Anti-government forces took to the streets of Tehran today. They were using the anniversary of the Islamic revolution as an excuse to vent their anger. But Iranian authorities were ready for them.
Arrests were reportedly made,opposition leaders were attacked, and the internet was blocked.
A journalist whose identity was withheld for safety reasons put it this way : “This time they were serious. This time they meant business.”
This as the government “turned out” hundreds of thousands for a state-organized commemoration of the date.
They heard Iranian President Ahmadinejad declare Iran a “nuclear state” by enriching a batch of uranium to 20 per cent.
He went further :
“Our nation has the courage to say if it wanted to build a nuclear bomb it could built it…and not fear the west.”
An official from a member state of the UN nuclear watchdog agency the IAEA told Fox News he was skeptical about the claim. “That’s just ‘speech-ifying,’” he noted.
As for the state of the opposition movement, this was supposed to be a make or break day. The Iranian journalist told Fox News many activists were intimidated and stayed in their homes.
Supporters hope the critics were not “broken” today.