn the Friday prayers into a show of their continued strength despite heavy government suppression since the disputed June 12 presidential election. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the election, sat in the front row of worshippers, attending for the first time since the turmoil began. Many of the tens of thousands at the prayers wore headbands or wristbands in his campaign color green, or had green prayer rugs.

Rafsanjani is no friend of the West, but even he sees that the regime has gone too far. Rafsanjani had been on the sidelines until now, but taking this stance puts him up against Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.

The protesters continue to stand up against Ahmadinejad at great personal risk to their lives. Women, who make up a significant portion of the protesters are at risk of being raped by the Basiji who are at the forefront of Ahmadinejad's crackdown. Killing protesters turn them into martyrs. Rape then is a favored tactic since Iranian society traditionally shuns such victims:

Taraneh's is not the first allegation of brutal raping of a post-election protester -- according to the UK Guardian, an 18 year old boy in Shiraz was repeatedly gang raped by prison officials while in detention after being arrested for participating in the protests on June 15. That boy's father won't let him back in the family home.

Despite its agitations for reform, Iranian society remains traditional, according to Iranian-British blogger Potkin Azarmehr, and it's the stigma of rape that is being used as a weapon against the protesters. "By killing protesters, the government makes martyrs of them, but by raping them and allowing them to live, it makes them shunned in society," Azarmehr said.

Not that the stigma of rape is exclusive to Iran and other more traditional societies. A friend of Azarmehr's who is presently in Iran told him that he's "sick of hearing that people like Taraneh are better off dead" from friends abroad, just because they "can't handle the fact that she's been raped."

Via Hot Air comes the following two clips showing the protests and the crackdown:





There are also photos purportedly of the ongoing demonstrations and crackdown, including protesters dealing with tear gas fired by police and the Basiji.