Articles on today's 4shanbesoori in the press

Guardian online

Iran protests: festival of fire live blog
4pm:
Tonight's demonstration is a key test of the strength of the opposition after a disappointing turnout at last month's protests.

Some commentators, including former US security council middle east expert, Flynt Leverett, said the turnout on 11 February showed that the opposition was running out of steam.

The planned protest tonight is different from the other demonstrations staged since the disputed elections last June. It is due to happen at night rather than the day to coincide with Chaharshanbe Suri or the Feast of Fire celebrations.
Even before the election this Zoroastrian ceremony had become a way of showing defiance to the regime. It involves letting off fireworks, jumping over bonfires, and men and women dancing on the streets - an activity banned in the Islamic Republic.

The festival often turns dangerous as young people traditionally chuck petrol bombs and other homemade explosives.

This time round the authorities have banned the festival and stepped up security. The supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei described Chaharshanbe Suri as corrupt and counter to Islam.

Yesterday the authorities announced that six people arrested in earlier protests will be executed. The move is being seen as a way of warning the opposition not to take to the streets tonight, according to the New York Times.

The defeated opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi have not overtly called for supporters to take to the streets tonight. But yesterday Karroubi pointedly said the Iranian government was "plagued with despotism".

And the Facebook page of Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard has expressed support for the festival. It is the festival of light against darkness, it said.

4.08pm:
Tehran police chief General Hossein Sajedinia told the ISNA news agency his forces were deployed to prevent "any event in the city".

The police have also announced that riding motorbikes will be banned tonight.

Opposition website, Norooznews, reported that Mousavi told a group of activists that the green movement would continue into the Persian New Year, which starts on Sunday.

"We have to call the next year the year of patience and resistance, until the aims of the Green Movement are achieved," he said.

4.14pm:
Police are banning petrol stations from filling up containers, according to CNN's Reza Sayah.

4.18pm:
There are numerous reports of firecrackers going off and even of clashes on the streets of Tehran from usually reliable sources on Twitter. Video footage has been released but there are doubts about its veracity, some claim it shows last year's fire festival.

4.31pm:
The Tehran fire brigade reports 36 separate incidents across the city tonight, according to the state run news agency ISNA. Eight of the incidents were due to handmade fireworks, it said according to our translator.

4.39pm:
Three people have been arrested in Enghelab Square in Tehran, according to the INA news agency.

And there is a heavy police presence in Tehran's Haft-e Tir Square and the Saadat Abad and Velanjak areas of the city according to France24.

Earlier today the Committee of Human Rights Reporters said that women's rights activist Laleh Hassanpour was arrested after a police raid on her home.

4.48pm:
As usual on one of these protest days there is virtual media blackout in Iran which means that reliable information is difficult to obtain. If you are in Iran and have news, please email me at matthew.weaver@guardian.co.uk or for a more secure encrypted message email me at matthew_weaver@hushmail.com and please post updates or interesting links in the comments section below.

5.05pm:
The number of incidents reported by the Tehran fire department has increased to 66 up to 7.45pm local time (4.15pm GMT), according to the semi-official Mehr News.

5.11pm:
Some 32 people have been injured in the festival so far, according to Isna citing a medical official.

There is still a notable absence of reliable images or video footage of what's happening. Either nothing much is occurring or the regime has successfully blocked news spreading. There are reports of restrictions on the internet in Iran and slow connection speeds.

Mobile phone networks have also been blocked or disrupted in some areas, opposition websites claim.

5.24pm:
There are unconfirmed reports of a fire at the home of Hossein Karroubi, son of the opposition leader Mehdi. The report, spotted by Tehran Bureau, appears on a website loyal to the regime.

5.38pm:
The number of people injured tonight has increased to 83, according to the opposition website Rahesabz.

The satellite broadcaster Al Arabyia reports that images of both president Mahmoud Ahmadinjad and the supreme leader Khamenei are being set fire in the protests.

5.50pm:
An email claiming to be sent from Shanhrake Gharb in Tehran reports large fires in that area of the city. This appears to confirm similar reports from opposition website.

Some of the fires were as high as the doors on houses, the email says.

It says car drivers are protesting by sounding their horns. "I did not hear slogans but a lot of hooting which shows that the protests are not finished yet," the message from Vahid says.

He claims the protest/festival is being tolerated by on looking police and Basij militia. "It seems that Iranian leader has ordered the forces not to attack people and leave them to do their festival," the message says.

6.05pm:
That report of a fire at the home of Hossein Karroubi (5.24pm) is false, according to a tweet from Mehdi Saharkhiz, whose father, a former spokesman for president Khatami, is currently in jail in Iran.

6.12pm:
The number of incidents reported by the Tehran fire department has increased to 123, according to the semi official Fars News.

There are reports from human rights campaingers of "clashes" between protesters and the riot police in Karaj, a city 40km west of Tehran.

There has also been an explosion in a house in the city, according to the independent Khabar online.

6.20pm:
You can use this Google widget to translate the blog into a rough version of Persian.

(It looks good, but our translator says it is very rough and doesn't generate proper sentences).

6.45pm:
Vahid emails with another update claiming to be from Shahrake Gharb in Tehran. He's just seen two helicopters hovering over the areas, and has heard of clashes elsewhere in the city. So far there have been no reliable accounts of violence between the police and the protesters.

6.51pm:
One apparently reliable video from tonight has been uploaded to YouTube, but it is short and difficult to see anything. But it's interesting that footage is starting to emerge.

6.58pm:
The semi official Fars News now says the number of calls to Tehran fire service has increase to 164 tonight. A contact emails to say that the sound of firecrackers in the Fereshte area of Tehran are getting louder.

7.06pm:
The opposition website Rahesabz says tonight represents a success of sorts because it claims thousands of people have taken to the streets to take part in the festival/protest in defiance of recent comments by the supreme leader.

But the opposition must be disappointed not to have witnessed a greater show of strength.

7.21pm:
After sunset, people filled the streets in Tehran and across Iran for tonight ceremony, AP reports.

It adds:


Iranian riot police and militiamen have fanned out around Tehran in a major show of force during a national festival that authorities feared could re-ignite anti-government protests.

7.24pm:
A new video purporting to be filmed tonight shows the extent of the ceremonies in the southern city of Shiraz.

7.28pm:
More video, again apparently filmed tonight, shows people singing and dancing in the central city of Isfahan. They are not chanting anti-government slogans, but taking part is seen as act of defiance.

Another video from Isfahan looks more raucous.

7.38pm:
This video from the northern city of Ardebil shows home-made bombs going off. Such explosives are common during the festival of fire.

A witness in western Tehran emailed to say there is still "lots of bombing" and that this year's festival was larger than previous years.

The fact that people use of improvised explosives during the festival might explain why the police appear to have kept their distance.

7.50pm:
The videos are now coming thick and fast. This one is the first from tonight showing protesters directly defying the regime by chanting "death to the dictator".

8.00pm:
More videos appears to confirm that festival goers were also protesting against the government as well as playing with fire and explosives.

8.04pm:
Here's the first footage from tonight purporting to show pictures of Khamenei's being burnt.

8.08pm:
The time in Iran is approaching midnight when people have been warned they face arrest if they continue to be on the streets.