Eyewitness Account: Basiji Protest as British Embassy Reopens

An Iranian citizen journalist, who writes under a pseudonym to protect his identity, wrote the following article on the ground inside Iran.

Tehran’s Ferdowsi Square, with its statue of the Iranian poet, has not seen this number of security officers, police vehicles and ambulances since the unrest in 2009. But, as the British Embassy in Tehran reopened, they were back in force, as if an emergency situation had hit the capital. Although there was no crisis, the atmosphere was still tense, as members of Iran’s Basij volunteer paramilitary forces and and Hezbollah gathered in front of the embassy from around 4:00pm on Sunday, August 23.

Ferdowsi Avenue, one of the oldest streets in Tehran and a hub for foreign exchange offices, was covered with fully armed and equipped security forces, lining the road from the south, and up north to Sobh-afzar Street. Security guards and other officers could also be seen in Sadeq Street and Taqavi Street.

Just opposite the embassy’s entrance, about 40 people — roughly half of them men and half women — and a cleric, talked and sometimes argued with police officers. “They have come to occupy our country again, to invade us," some of them said. "Instead of standing by our side, why are you blocking us?”

A 30-year-old woman wearing a veil and large sunglasses that covered her face told a security forces officer: “The dirty English have come back to occupy our soil. Damn Rouhani; he is English himself. He is the servant of the old fox.”

Iran’s security forces have a rather harsh attitude towards the Basij militia, whereas the group is on better terms with the ordinary police. “Don’t talk,” shouted one security officer. “Don’t stand there. Otherwise we will throw you in the van.”

A few passersby stopped and watched the argument between the protesters and the police; some took photographs. Once security forces realized this, they approached them and searched their mobile phones.

At this early stage, members of the Basij were not violent; they shouted slogans, but not of a particularly offensive or radical nature. But everyone was watching, and Ferdowsi Avenue shopkeepers talked regularly with police.

 

Knowing your Enemy

Security officials asked people to disperse.“Why are you not in front of the Russian Embassy? Because Russia is your friend? The English are the bad ones now? Russia is plundering the country. Is that not important to you?”

A 35-year-old Basiji boy replied: “For the moment, America is the enemy. Poor Russia has no power any more. You have been listening to Voice of America too much and can’t see the truth.”

A young girl voiced her protest against the presence of the Basij militiamen. She spoke to police officers in a loud voice so that everyone around could hear: “These people have brought shame on us. What would the other side think? Ahmadinejad’s era is over. The time to climb the walls and set the embassy on fire has now finished; no more Mongol actions. Please don’t shame yourself.”

A middle-aged man answered her: “The people who want to sell us to the British are those who bring shame on us. The embassy must give 10 martyrs, so that it will be closed again. There must be martyrs. When no blood is shed, there will be no progress; they just go and come back again. We should not listen to what Rouhani says. We follow the Velayat [the Supreme Leader].”

But someone else told him,“Your own guards [the Revolutionary Guards] said not to fight.”

“I am the leader’s follower,” replied the man.

A young girl, who said she had followed the story of attacks on the British diplomatic compound at Gholhak on the embassy website, said: “Seriously? Well, as you know, your leader has said it was a mistake to attack the embassy. Now what have you got to say? Do you want to jump on the wall and bring shame on us again?”

The man was adamant though. “He said we are wrong? Did he say we are wrong? Just show me one bit of evidence that he has said so and I will go home now. The British think this country is like Israel. We will break their feet.”

The Situation Escalates

As the situation got more tense, security forces became more insistent that people move on, trying to break up the heated discussions and the demonstrations.“Go away,” some agents shouted. “Do not stand here.”

Then they started pushing people. I went to the newsstand to buy a bottle of water and came back toward the front of the crowd, but I was suddenly confronted by a wave of security guards approaching the embassy from the south of the street. They shouted at everyone to move up the street. There was no longer anywhere people could gather outside the embassy. By then, there were a couple hundred security forces, pushing people away.

Basij militiamen moved on, and gathered near Zamani Street. The security forces did not follow them, as by then the group were well away from the embassy, but a few women in the group stayed nearby. Then the slogans began: “Death to England,” Death to Israel,” Death to America,” and  “Death to reconciliation” — apparently a direct attack on the moderate administration of Hassan Rouhani.

The women were the first to shout these slogans, and then the men joined in, approaching from Zamani Street. The woman in sunglasses I had seen outside the embassy led the chants.  A policeman approached her and said, “Get lost. Don’t stand here.” But she was not afraid and shouted louder.

Security forces began to push, kick and hit the men, trying to force them back to Zamani street. One Basiji, watching from the sidewalk said: “Wow, they arrested Haj Agha [the cleric] and are taking him away.”

I turned and saw the cleric. A security force officer held him by the arm and took him down the street.

From down the street, I could hear people say: “Khomeini, be aware, we protested.”

 

Chants, Anger — But not a huge crowd

Shopkeepers stood to one side and smoked cigarettes, but as the chants and slogans grew louder, they went inside their stores and shut the doors.“They should hit them,” one of them said to me. “Congratulations to the police. I was not expecting them to have the courage to stand in front of the Basij. Usually nobody can confront them because they are so shrewd.”

A woman with a long veil separated herself from Basij protesters and told me: “I am not with them. Damn them. They have no brains. They don’t even know the difference between France and England. They have told them to say England and this is what they say. They have no brains.”

Eventually, the Basij woman with sunglasses grew tired of shouting slogans. “Rouhani is corrupt because he has permitted Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, sexy films and everything else,” she said to another Basij woman. “Now he wants the British to come back so that he can serve them.” She told her she would give her her phone number so that the other woman could share videos of the protest with her later.

Another young Basiji told me he found out about the demonstration on Instagram and Telegram. “I came alone. I didn’t think there would be so few people.”

Finally, police dispersed the crowd. I passed the Basij girls and reached the entrance of the Tejarat Jahani Ferdowsi Building, one of the main places for foreign exchange in Tehran. I stood and counted the number of Basij women that passed me. There were 24 of them. There were between 35 and 40 men.

“I think security forces and the Revolutionary Guards ordered the Basij commanders in mosques and other places not to take part in today’s gathering and not to advertise anything about it,” the young Basij man said when I asked him what he thought the reason was for the low turnout. “Those who turned out came spontaneously. This is why it was such a small number of people. They are not organized.”

To me, it seemed the low turnout and the huge presence of security forces on the day the British Embassy reopened in Tehran signalled the intentions of Rouhani’s government, and other sections of the ruling class: they wanted to put an end to diplomatic tensions that had been created by hardliners.

When I looked down the street back toward Ferdowsi Sqaure, I could see people filming with their mobile phones. It was calm in the square and there were fewer police vehicles around.

Mohammad, who sat on his motorbike selling currency, said: “England is everything. When the embassy was closed, after four months, the dollar exchange rate hit 3,500 tomans (35,000 rials). The pound sterling was at 5,500 tomans (55,000 rials). England punished them. They got the message and, thank God, the embassy is now open. Our business will now be better. Ferdowsi will be powerful again. Now it is time for the Basij to sit and watch.”

 

Sina, Citizen Journalist

 

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