‘We have finally learned to fight’

The students at Tehran University were trapped between the men with clubs and thin air.

Late Sunday night and early Monday morning, some 300 police and members of the paramilitary Basij militia stormed the university’s dormitory, where students had protested against what millions of Iranians, along with most independent analysts, believe was a stolen election. Hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the runaway winner, with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing his victory as a “divine assessment.”

But the outcome was announced before many of the votes could have been counted. And the declared results bore little resemblance to the reality on the ground, with Ahmadinejad supposedly winning in the regional and ethnic strongholds of his opponents. While one poll taken three weeks before the election suggested Ahmadinejad was leading, polls closer to the election date indicated that reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had surged ahead.

Even had the votes been counted accurately, this would not have been a truly democratic process. All candidates must be approved by the country’s religious establishment, which does not allow liberals, leftists, and secularists to run. But the apparent vote rigging still drove Iranians into the streets in numbers that have not been seen since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Most marched in support of Mousavi, who promised more liberty without directly challenging Iran’s religious leadership. Mousavi officially received 34 per cent of the popular vote.

The regime responded by sending police and Basij on motorcycles to rush the crowds and beat them with clubs. Then they began shooting. The BBC obtained footage of a Basij member firing an AK-47 assault rifle into a crowd of protesters. Iranian state radio reported seven deaths and claimed that “thugs” had tried to storm a military post. Hospital authorities reported eight deaths.

And so, on Sunday night, when the police and Basij charged up the stairs of their Tehran University dormitory, the students inside had nowhere to escape but out their upper-floor windows. Some jumped. Others threw stones and shouted “Death to the dictator!” When the attackers reached the students, they beat them and threw others off their balconies. About 80 students were arrested. This information comes from a student who was at the university and who then spoke with Iranian-Canadian Sayeh Hassan, who in turn relayed the information to Maclean’s. It has been confirmed by news reports out of Iran, and by Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, who condemned the assault. There are reports that police also raided a university dormitory in Isfahan. A post on YouTube shows the body of man who is said to have been a student shot during the attack. The video’s authenticity could not be confirmed.

It has become increasingly difficult to get accurate information about the unrest in Iran. As of Tuesday, foreign journalists were forbidden to leave their offices to report, film, or take photographs without permission. Phone networks, Internet, and satellite transmissions were also sporadically jammed or cut off.

But Maclean’s was able to reach several demonstrators, mostly young Iranians, with the help of Iranian journalist Arash Azizi, who recently moved to Canada and was able to contact the demonstrators by phone and Internet. “I had never seen such a thing in my life,” said Mastaneh, 23, who works in a beauty salon in Tehran, speaking about the demonstrations on Monday. “We could hear shooting, but people weren’t afraid. We kept shouting: ‘Don’t be afraid. We are all together here.’ A policeman wanted to attack the people, but they rushed him and then let him go.”

A 21-year-old woman who also marched on Monday described the protest as “spectacular” and “fabulous.” She said the crowd tried to stay silent but some still shouted slogans. “When it rained, people said God has cried. I am excited and will keep going. I think the next thing to do is to shed our hijabs. If all of us took our hijabs off, this regime would be closer to being overthrown.”

Siamak, a 27-year-old from Oromiyeh in the northwest of Iran, said the city was in turmoil and reported that one demonstrator was killed—a claim that was not possible to verify.