December 30, 2009 pro-government rally in Iran

On December 30, 2009, pro-government demonstrations took place in Shiraz, Arak, Qom, Isfahan and Tehran, among other cities in Iran^[1] to protest recent anti-government demonstrations connected with the much disputed 2009 presidential election.^[2] The New York Times wrote "a witness said many demonstrators on Wednesday were taken to protest sites by dozens of buses and were given free chocolate milk, and the Associated Press said the government had given all civil servants the day off to attend the rallies."^[3] Participants numbered in the tens^[3] or hundreds of thousands.^[2] Slogans included "O free-willed leader, we are ready, we are ready"^[2] and “Death to Moussavi,”^[3] Speakers included Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, and speakers called on opposition leaders to repent from their opposition to the government or be declared "enemies of God" and face the death penalty.

Observers differed on the size or representativeness of the demonstrations. One source called the main rally in the capital "possibly the largest crowd in the streets of Tehran since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s funeral in 1989." ^[4] But this was challenged by another source which stated that satellite pictures of the demonstration showed it having "far, far fewer people there than at recent opposition rallies, which numbered in the millions," and that instead of congregating in Azadi Square in Tehran, where the regime had "traditionally organized mass rallies to intimidate the opposition and the world", the rally was held in "a much smaller square" in the middle of city.^[5]

See also

• 2009 Iranian election protests
• 2009 Ashura Iran anti-government protest
• Death of Seyed Ali Mousavi
• Iranian reform movement
• Iranian revolution
• Iran student protests, July 1999
• Politics of Iran
• Where is my vote?
• The Green Scroll Campaign
• Kahrizak detention center
• 2009 Iran poll protests trial
• The Green Path of Hope (Mousavi's new political front)
• See also: Hosein-Ali Montazeri#Funeral and protests

References and notes

1. ^ Iranian hardliners rally, call for killing reformists Dec 31, 2009
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Iran regime supporters swarm streets". AFP. December 30, 2009. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzdSHkZl-Vrcllkzr74NnWrIb7eA. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Fathi, Nazila (December 30, 2009). "In Tehran, Thousands Rally to Back Government". NYT. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/world/middleeast/31iran.html?_r=1&ref=world. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
4. ^ Another Iranian Revolution? Not Likely By FLYNT LEVERETT and HILLARY MANN LEVERETT, January 5, 2010
5. ^ The State of the Opposition is Strong, Abbas Milani, January 8, 2010