Brutal crackdowns, disguised riot police, and blocked websites weren’t enough to stop tens of thousands of Iranians from flooding the streets Monday, inspired by Egypt and Tunisia. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday the U.S. “very clearly and directly” supports protesters in Iran, who took to the streets for the first time since December 2009. “What we see happening in Iran today is a testament to the courage of the Iranian people, and an indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime—a regime which over the last three weeks has constantly hailed what went on in Egypt,” she said. At least one protester was shot dead in Tehran—The Guardian says opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi’s website identifies the deceased as 26-year-old student Sane Jaleh. Mousavi was placed under house arrest Monday to prevent him from attending the demonstrations.
A man in Tehran climbed a crane about five stories tall Monday, waved pictures and symbols of Iran’s green movement, and threatened to jump to his death. But police managed to arrest him before he became a martyr, like the man who set himself ablaze earlier this year, sparking Tunisia’s revolution.
The Iranian was one of tens of thousands who poured into the streets of Tehran and other cities across the country, reinvigorated by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. But unlike Egypt and Tunisia, Monday was Round 3 for Iran’s protesters, whom authorities thought they had silenced through i… >>>
