Nearly two weeks of silence on the streets of Tehran were broken in the evening of July 9 when thousands marched through the central districts of the Iranian capital to protest the June 12 presidential election. Another anniversary helped precipitate the show of apparent defiance: the 10th anniversary of a bloody student uprising that was brutally put down by the government. Despite threats earlier in the day of a “crushing” response, men, women and even some children went onto the streets with chants of “Death to the dictator” and “Mousavi, Mousavi!” Soldiers in riot gear shot tear gas at the demonstrators and attempted to quell the crowds by storming entire blocks with squads of 25 to 50 men each. But shopkeepers along the streets provided refuge for the protesters behind metal doors, allowing the demonstrators to reappear on the same streets to the cheers and honks from people in cars who had jammed the streets. Those unable to find safety, however, were beaten mercilessly with wooden batons by the attack squads.Around Laleh Park, which was the heart of the demonstration, several undercover Basij members emerged from the crowd wielding collapsible batons to beat those who were recording the events on cell-phone cameras. At one point, a stocky thug, wearing a baseball cap and a surgical mask to conceal his identity, emerged threateningly only to retreat after the crowd surged around him, yelling “Please stop” in unison. Meanwhile,…
