Nationwide uprising in Iran – Statement 48
IRGC helicopters provide back up for suppressive forces
NCRI – On the twelfth day of the nationwide uprising in Iran, the people of Tehran have poured into the city’s streets on a massive scale. Central Tehran has been the scene of clashes between people on the one hand and the clerical regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the paramilitary Bassij Force, special anti-riot force, plain-clothes agents, the State Security Forces (SSF) and agents from the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), on the other hand.
Baharestan Square, located across from the mullahs’ Majlis (parliament), and various other areas, including Zahiroleslam, Fakhrabad, Mojahedin, Sarcheshmeh, Jomhouri, Ekbatan streets, Eshratabad Square, Saedi intersection, Choubi Bridge, and other regions are overflowing with people, who are chanting “Death to dictator.”
Despite brutal attacks by thousands of suppressive forces, the crowds of people continue their confrontations with the regime’s agents. The suppressive forces are backed by IRGC choppers, and have closed off many roads, on many occasions preventing people from crossing certain points.
Smoke and tear gas have filled the air. Some of the mosques, including the Hedayat Mosque, are being used to station the regime’s suppressive agents.
At the time of reporting (19:00 local time), a large number of people, including women and young girls, have been either wounded or arrested.
Most protestors are wearing black-colored clothes in honor of the fallen victims during the nationwide uprising.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
June 24, 2009
