The beatings and tear gas hit Iran demonstrators

CNN:

The Facebook page of Iran's top opposition presidential candidate quoted him Saturday as saying he is preparing to die and urging his followers to go on strike if authorities arrest him.

Mir Hossein Moussavi, who has led a protest against the government over last week's election, said he is preparing himself for "martyrdom" and is quoted as telling supporters to "protest" and "not go to work."

The authenticity of the message could not immediately be established.

Security police made "a very large show of force" in midtown and southeastern Tehran, using tear gas and clubs to beat back protesters as clashes erupted during the unrest.

This comes as demonstrators emerged on city streets to protest last week's elections in defiance of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Friday pronouncement that protests must end.

Police fired guns in the air, and Iran's Press TV also reported the use of water cannons to disperse protesters. Watch police and protesters clash Saturday »

Uniformed and plainclothes police were deployed around Revolution Square, the site of a major planned demonstration, and traffic was being turned away on a major thoroughfare leading to the square, a witness said.

The forces confronted demonstrators who tried to avoid the thoroughfare and take side streets toward the square. Clashes erupted as forces used clubs to beat back protesters. See images of the clashes Saturday »

Cell phone service was brought down after 5:30 p.m. in the area, witnesses said.

Police told protesters they had no permit to protest. Watch an Iranian studies professor discuss protest tactics »

Police also said Saturday that 400 security forces had been injured during the week's heavy demonstrations, and that public property had been damaged, Press TV reported.

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It appears the Iranian government is going to claim victim status. It also appears that the gloves have come off of the instruments of oppression. The limits on the redress of grievances will probably accelerate as the demonstrations continue.

The real problem for the government is making martyrs of the demonstrators and their leaders. The photos and videos that the demonstrators are able to get out over the internet.

The NY Times has more on the violence.

Police officers used sticks and tear gas to force back thousands of demonstrators under plumes of black smoke in the capital on Saturday, a day after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there would be “bloodshed” if street protests continued over the disputed presidential election.

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In some places, the protesters pushed back, rushing the militia in teams of hundreds: At least three Basijis were pitched from their motorcycles, which were then set on fire. The protesters included many women, who even berated as “cowards” men who fled the Basijis. There appeared to be tens of thousands of protesters in Tehran, far fewer than the mass demonstrations early last week, possibly because of intimidation. A BBC journalist at Enghelab (revolution) Square reported seeing one person shot by security forces. An amateur video posted on YouTube showed a woman bleeding to death after being shot by a Basiji , the text posted with the video said.

“If they open fire on people and if there is bloodshed, people will get angrier,” said a protester, Ali, 40. “They are out of their minds if they think with bloodshed they can crush the movement.”

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This was evidently finally too much for President Obama who said the government reaction was “violent and unjust.”