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February 2011 protests in Iran
Part of the impact of the Arab Spring
Date	14 February 2011 (2011-02-14) – 1 March 2011
Location	Iran
Caused by	Alleged electoral fraud during 2009 elections, violation of human rights, lack of freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, Corruption
Goals	Political reforms.
Methods	Civil disobedience, civil resistance, demonstrations, riots, online activism
Resulted in	No government concessions made
Lead figures
Opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi Mehdi Karroubi Mohammad Khatami Zahra Rahnavard Government leaders Ali Khamenei Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mohammad-Reza Rahimi Mostafa Mohammad Najjar Mohammad Ali Jafari
Casualties
Death(s)	Unknown
Injuries	91

The February 2011 protests in Iran were two weeks of demonstrations in Iran which began on 14 February 2011, called "The Day of Rage". The protests followed the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests and were influenced by other concurrent protests in the region.

Background

Following the highly controversial 2009 Iranian presidential elections, massive protests erupted across Iran. The Iranian government suppressed the protests and stopped the mass demonstrations in 2009, with only very minor flare-ups in 2010. However, not many of the protesters' demands were met.

Then, the Arab Spring spread across the Middle East and North Africa. After the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia on 14 January 2011, millions of people began demonstrating across the region in a broad movement aimed at various issues such as their standards of living or influencing significant reforms, with varying degrees of success. With the successful ousting of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011 following that of President Ben Ali of Tunisia, renewed protests began in Iran.

On 27 January, the opposition Green Movement of Iran announced a series of protests against the Iranian government scheduled to take place prior to the "Revolution Day" march on 11 February.

Protests

14 February

This date was chosen for protests to coincide with 25 Bahman, the 11th month of the Persian calendar, and was publicized as "The Day of Rage". The day before the protests were due to begin, opposition leaders Mousavi and Karroubi were placed under house arrest and denied access to telephones and the Internet. Their homes were blockaded and they were not allowed visitors. On 14 February 2011, thousands of protesters began to gather in a solidarity rally with Egypt and Tunisia. There was a large number of police on the streets to keep an eye on the protesters, but thousands were still able to gather together in Tehran's Azadi Square. The number of protesters has been given by different sources, from "thousands" to "hundreds of thousands".

The solidarity protests turned into an anti-government demonstration during which the police fired tear gas and paintballs at protesters. Protesters to protect themselves, responded by setting fires in garbage bins. Video footage showed one civilian being violently beaten by a group of protesters. Two protesters were killed in Tehran, both university students. Sane Jaleh during the protest, and Mohammad Mokhtari the next day from his wounds. According to reporter Farnaz Fassihi, Jaleh and Mokhtari were both shot by men on motorcycles who their friends identified as Basij members.

Protests were also reported in the cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, which police forcibly dispersed, as well as in Rasht, Mashhad and Kermanshah.

The protests that occurred on this day marked a setback for the government of Iran, as the regime has campaigned that Mousavi's Green Movement had lost momentum, but the revived uprisings helps prove otherwise.

15–16 February

Protests on 15 February were not as intense as the day before. On 16 February there were sporadic clashes between protesters and pro-government forces. Karroubi and Mousavi responded to calls for their execution by saying they are willing to die for change.

Thousands of pro-government supporters turned up in Tehran for several state sponsored rallies on 16 February.

17–19 February

On 17 February, it was reported that opposition leader Mousavi had been missing since Tuesday 15 February. Mousavi's daughters stated that they had had no contact with their father for over two days after security forces had put him under house arrest. His daughters feared that both Mousavi and their mother "had been detained". Mousavi's website stated that the "normal" guards that had been surrounding his home during his house arrest over the past week had been replaced with "masked security forces". Karroubi reported that one of his son's homes had been raided in an attempt to arrest his eldest son, but he was not in the building at the time.

On 18 February, thousands of pro-government supporters called for the execution of opposition leaders after Friday prayers. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said that the opposition leaders had lost their reputation and are as good as "dead and executed." He said there should be more restrictions on Mousavi and Karroubi. "Their communications with people should be completely cut. They should not be able to receive or send messages. Their phone lines and Internet should be cut. They should be prisoners in their homes."

On 19 February, the Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar stated that the protests set for Sunday, 20 February, will "be confronted as per the law".

20 February

Protests were also planned for 20 February, to mark a week since the deaths of those killed in the 14 February protests.

The Fars News Agency released a report in the morning warning that "armed opposition groups plan to shoot at people in protest rally set for Sunday afternoon." The agency claimed that this group was Mujahideen-e Khalq an Iraq-based Iranian opposition group, which had entered the country for the sole purpose of attacking the protesters.

