Fire Festival protests – 13
Clashes on Roudaki Street
NCRI – Since about 17:00 local time, protests on Fire Festival began in various parts of Tehran and other cities, with the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks heard extensively.
In Tehran, the youths have started their fiery celebrations with the sounds of firecracker explosions on Mosaddeq Street, Mosaddeq Square, Parkway, and Behboudi, Sattar Khan, Karoun, and Khani Abad streets. Mosaddeq Street is full of suppressive agents of the regime.
In Roudaki Street, clashes took place between people and taxi drivers on the one hand and the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and paramilitary Bassij Force on the other, who have created grievances for the people.
The Telecommunications Company, which is now controlled by the IRGC, has resorted to extensive filtering on the internet. Internet bandwidths have been reduced to their minimum capacity, bringing connection speeds to a crawl. In many parts, internet has been disconnected.
Mobile networks have also been disrupted in various areas, especially central parts of Tehran. Commanders of suppressive forces have stressed that internet should not be disconnected entirely but rather connection speeds be reduced significantly. This measure is aimed to waste the time of internet users who seek to communicate with others.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 16, 2010
