Pray and spray in Tehran

NY Times:

Security forces used tear gas and batons to break up crowds of opposition demonstrators during and after the Friday prayer at Tehran University, news reports said, as the leading opposition cleric, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, harshly assailed the government’s handling of what he termed a “crisis.”

At least 15 protesters were reported to have been arrested near the prayer service. Thousands more poured onto the streets of central Tehran afterward, news reports said.

Using blunt language in his sermon at the prayer service, Mr. Rafsanjani, a former president and senior cleric urged the authorities to show sympathy for their opponents defuse what he called a “crisis” after the disputed June 12 presidential elections.

...

Rafsanjani is really not better than the bigots in power, but he does have the ability to stir the crowd that opposes the bigots in charge. By keeping they disappointed and disaffected alive he manages to give some hope to those who have lost their fear of the wicked regime in Iran.