The Iran Blog has posted some bullet points about the celebrations and protests in Iran today please see here
- In addition, Ahmadinejad has declared a Iran a nuclear state, stating that Iranian scientists have enriched the first batches of uranium to 20% purity and that Iran has the capacity to enrich to 80% purity. As stated here before, the nuclear program is a source of pride for Iranians and such declarations will bolster Ahmadinejad’s approval ratings as well as the legitimacy of the revolutionary government.
- Protestors did come out to protest but were prevented from gathering in significant numbers because of the show of force by the security forces, including the Basij militias linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
- Protests also broke out in other cities, including the holy city of Mashad, Shiraz, Esfahan and around Tehran.
- There was a fair amount of western bashing… including a float parade demonizing the U.S., Britain and Israel.
- Please see video from Iran here and here.
- In the end, security forces were able to control the situation and the opposition was not able to disturb the celebrations in a significant way.