Demonstrators across Iran Monday took to the streets Monday, chanting anti-government slogans and faced a show of security, a protesting group’s e-mail said. Providing information in real-time, student supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization described protesters in several Tehran locations being dispersed, sometimes beaten, by security personnel. Security forces outside Tehran University used batons and clubs to dispel the protesters, the student committee reported. Clashes also were reported in Enqelab Square, where shots being fired could be heard, the log said. Mobile phone lines have gone down around Tehran University, which students said was ringed by security forces, the postings said. Protesters burned photos of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and chanted “Death to dictator,” among other slogans. Before the planned National Student Day protest, Iranian security forces Monday arrested more than 20 mothers mourning children killed in the unrest that followed the disputed June 12 elections, The New York Times said. The mothers have rallied in Leleh Park in central Tehran every Saturday since the death in June of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose shooting rocked the world and became a symbol of Iran’s repressive government. Saturday was the first time the mothers were arrested. Government officials ordered foreign news media not to cover the protests and Internet service was slowed considerably, journalists in Tehran told the Times. Worldwide protests are planned for Saturday, six months after the elections, “to honor the Iranian people’s peaceful struggle for their human and civil rights,” said United4Iran, a network of activists supporting human rights in Iran and organizer of the event. Source: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/138626108
