2009 Iranian presidential election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.[36] The protests continued until 2010, and were titled the Iranian Green Movement (Persian: جنبش سبز Jonbesh-e Sabz) by their proponents, reflecting Mousavi's campaign theme, and Persian Awakening, Persian Spring or Green Revolution.[37][38][39]
2009 Iranian presidential election protests
13 June 2009 – 7 December 2010[1]
United States: Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Preston, Iowa, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Irvine, Kansas City, Las Cruces, Las Vegas,[2] Los Angeles, Madison, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, State College, Tempe, Washington, D.C.
Canada: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo
Germany: Berlin, Bochum, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Heidelberg, Münster, Stuttgart[3]
Sweden: Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Skellefteå, Karlstad, Sundsvall,[4] Uppsala,[5] Helsingborg,[6] Umeå,[7] Jönköping,[8] Uddevalla,[9] Borås[10]
Netherlands: The Hague, Amsterdam, Delft, Leiden, Groningen, Maastricht,
Italy: Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence
Switzerland: Geneva, Lausanne, Zürich, Bern
Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra,[11] Adelaide[12]
Spain: Barcelona, Madrid
Ukraine: Kyiv,[13] Kharkiv
United Kingdom: London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol[14]
France: Paris, Lyon
Belgium: Brussels, Leuven
New Zealand: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
Portugal: Lisbon
Austria: Vienna, Salzburg[15]
Romania: Bucharest[16]
Hungary: Budapest[17]
Czech Republic: Prague
Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya
Denmark: Copenhagen, Aarhus
Norway: Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Arendal, Kristiansand
South Korea: Seoul, Busan, Daegu
Armenia: Yerevan
Israel: Tel Aviv
United Arab Emirates: Dubai
Turkey: Istanbul, Ankara[18]
Pakistan: Islamabad,[19] Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar
Egypt: Cairo[20]
Kuwait: Kuwait City[21]
Greece: Athens[22]
Cyprus: Nicosia[23]
Bulgaria: Sofia[24]
Azerbaijan: Baku[25]
Poland: Warsaw[26]
Finland: Helsinki[27]
Ireland: Dublin[28]
Singapore: Singapore[29]
India: Hyderabad[30]
Bangladesh: Dhaka[31]
Philippines: Manila
Alleged voting fraud and irregularities
Election transparency, recall of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office
Demonstrations, riots, civil disobedience, strike actions
Protests quelled
Protests began on the night of 12 June 2009, following the announcement that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won nearly 63 percent of the vote, despite several reported irregularities. However, all three opposition candidates claimed the votes were manipulated and the election was rigged, with Rezaee and Mousavi lodging official complaints. Mousavi announced he "won't surrender to this manipulation", before lodging an official appeal against the result to the Guardian Council on 14 June.[38] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered an investigation into the claims of electoral fraud and irregularities, as requested by Green Movement leaders.[40][41][42] Ahmadinejad called the election "completely free" and the outcome a "great victory" for Iran, dismissing the protests as akin to little more than "passions after a soccer match".[43]
Due to the sporadic cases of violence present at the protests, the government had the police and paramilitary Basij violently suppress them; protesters were beaten, pepper sprayed, arrested and tortured, and even shot in some cases. The most widely known firearm victim was Neda Agha-Soltan, whose last moments were uploaded to YouTube and broadcast around the world.[44][45][46] Opposition groups also reported thousands more were arrested and tortured in prisons around the country, with former inmates alleging mass rape of men, women, and children by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in prisons such as Kahrizak and Evin.[47][48] The Iranian government confirmed the deaths of 36 people during the protests,[32] while unconfirmed reports by Mousavi supporters allege at least 72 deaths (over twice as many) in the three months following the election. They claimed relatives of the deceased were forced to sign documents citing death by heart attack or meningitis.[49][50] Iranian authorities closed universities in Tehran, blocked websites, cut off mobile signals[51] and banned rallies.[41]
The creation of the Iranian Green Movement developed during these protests. It was also termed the "Twitter Revolution", due to protesters' reliance on Twitter and other social media to communicate.[52]
Alleged foreign involvement[edit]
On 26 August, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released a statement through Iranian state television. He said that although he did not believe opposition leaders were working as agents of foreign governments, he did believe that the protests were organized and planned, possibly without the knowledge of the Iranian political opposition. He said that "This plot was defeated, since fortunately our enemies still do not understand the issue in Iran", specifically pointing to foreign involvement in the protests.[170][171]
