Word: basij
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Even while Iran's security and plainclothes Basij forces dispersed opposition rallies on Wednesday with tear gas and batons, Iran's state-run media were complaining that foreign coverage of the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover was not, to use an American phrase, fair and balanced. The Islamic Republic News Agency, as part of its coverage of the protests in Tehran, wrote that global news television stations such as al-Jazeera, CNN and France 24 were "seeking to create widespread unrest ... by broadcasting phony stories and images." Instead of reporting on the "epic public turnout" for pro-government...
...pray or seek blessing from the Imam, but fans of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are more concentrated in the area than in most neighborhoods of Tehran. Indeed, on a recent visit, hundreds of men with unkempt beards, ill-fitting pants and untucked white shirts - the trademark garb of the Basij paramilitary vigilantes - milled about in the sprawling parking lot, said to be able to fit 20,000 cars. Dozens of tour buses sat idle after bringing in crowds from nearby Shi'ite strongholds like Iraq, while the license plates of the mostly run-down, domestic-made Paykans in the lot indicated...
...seen by millions around the world. Security forces ordered opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to turn back and then started beating the mourners. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of opposition supporters still secretly visit Agha-Soltan's grave, despite the threat of harassment or arrest by the Basij paramilitary vigilantes. (See the top 10 symbols of protest, including Neda Agha-Soltan...
...tactics on both sides, however, threaten to alienate Iranians who do not want to see another bloody revolution in their lifetime. There is still shock at seeing blog postings revealing personal information about Basij members - in one instance the mobile number and address of a militiaman with the implicit suggestion that protesters exact revenge...
...bureaucracy. Threatened by Ahmadinejad's pruning of their ranks over the past four years, they would be happy to see him go; but they also want to preserve the bureaucratic system that is the source of their entitlements and power. Meanwhile, the increasingly brutal encounters between demonstrators and the Basij will only multiply the number of martyrs - and propel the cycle of protests and response...