NCRI – A large crowd who had gone to the holy city of Qom to pay tribute to the late Ayatollah Montazeri on the fortieth day of his death demonstrated in Saheli Street on Friday afternoon chanting “Down with dictator” and “Death to Khamenei, God bless Montazeri.” The crowd filled all the nearby streets and allies in the area. Large number of pilgrims who had gone to the holy shrine of Massoumeh also demonstrated in the yard surrounding the shrine and outside that area last night.
In fear of protests, the suppressive forces tried to prevent people from entering Qom in recent days by severely controlling traffic on motorways leading to the city and checking ID cards of drivers. The suppressive measures caused anger among pilgrims going to the city.
The suppressive forces had a heavy presence in the city creating an atmosphere of intimidation and terror in a bid to prevent any protest. The agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security and State Security Force had cordoned Montazeri’s house during the past few days preventing people from going there.
Repressive measures were also intensified in Esfahan and the suppressive forces were deployed on the rooftops of Hosseinieh of Esfahan and other buildings around it.
Ceremonies on the fortieth day of Montazeri’s death were held in the city of Najaf-Abad, his birth place, on Thursday and Friday in Azam Hosseinieh under harsh repression.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
January 29, 2010