On 16 June, Der Spiegel cited Voice of America as reporting that the Iranian government had recruited as many as 5,000 Lebanese Hezbollah fighters to clash with protesters.[172] On 19 June, CNN reported that, according to media reports and online chatter, the Basij "seem to have added some Arabic-speaking members – suspected of being [Lebanese] Hezbollah fighters."[173] In response, a spokesman for Hezbollah denied any involvement with the turmoil in Iran and stated that Hezbollah is not taking sides in what it considers to be an internal Iranian affair.[174]
On 17 June, The Jerusalem Post quoted two Iranian protesters who claimed that "Palestinian forces" (which the article states are members of Hamas) were working with the Basij in helping crush the protests.[175]
Hunger strike[edit]
A number of Iranian intellectuals[201] organized a three-day hunger strike in front of the United Nations. The invitation was signed by 42 scholars. The event was scheduled for 22–24 July 2009. Iranian journalist and writer, Akbar Ganji, spearheaded the strike to call for the release of all those who have been arrested in Iran following the protests.[202]
Among the intellectuals that signed the invitation are: Abdolkarim Soroush, Hamid Dabashi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abdol Ali Bazargan, and Janet Afary. Among the supporters of the initiative are Reza Baraheni and pop singers Ebrahim Hamedi, Googoosh, and Shohreh Aghdashlou.[203][204][205] U.S. citizen Noam Chomsky was present at the hunger strike.[206]
A number of Iranians organized a two-day strike at Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, Germany. The event was scheduled for 24–25 July 2009. The invitation had a list of over twenty people as strikers so far and a considerable list of supporters. Among the strikers was Daryush Shokof.
The number of cities joining the Iranian global hunger strike reached over fifty with Toronto, Vancouver, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, as well as Italy, Australia, and Ireland. The hunger strikes are for freedom of all Iranian political prisoners and for "not" recognizing the presidential elections and its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
Robert Redford joined and supported the hunger strike in Washington on 20 July.[207]
Use of religion[edit]
The Economist reported that supporters of Mousavi have enlisted religious symbolism on their side. This directly appeals to the notion of injustice and redemption at the heart of Shia Islam.[222]
For Iran, one of the links of communication exist solely because of the ideology the revolutionary movement was based upon Islamism (Poursaied, p. 136). The religious institutions were used to communicate from one revolutionary group to another. These institutions consist of "mosques, ritual centres, and even charity funds,"[223] and these venues allowed people to gather right under the nose of the government in order to become organised.
Protesters have deliberately dressed modestly. The marches in Tehran saw women in chadors and turbaned clerics,[222] some of whom were seen thronging Mousavi's car during the 15 June rally at Revolution Square.[224] According to Anna Johnson of Associated Press, conservative women in black chadors have joined the liberal youth for the common goal of trying to get their voices heard.[225] The Time reported that some protesters believed they had a religious duty to protest.[226]
Protesters have also made use of slogans such as "Allahu Akbar" (a common Islamic Arabic saying that translates to "God is great") from the revolutionary era.[227] Protesters on Twitter have urged marchers to carry copies of the Qur'an with them, citing its verses bringing about peace.[228] When mourning the deaths of slain protesters, the marchers chanted "Peace be upon (Prophet) Mohammed and his family."[229]
A bystander, Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed by authorities, has been mythologised by the opposition as a martyr. The status of a martyr is revered in Shia Islam. To prevent this from happening, the authorities have tried to call off funeral services for her, which according to Shia Islam, must be held on the third, seventh, and 40th day after the martyr's passing. Robert Tait and Matthew Weaver of The Guardian noted that it was funeral processions on the 40th day of mourning of fallen protesters in 1979 that created momentum in toppling the shah's regime.[230] The idea of martyrdom resonates deeply amongst the Shiite Muslim population of Iran. The Shiite faith was founded on the idea of self-sacrifice in the cause of justice.[231]
Legacy[edit]
According to the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at the time of the protests—General Mohammed Ali Jafari—the problem of the election was not that the reformers had been denied victory but that they had challenged the tenets of the Islamic Revolution, and that the system of the Islamic Republic could no longer depend on popular support. In a leaked video of a meeting of the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard he stated, "It was a blow that weakened the fundamental pillars of the regime. ... Anyone who refuses to understand these new conditions will not be successful".[232]