Thousands of pro-Mousavi supporters gathered at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran for “Hafte Tir,” to commemorate a 1981 bombing that lead to the death of the then Secretary General of the Islamic Republican Party, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti and 70 Iranian parliamentary members.
The commemoration, which is recognized annually, was organized by pro-Mousavi supporters and banned by Iranian authorities as reported by the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), with preventative measures taken to keep the supporters from entering the mosque, said several witnesses.
One supporter amongst a crowd that approached the mosque from a side street was stopped several blocks away.
“There were guards around at every street leading to the mosque. There were guards blocking people to go there and people were complaining that they can’t go [to the mosque],” said one eyewitness on condition of anonymity.
“I could hear slogans coming from the mosque outside; not many people dared to say much. There were many guards, all of them armed and holding batons.”
Several witnesses said most of the people who attempted to go to the gathering were stopped by military forces on the surrounding streets, and were forced to leave and head home.
Others who became loud amid the silent gathering were taken away by security forces.
Despite the security forces blocking the pro-Mousavi supporters from reaching the mosque, amateur video circulated on the Internet shows some demonstrators chanting slogans in the surrounding streets. The vidoes also show reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi attending the commemoration.
Iranians could be heard once again chanting “God is great” into the night.
Anti-British and American Rhetoric
Several key officials within the Islamic Regime have spoken publicly the last several days accusing the British and the U.S. of meddling in Iranian affairs in an attempt to shift focus away from the brutal violence used by the Basiji and security forces against pro-Mousavi protestors.
The comments surfaced the middle of last week and continued leading to the weekend, as nine staff members of the British Embassy were detained for what officials from the Iranian Regime cited as participating in post-election protests.