Protesters began gathering in the tens of thousands throughout Iran and especially in Tehran. The protesters were seen occupying government buildings, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting building. However, extremely large numbers of police and plainclothes Basij militia were stationed throughout the city, even outnumbering the protesters in some of the city squares. Tear gas was fired and witnesses reported that security forces fired into protests and beat demonstrators with steel batons. In one neighborhood, Basij members reportedly took over a commercial building and dropped tear gas canisters from the roof onto protesters. Eyewitnesses reported that two protesters were killed by Basij paramilitaries, one each in the Vanak and Vali Asr squares. Police arrested a number of protesters and were seen stopping people on the streets and frisking them, along with removing people from vehicles.

The daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Faezeh Hashemi, was arrested for taking part in a banned rally. Shortly afterward, she was reportedly released. The Fars News Agency reported that she had been released after claiming that she was out shopping.

There were also reports of other protester demonstrations going on in other major cities across Iran. However, coverage by journalists was thin, because the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security had "sent a letter to foreign media offices in Tehran warning them that their bureaus would be shut down and their reporters deported if they wrote "negative articles" surrounding the opposition protests." While the protests were taking place, the IRNA news agency released television reports saying that things were "completely quiet and normal". Furthermore, the Fars News Agency had released reports to the public saying that the 20 February protests would be especially violent, because the "opposition plans to shoot people."

It was later reported by witnesses that demonstrations did take place in Isfahan and Shiraz, most of which were dispersed after being attacked by police and Basij militia. Five protesters were reportedly injured in Shiraz.

24 February

A statement was released by opposition websites and opposition leader Mousavi calling for "nationwide street protests every Tuesday for the next three weeks as a way to increase pressure on the government", which would have protests occurring on 1, 8, and 15 March. Dubbed the "Tuesdays of Protest", they were decided upon in order to keep the "momentum" of the protests going and to call for the protesters to move onto other types of resistance, such as "sit-ins, strikes, boycotts and civil resistance." The opposition has also stated that these new protests were called for in order to end the house arrests of the opposition leaders, Mousavi and Karroubi.

25 February

A video depicting opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was released early 25 February on the news website Sahamnews.org. It had been recorded by Karroubi before he had been placed under house arrest on 13 February. It called for the protesters to remain determined, saying "We must remain determined on the road of our convictions, and I am certain we will succeed...We are committed to the pact we made with the people, to establish the power of the people and Islam based on elections. And on this road, no trouble, no difficulty is too hard to bear." The video itself was snuck out of his home by his wife in order to get it to the local media.

1 March

The opposition movement called for a protest for 1 March, which is the first in a series of protests dubbed the "Tuesdays of Protest". As in the other protests, security forces deploying tear gas and other weapons were out in significant numbers and clashed with protesters. According to opposition sources, over 200 protesters were arrested in Tehran by security services and plain clothes and another 40 in Isfahan. According to the BBC news, one of the arrested was Fakhrosadar Mohtashami, the wife of former minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, who (according to a relative or hers) is being kept in Evin Prison and "has not been allowed contact with her family for the time being."

Arrests

Ignacio Pérez-Cambra, the Consul of Spain in Iran, was arrested for a period of four hours during the early part of the day on 14 February. He was accused by Iranian police of going to one of the demonstrations. Spain later demanded an explanation or apology from the Iranian government about the arrest of Pérez-Cambra that included a "satisfactory response", threatening to call him home from Iran if one was not received. The foreign ministry already announced that it had "suspended an upcoming visit to Madrid by a senior Iranian diplomat." The UK also echoed its displeasure over the detainment of Cambra. Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi called the Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Trinidad Jiménez on 17 February in order to apologize for the incident with Cambra, stating that those responsible for his arrest had been "unaware that they were violating the Vienna Convention", but that an investigation was underway nonetheless.

Ghaneh Jaleh, the brother of one of the students who were killed, was arrested on 17 February, reportedly because he gave "a telephone interview to foreign media about his brother", specifically to Voice of America. During the interview, he told Voice of America that his brother, Saleh Jaleh, was not a member of the Basij, as was being claimed, but that the Basij membership card had been faked by the government. He explained that, on 15 February, his cousin had taken a photo of Saleh from his home and it was this image of Saleh that was on the Basij membership card.

Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was arrested on 20 February while attending one of the anti-government protests on that day. The reasons stated for her arrest included "making blunt statements" and "chanting provocative slogans." She was released from police custody shortly afterwards.

Ali Karroubi, the son of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, and his wife were arrested on 21 February according to opposition websites, with Ali's wife later being released while Ali himself is still being kept in custody.

On the Tuesday protest of 1 March, Fakhrosadar Mohtashami, wife of former minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, was arrested and taken to Evin Prison.

The official number of protesters arrested has been given as 150 by the government, but the opposition claims that the numbers are far higher, at around 1,500. Since the initial protests, the number of officially recognized arrests has risen to 1,500, with the opposition also raising their believed number of arrested protesters.

It was reported that at least 16–18 student activists at Tehran University have been arrested since the beginning of the protests. One student, Arzhang Alipour, had "given interviews to media describing how fellow student Hamed Nour-Mohammadi was killed during protests in the southwestern city of Shiraz on 20 February", which resulted him being called in front of the disciplinary committee of the university three times before he was finally arrested on 12 March.

