Iranian Forces Fire Tear Gas to Dispel Protests

Monday, February 14, 2011 1:36 PM

By  Voice of America  

Iranian security forces have fired tear gas to disperse thousands of Iranians rallying in support of the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Witnesses say riot police, many of them on motorbikes, fanned out across central Tehran Monday as opposition groups vowed to rally despite the government's rejection of their request for a permit.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's website Kaleme reports that "Tehran security forces arrested dozens of protesters." There was no official confirmation of the detentions.

Protesters gathered in Tehran's squares, some chanting "death to the dictator" -- a slogan used by protesters against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the disputed 2009 presidential election.

Reformist leaders Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi said they called the rally to show solidarity with uprisings that ousted authoritarian leaders in Egypt and Tunisia. Iranian authorities warned the reformists against proceeding, calling it a ploy to mobilize an anti-government protest and revive their Green movement.

The website Kaleme, says Iranian police stationed several cars outside Mousavi's home in Tehran to prevent him and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, from taking part in the planned gathering. It says authorities also cut telephone lines at Mousavi's house and severed his mobile phone connection.

Karroubi has been under house arrest in Tehran in recent days. Kaleme called the Iranian government's moves a sign of "weakness and fear."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, on a visit to Tehran, called on Middle Eastern governments to listen to the demands of their people, although he did not mention Iran directly.

Mousavi and Karroubi headed the 2009 protests. The two reformists ran against Mr. Ahmadinejad and accused him of rigging the vote, a charge the government denies.

The 2009 protests ended in a violent crackdown by Iranian militiamen loyal to the clerical establishment. Scores of people were killed and wounded during demonstrations that lasted several months.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised this year's revolts in Egypt and Tunisia as an Islamic awakening, akin to the 1979 revolution that ousted Iran's U.S.-backed shah. Iranian reformists see the Arab protest movements more like r struggle against Iran's authoritarian clerical rulers.

On Saturday, U.S. national security adviser Thomas Donilon urged Tehran to give the Iranian people the same rights to assemble peacefully, demonstrate and communicate that Egyptian protesters won in Cairo.

Hope these guys aren't expecting any help from us in this. Obama has shown he won't side with protestors in Iran.

You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Start a war with Iran? You do understand that they support the terrorists that have killed Americans and our serviceman. From my prospective here, we already are at war with them.

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Wont start a War with Iran. Sabotaging their Centrifuges was an Act of War, and they didn't do anything.

I know a few things to support the protesters and to "pour some gasoline on the fire so to speak"... and all it involves is getting some video out of Iran showing people being shot in the streets, Militia Thugs beating women, etc.

You need to drive a wedge between the Iranian Military and the Mullahs. Beating up defenseless people on a nationwide scale works wonders.

The Iranian Military will make short work of the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran is not Egypt. For things to change things will get bloody.

With the Iranian legislature calling for the deaths of the opposition leaders, things could really get interesting if they follow through on it. For starters, those guys aren't much more than an incremental improvement over Ahmedenijad. But, that may be just what is needed for the protests to begin to spiral out of control.

(02-14-2011 05:44 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Start a war with Iran? You do understand that they support the terrorists that have killed Americans and our serviceman. From my prospective here, we already are at war with them.

So does Saudi Arabia. Do we invade them too?

(02-15-2011 03:35 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:44 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Start a war with Iran? You do understand that they support the terrorists that have killed Americans and our serviceman. From my prospective here, we already are at war with them.

So does Saudi Arabia. Do we invade them too?

It's tempting..... They've been deserving an ass kicking for a long time.

Sum.. Yes they've supported terrorists, but plenty of others have too. Do you really think it's practical to start a war with Iran right now? We're already unable to pay our bills and our military is stretched too thin as it is.

Not only that, do you think the results would be positive if we did do something there? Get real.. there's no benefits to us getting involved.

(02-15-2011 03:43 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  Sum.. Yes they've supported terrorists, but plenty of others have too. Do you really think it's practical to start a war with Iran right now? We're already unable to pay our bills and our military is stretched too thin as it is.

Not only that, do you think the results would be positive if we did do something there? Get real.. there's no benefits to us getting involved.

When the Iranians overran the US embassy in '79, it was an act of war. We've heard Death to America ever since and even as they continue terrorist activities including killing innocents and servicemen, our response, sanctions. Death to the pedophile Allah, Death to Iran. There is no benefit unless we get involved.

(02-15-2011 03:35 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:44 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Start a war with Iran? You do understand that they support the terrorists that have killed Americans and our serviceman. From my prospective here, we already are at war with them.

So does Saudi Arabia. Do we invade them too?

Not so sure that Saudi Arabia is on the same scale as Iran, but there might be some benefit to taking over Mecca and Medina, it would flush out a lot of radicals to the killing fields of the desert. just kidding.

(02-15-2011 03:59 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  

(02-15-2011 03:35 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:44 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Start a war with Iran? You do understand that they support the terrorists that have killed Americans and our serviceman. From my prospective here, we already are at war with them.

So does Saudi Arabia. Do we invade them too?

Not so sure that Saudi Arabia is on the same scale as Iran, but there might be some benefit to taking over Mecca and Medina, it would flush out a lot of radicals to the killing fields of the desert. just kidding.

Well, a majority of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, and I don't think any were from Iran, but maybe they just weren't invited, being Shia and all. And I know they teach the more radical Islam in Saudi Arabia, though Iran does have its mosques to stir up anti-western sentiment. At least in Iran they held a candle-light vigil in support of the victims of 9/11. Quite a few of them don't believe the mullahs' rhetoric.

(02-15-2011 03:35 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:44 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  

(02-14-2011 05:29 PM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  You really want us to start a war in Iran?

We don't have much of a choice considering our current circumstances, we can't afford to get involved and don't have the man power to do so anyways. What could we realistically do to support the protesters that would have any legitimate effect?

Start a war with Iran? You do understand that they support the terrorists that have killed Americans and our serviceman. From my prospective here, we already are at war with them.

So does Saudi Arabia. Do we invade them too?

There is enough US Armor and Infantry Fighting Vehicles presently based in Kuwait (along with associated Air Support) to take the Saudi Oil Fields along the Western Shore of the Persian/Arabian Gulf... if the Order should ever be given.

We didn't "accidentally" leave all that stuff there after we left Iraq... He He He..