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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tehran's Rally



Top: Huge pro-government crowd at Azadi Square
Middle: Ahmadinejad arriving at the rally
Bottom: Rafsanjani at the rally
Tehran. 11 February 2010. Mehr photos

7 comments:

  1. Here is an example of the ovrwhelming presence of state security forces deployed today:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJZe4XAwpno

    Uniformed anti-riot police on foot, plus special black-clad police units on vans, plus Basij or police on motorcycles. Let's not forget the plainclothes IRGC/Basij members liberally dotted around too.

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  2. While the regime brought in thousands of Basij from provinces, in several bigger cities, the pro-democracy protesters took advantage of this, and mounted energetic and well-attended rallies.

    Here is a clip of the protests in Isfahan, where the people have managed to congregate by one of the landmark bridges of Isfahan:

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

    Note the Zayandehrud River, which is almost dry thanks to the regime's mismanagement of water resources upstream.

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  3. Here is more about how the opposition pro-democracy movement were kept away from the foreign media observers:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8511400.stm

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  4. I don't know but BBC as a source is relatively anti-Iranian.

    The Green movement was there but in small numbers and very civil and quiet. No violence at all and what you saw broadcasted on BBC was edited from a previous clip.

    Only they had forgotten to switch from Summer into winter (what the background was concerned)

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  5. Satellite RevelationsFebruary 12, 2010 at 9:24 PM

    Since Mark Pyruz is good at analyzing such things, his attention is drawn to these satellite images from Google - and cellphones - of the Azadi Square and its surroundings in Tehran on the morning of February 11, 2010 (especially images 5-10), at the time of the 31st revolution anniversary rallies.

    http://arteshesabz.blogspot.com/2010/02/22_12.html

    and

    http://www.melli.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/tehran_iran_02_11_101.jpg

    As can be seen, hundreds (possibly 1000’s) of buses are parked in the area. Buses that had shipped in ‘spontaneous’ regime supporters from far and wide free gratis!

    Even Ahmadinejad’s opponents agree that he secured about 10-11 million votes (out of some 40 million) in the June 11 election.

    Therefore, it is possible to handpick millions if you look far enough across the country and bring them in by buses and trains for the day, especially with various sweeteners.

    Even if the regime manages to bring out only 10 percent of Ahmadinejad supporters, it still makes for an impressive spectacle in front of cameras. But, it still is no way indicative of the opinion of the public.

    State-sponsored rallies are the choice of dictators (recall the Nuremberg Rallies?). Democratic choice is by individual secret ballots, with a free media and independent election observers.

    If the regime is so sure of its absolute majority (the regime claimed 50 million had turned out this year!)), why does it fear a fair election, free media or a referendum?

    The answer can be seen here, in this clip of the pro-regime procession on Feb. 11 in Isfahan. Without concentrating people from across the country to a single spot (such as Tehran's Azadi Square) this is all they managed to muster in a city of some 1.6 million:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZNTO5E-fQ

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  6. how many buses can possibly transport all these people and ho many Sundis juice factories can possibly quench their thirst? lol

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  7. Mr or Ms satellite .....

    I remember distinctly how satelite imagas proved the existance of WMD in Iraq...

    get a life dude, stop making noises and let Mussavi breath and form a party and stuff. Let him form a legitimate opposition.

    people like you keep making it hard for him, you are not even in Iran, so go away.. dude

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