Iran braces for anti-government protests on key anniversary

(News Terupdate) - Bracing for an onslaught of anti-government protests on an important national anniversary in Iran on Thursday, authorities imposed a virtual information blockade and warned that it will arrest and detain demonstrators until April if they take to the streets.

Iran this week celebrates the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which culminates on Thursday, or 22 Bahman in the Persian calendar. It is a day when the country marks the end of its Western-backed monarchy and the start of an Islamic republic.

But since a disputed presidential election in June, protesters have turned public gatherings into rallies against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was declared the overwhelming winner of the race.

Such overt anti-government displays on key occasions have embarrassed and inflamed Iranian authorities, who have responded with mass arrests of protesters they denounced as anti-Islamic and against the revolution.

Undeterred, a coalition of Iranian reformist groups -- the so-called Green Movement -- urged opponents of the regime to come out once again in masses and stage non-violent protests on Thursday.

Police, wary of the potential that 22 Bahman gatherings could present, were out in full force.

Hoping to take some wind out of the protesters' efforts, crowds of flag-waving pro-government supporters turned up at Azadi, or Freedom, Square in central Tehran for a planned speech by Ahmadinejad -- heightening the potential for deadly clashes between the two sides.

The government said that, if protesters disrupt state-sanctioned marches, they will be jailed until at least April 9, the end of the Persian holiday of Norooz. The holiday marks the start of spring.

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Residents in the Iranian capital said Wednesday that text messages on many messaging services have been blocked and Internet speeds have slowed to a crawl.

The Internet "comes on only a few minutes each day, but you never know when," one Iranian wrote in an e-mail to CNN, which he said took seven hours to send. "This has been going on for more than four days now. I contacted my Internet provider and they said it is out of their control."

"We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail," Google said. "We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly."

Accustomed to such blocks, Iranians have become savvy about alternative links allowing them to get around government filters so they can communicate via e-mail.

"Our phones are strictly followed and controlled," a young Iranian who participated in past protests said by phone from Tehran.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Iranian said that for the first time the satellite television signals in his neighborhood had been jammed.

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Human rights groups and opposition Web sites also have reported widespread arrests targeting journalists.

According to the Paris-based journalism watchdog Reporters Without Borders, at least eight journalists were arrested Sunday and Monday, bringing the total number of reporters now in prison to at least 65.

There were other reports that journalists trying to enter Iran this week have been denied visas by the government. CNN had requested a visa for a correspondent to cover the anniversary events and that application was denied.

Anti-government demonstrations began after the June 12 presidential vote, which re-elected hard-liner Ahmadinejad won over main opposition candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi. But late December marked the deadliest clashes since the initial protests broke out last summer. At least seven people were killed and hundreds arrested as they took to the streets on Ashura, which occurred on December 27, witnesses said.

The Iranian government has denied that its security forces killed anyone and has blamed reformists for the violence.

Police arrested 4,000 people in the post-election crackdown.

Two men have been executed for participating in the demonstrations, and 10 have been sentenced to death and await appeal.

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