Casualties

The human rights organisation HRANA's website reported that one person had died after riot police opened fire at protesters near Tohid Square in Tehran. According to Kazem Jalali, one of the injured protesters also died later in the day on 14 February.

Both people killed (Mohammad Mokhtari and Sanee Zhaleh) were students, though from different universities. According to the Iranian government, Sanee Zhaleh was a member of the Basij militia and was killed by the opposition. Reuters reported that protesters did not deny that Zhaleh was a Basij member, but that he had "attended Monday's rally as an active opposition supporter;" but other protesters have strongly denied Zhaleh's Basij involvement and produced an image of Zhaleh visiting Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri – one of the main critics of Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – indicating Zhaleh was truly with the opposition. International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) and Tehran Bureau both quote student oppositionists who deny Jaleh was a Basiji. A member of the Tahkim-e Vahdat student organisation (Office for Strengthening Unity) told the ICHRI that Jaleh was "not a Basiji" but a member of the Tehran Arts University's Islamic Association, and that "he had attended previous demonstrations as well". Sanee's brother, Ghaneh Jaleh, also denied Saleh's membership in the Basij. He and others assert that Jaleh's Basij membership card was faked from a photo taken from Ghaneh's house.

Clashes erupted during the funeral service held for Zhaleh. Voice of America reported that government loyalists arrived at the funeral and began fighting with the protesters, forcing them to leave and abandon the funeral service. The Guardian also reported that Iranian authorities had "hijacked the funeral of Zhaleh, busing in hundreds of pro-government supporters and banning his own family from attending." The IRIB new service reported that the mourners at the funeral were government supporters and could be heard chanting slogans such as "death to Mousavi" and "death to Karroubi." IRIB also reported that the funeral procession was then attacked by members of "the sedition movement", who were repelled by pro-government protesters.

Two unidentified men were killed by the Basij militia during the 20 February protests, each respectively in the Vanak and Vali Asr squares.

It was later reported that another student, Hamed Nour-Mohammadi, was killed by security forces during the protests in Shiraz. The Iranian state media later quoted the president of the student's university as saying that "Nour-Mohammadi died in a car accident and that he hadn't taken part in the antigovernment rallies that day." Since Mohammadi's death, student protesters have not been allowed into the university grounds and his family warned "to remain silent on the subject of Nour-Mohammadi's death."

Domestic responses

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad released a statement saying, "It is clear the Iranian nation has enemies because it is a nation that wants to shine, conquer peaks and change relations...Of course, there is a lot of hostility against the government. But they knew that they would get nowhere.... just wanted to tarnish the Iranian nation's brilliance...It is a shining sun. They threw some dust towards the sun... but the dust will return to their eyes."

The commander of the Basij Mohammad Reza Naghdi told the Fars News Agency that he believed the protests had been started by "western spies" and that "western intelligence agencies are searching for a mentally challenged person who can set himself on fire in Tehran to trigger developments like those in Egypt and Tunisia."

The Mourning Mothers gave their support to the protests and stated that they would be joining the protesters in their marches. They called for the unconditional release of all political prisoners, abolition of the death penalty and a public trial for all those who had permitted massacres of citizens in the past 35 years.

On 15 February Press TV reported that members of the Iranian parliament had called for the execution of two opposition leaders for inciting demonstrations on the previous day. 221 of the MPs present at the Iranian parliament signed a statement that said "Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi are corrupts (sic) on earth and should be tried. We believe the people have lost their patience and demand capital punishment." After signing the statement, the signatories gathered in the center of the chamber chanting "Death to Mousavi, death to Karroubi". The term "corrupts on earth" is a specific Iranian charge also known as Mofsed-e-filarz that carries the death penalty.

Mousavi said that "the demonstrations a 'great achievement'" and Karroubi responded directly to the MPs claiming that he "is willing to 'pay any price' for his country."

Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, Prosecutor General of Iran, voiced his support for the actions of parliament and that he thought the opposition leaders should be "punished."

Pro-government clerics began calling for the execution of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on 16 February as he had become increasingly aligned with the Green Movement since the 2009 election protests.

The Islamic Propagation Coordination Council called for a rally on 18 February in order to show anger at what it called the "crimes" of "seditionist" leaders and their rebel allies. As a result, before and after Friday prayer, thousands of pro-government demonstrators poured into the streets of major cities to demonstrate their support and demand prosecution of Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami.

All forms of Iranian media were banned from covering the protests, though the demonstrators were still able to release information by utilising social media like Facebook and Twitter. In addition, foreign media were banned from covering the events.

International reactions

See also

• Iranian reform movement
• 2009 Iranian election protests
• 2009 Iran poll protests trial
• The Green Scroll Campaign
• The Green Path of Hope

References

Template:World protests in 21st century

• Use dmy dates from January 2013
• 2011 in Iran
• Protests in Iran
• 2011 riots
• Protest marches
• Impact of the Arab Spring
• 2011 protests