Last Friday, thousands of protesters gathered outside Tehran University.

In Iran, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Tehran once again last Friday. They called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign and were met by police and militiamen who fired tear gas.

At Friday prayers, one of the country’s top religious leaders — Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, himself a former president — voiced new doubts about the results of the recent presidential election, which returned Ahmadinejad to power. He said those doubts “are now consuming us.”

Watch the interview: Protesters return to Iran’s streets following Friday prayers

Worldfocus contributing blogger Juan Cole shares comments from an associate who witnessed last Friday’s prayers.

The past couple of days everyone I met debated back and forth whether to attend Friday Prayers today or not. Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president and one of the “founding fathers” of the Islamic Republic, was to give the sermon this week. This was the first time he would speak out since the elections.

Around 11:00am I left the house with my companions and we headed to Valiasr Street. The streets were packed, both with pedestrians and cars. We hailed down a taxi and asked the driver to get us as close to Enghelab (Revolution Square) as she could. Every road she took was blocked off by the police. We finally made it to the intersection of Hafez and Taleqani and decided to walk the rest of the way to the University of Tehran. All along Enghelab Street special forces lined the streets as people calmly walked towards the university. As we approached the main gates of the university, Ansari’s voice (who was giving the first talk of the Friday Prayers) was heard throughout the area from the loudspeakers positioned in Enghelab (there were also loudspeakers lining the east, west, and north of the campus virtually all the way towards Valiasr Square). It was impossible to get to the main gates of the university as the crowd was already too large and the Basij and special forces directed people into side streets. We turned into Qods Street. By this time it was already 12:30 and the crowd kept growing.

Everytime Ansari mentioned the Supreme Leader, the crowd booed. Everytime he referred to the opposition as traitors, chants of “liar, liar” started. When he mentioned that everyone should listen to the advice and dictates of the Supreme Leader, chants of “Death to the dictator” were loudly shouted. When he derailed America and Britian for muddling in Iran’s affairs, the crowd erupted in chants of “Down with Russia” (because Russia immediately recognized the re-election of Ahmadinejad and congratulated him). As he spoke of the recent killings of Muslims in China, the crowd chided him and the system for its hyprocrisy. Though there was a visible show of force by the Basij and supporters of Ahmadinejad, almost all the women were decked in green ribbons or scarfs, and many men had on green shirts or hats. The women had all gathered on one side of Qods and wouldn’t let the crowd remain silent during Ansari’s speech. Many had climbed onto large trash bins or light posts and led the entire streets in chants–all were decked in green and in the face of the Basij, people put their arms in the air, with the peace/victory sign.

The crowd was composed of people of all ages and backgrounds. Women brought their children with them, many of whom they had dressed from head to toe in green. A few middle-aged women entered the street carrying a framed photo with a black ribbon of Sohrab Aarabi, the 19 year-old boy who was killed during the demonstrations last month and who’s body was only released earlier this week. Women gathered around and started chanting: “My martyred brother, I will reclaim your vote” (baradar-e shahidam, rayet ra pas migiram). Shouts of Allah-u Akbar were routinely started and as Ansari finished his speech, the crowd erupted in “Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein.”

Shortly after Rafsanjani began his sermon and the crowd grew into a silence. The first part of his sermon was dedicated to the leadership of the Prophet, while the second and third parts were directed to the post-election situation in Iran. As he started his second part, he called for the release of all those imprisoned during this past month (the crowd erupted into appaulse); he spoke of how the people had broke the back of the Shah’s regime and that one should never forget the power of the people (chants of “Allah-u Akbar” rang loud from all streets surrounding the university); he talked of the need to keep the “Republic” part of the Islamic Republic in place by respecting people’s vote; he berated Seda-va-Sima (the state media) for its coverage (elated, everyone again broke out in applause). In short, he spoke out against the election results and the subsequent crack-down of the past month, indirectly criticising Khameini. As he wound down his speech and made his recommendations (essentially, to regain the confidence of the people), people shouted their support for him.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr user .faramarz under a Creative Commons license.

For more, view our Voices of Iran extended coverage page and listen to our online radio show on Baha’i faith and modern Iran.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi — the challenging reformist candidate who many claim to be the true winner — will meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Guardian Council on Saturday, along with two other losing candidates.

Numerous demonstrators have reportedly been physically abused by the Revolutionary Guard since the start of the street protests.

Ervand Abrahamian, a distinguished professor of history at the City University of New York, joins Martin Savidge to discuss what the future may hold for this post-election tumult.

A journalist with Tehran Bureau who wishes to remain anonymous sends a description of recent happenings to Worldfocus:

On Wednesday, another huge throng (several tens of thousands of protesters) marched peacefully from Haft-e-Tir Square to Enqelab Square in central Tehran — in silence (no slogan-chanting), dressed in black (for mourning) and green (for Mousavi), carrying flowers and the following types of placards:

- blown-up photos of the dead & wounded in past days (from photos circulating on the Internet)

- the text of a constitutional article that states “all peaceful demonstrations are allowed” under the law

- caricatures of Ahmadinejad with a Hitler-like moustache

- sympathy messages for the families of the fallen

- slogans printed on banners, such as: (phrases rhyme in Farsi)

• “Election, not selection”
• “Coup d’etat state, step down!”
• “Liar! Where’s your 63 percent?” (i.e., of votes)
• “Cheating — 1 or 2 percent, not 53 percent!”
• “Wretched Mahmoud — you still call it football?” (in reference to his answer to Christiane Amanpour, comparing protesters to dissapointed soccer fans)

Today’s march is slated for Toopkhaneh Square to the Grand Bazaar (South Tehran). It appears that a different route & different district is chosen everyday, so to increase visibility among Tehran’s 15 million residents. Of course, all routes chosen so far are large and busy thoroughfares, which is causing heavy traffic.

A protest in front of the U.N. mission is also planned for earlier in the day.

Energy for protests seems to be gaining momentum, because every day more people learn about the peaceful nature of the marches and their massive attendance and join in for the next day’s. More importantly, fear of police intervention in these marches has subsided, as police simply stand by and watch.

Interestingly, info is now spreading by word-of-mouth on the street. Strangers literally tell each other about the next day’s march location, from car to car and passerby to passerby. Some are printing & distributing infosheets on the streets as well (the type of info found on chain e-mails, to give to those who may not have Internet access).

There are increasing reports of raids on private homes to take away satellite dishes. People are increasingly turning to radio as a source of news.

For more, view our Voices of Iran extended coverage page and listen to our online radio show on Baha’i faith and modern Iran.