This morning a fresh round of opposition demonstrations erupted across Iran and there have been widespread clashes reported between protesters and various state security forces, the police and the paramilitary Basij militia. The troubles are seemingly focused in the main on Tehran's universities, as well as those in the provincial cities of Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz and Karaj. Troubles have also been reported elsewhere in Tehran.
The protests are testimony both to the extent of grievances still widely held among a large section of the Iranian population and to the bravery of the Iranian people even in the face of state violence and repression.
Today – the 16th of the Iranian month of Azar – is Student Day in Iran, an anniversary commemorating the shooting dead of three students protesting at the 1953 visit of Richard Nixon, then US vice-president. Earlier in 1953 a coup had ousted elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and restored the hegemony of Muhammad Reza Shah. More than a half a century later, many feel that a potent historical parallel renders Student Day this year especially poignant.
A few months ago in June, forces loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad carried out an election-grabbing soft coup. Since then Iran, long authoritarian, has moved ever closer towards a totalitarianism intolerant of any criticism. Ex-president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani has, while calling on protesters to keep their demonstrations "within the framework of the law", complained that "the situation in the country is such that constructive criticism is not accepted".
