Azerbaijanis taking part in meetings in Iran brutally dispersed

Yesterday, on May 28, mass actions of the Azeri population protesting against violations of their rights continued in Teheran and other cities of the country. In order to suppress the actions, the authorities used their special troops of the "guards of Islamic revolution" which are notorious for their brutality.

As the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed at the Baku office of the Movement for National Emergence of Southern Azerbaijan (MNESA), 20,000 soldiers of the guards and the military pro-government organizations "People's mojakheds," "Fedai" and others have been brought to Teheran. The forces have attacked the groups of demonstrators in front of the parliament building and in other places.

Yesterday, secret services arrested scores of the national movement activists. The troops blocked the gathering places and metro stations. The city entries and exits were monitored. The mobile communication was off, the transport virtually paralyzed, the main city trade outlets were closed.

Despite all these measures, actions of protest were held in some places of Teheran.

The dispersal of demonstrations has resulted in scores of people being wounded, about 500 persons were arrested. The most violent clashes took place in front of the Iranian parliament building where thousands of people had gathered. According to some sources, the authorities used motorcyclists carrying metal bars in their hands against the demonstrators. They were attacking the demonstrators and beating them with the bars, however, after a 2-hour battle the demonstrators continued their action. Disturbances continued throughout the day, shooting in various places of the city were heard.

On the same day, actions of protest continued in Tebriz where thousands of people again went out into the streets. Two bank offices were put on fire in the course of the demonstrations. Simultaneously, actions of protest were held in Ardebil, where nearly 80,000 people took part. There were no clashes with troops but several government buildings were burnt. Clashes took place in the cities of Ghilian and Gurghan.

According to MNESA, the security services continue their hunt for all prominent figures of Azeri intellectuals and students' activists. During the recent days, almost 3000 people have been detained, 24 persons have been killed, the number of wounded has exceeded 300 across Iran.

According to unconfirmed data, some military units refuse to comply with the orders of the authorities and express their solidarity with demonstrators.

In their turn, members of the "Dalga" youth movement and Iranian students, while picketing in front of the Iranian embassy in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, have burned a state flag of Iran and a caricature of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad shown with a fascist swastika on his face.

"An attempt to provoke disturbances on ethnic and religious grounds is the last act of desperation on the part of our enemies," declared Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of the Iranian revolution, in his address over the national television. He reminded that "recently the enemies of the Iranian nation have allocated money for the purpose," and noted an important role of the Azerbaijani minority in the Islamic revolution.

Responding to the accusations of Iran with regard to the USA, Jonathan Henic, head of the public relations department of the US embassy in Azerbaijan, said in his interview with journalists that the USA noted deterioration of the situation with regard to human rights and intolerance of the authorities towards ethnic and religious minorities in Iran with every coming year.

"In connection with repressions against demonstrators, we have called upon the authorities in Iran to respect the right of citizens to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. The Iranian regime is notorious for poor situation with human rights and violent reaction to public discontent. Therefore, accusations to the effect that the USA supports the events under way in Iran are simply far-fetched," notes Henic.

According to him, "the Iranian people do not need to be remembered that the tactics applied by the Iranian authorities against their nation is brutal and violent. The Iranian people have long ago expressed their wish to have a more democratic, free and open society, and this wish has been clearly expressed inside Iran without any instructions or support from outside."

For reference, the conflict between the authorities of Iran and the Azerbaijanis residing in the country started on May 8 from the publication of caricatures, which are offensive for Azerbaijanis, by the government newspaper "Iran." Azerbaijanis were shown in the form of cockroaches. However, the Iranian authorities, in order to avoid escalation of the conflict, have closed the newspaper, its chief editor-in-chief and the caricaturist have been put into custody.