Chaharshanbe Suri: Lighting the Flame

As the Persian Nowruz New Years inches closer, the regime's new-found confidence stemming from its relatively successful prevention of massive protests on 22 Bahman may be deteriorating. Chaharshanbe Suri, a pre-Islamic fire festival with Zoroastrian roots, may have been the first instance of renewed clashes between protesters and the regime. The Nowruz holiday is celebrated with the arrival of spring on March 20th, while the 31st anniversary of the referendum creating the Islamic Republic falls on March 30th and Sizdah Bedar, the concluding holiday of the Persian New Year, falls on April 2nd. Needless to say, there are several instances where renewed clashes -- whatever their size or intensity -- can occur in the coming weeks.

As for 'Red Wednesday,' Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tried to ban the popular secular holiday altogether by issuing a fatwa days earlier stating the celebration is "void of religious roots and cause of great harm and corruption.” In an attempt to carry out his edict, the Revolutionary Guard deployed hundreds of forces in Tehran’s Haft-e Tir Square and Saadat Abad and Velanjak districts to prevent people from gathering. These areas have been gathering points for opposition protests in nearly each major demonstration since the rigged June election.

In issuing the fatwa, Khamenei essentially tried to eliminate a cultural tradition that dates back well over three millennia in only the Islamic Republic's 31st year in existence. Apparently realizing the futility of the decree, a senior police official indirectly contradicted the Supreme Leaders supposedly sacrosanct words by not urging Iranians to avoid the holiday, but instead saying that "people should hold the celebration near their homes." As one resident put it, "This isn't something that the government can take away from us. We've been doing this for 3,000 years. They should just accept it."

Unsurprisingly, Iranians indeed did defy Khamenei's orders, and in doing so, continued to render the leader an increasingly irrelevant figurehead of a militarizing regime. Yet while it appears that many people (throughout all regions of Iran) poured into the streets, reports of clashes with security forces remain hazy at present. Thus, the following accounts should be treated as unconfirmed:

Tehran: There is a report that the Basij headquarter in Baharestan Park in the Vahideh neighborhood was set on fire. (It should be noted that this was the same Basiji center that had played a major role in suppressing previous protests.) Later in the evening, police retreated from the park altogether, according to this same account, allowing those inside and outside the park to congregate. Another report describes clashes occurring in various parts of the capital. Security forces apparently attacked youth making bonfires in the Ekbatan area, leading to the "eruption of severe clashes." A similar clash is being reported around Seyyed Khandan Bridge, where a police officer is said to have been arrested after refusing orders to attack and disburse celebrating youth. 

Isfahan: Severe clashes have also been reported in Iran's cultural capital of Isfahan, specifically near Chahrbagh Bala and Hatef Street. A Basij station near Abdolrazzaq Square is also said to have been attacked.

Masshad: In one of Iran's holiest cities, burning tires were said to litter the streets. A Basiji's motorcycle was also captured and set ablaze in a scene reminiscent of earlier, larger protests. Also similar were chants of "Death to Dictator" and more significantly, "Death to Velayet-eh Faqih."

Shiraz: In southern Iran, reports indicate that clashes occurred between security agents and people in Zerehi Boulevard and Pasdaran Avenue. An eyewitness claims to have witnessed at least several arrests in the area.
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(Celebrants clash with security forces on Chaharshanbe Suri)