Iran Rallies Mark Revolution, Show Solidarity With Egypt's Protesters

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad says the Islamic Revolution that toppled the country's U.S.-backed monarch three decades ago has now spread to other Islamic countries, 

Ahmadinejad was speaking to crowds gathered in Tehran today to mark the 32nd anniversary of the revolution.

In a reference to recent antigovernment protests in Tunisia, Egypt, and other Arab countries, Ahmadinejad said, "Our revolution was not an ordinary political or national move, but as we see today, after 32 years, it led a global awakening and a new movement in the Middle East and North Africa."

During his speech to a crowd gathered in Tehran's Azadi Square, Ahmadinejad also called on Egyptians and other Arab people to defend their rights to be free.

"You have the right to be free. You have the right to national sovereignty.  You have the right to express your views and will freely on national and international affairs," he said. "You have the right to choose what kind of government you want and who should rule you."

Revolution Continuation

Iranian authorities and the country's state-run media say the current developments in Egypt are similar to those before Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and that what is happening in Cairo is a continuation of Iran's revolution.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for the establishment of an Islamic regime in Egypt, where thousands of antigovernment demonstrators for more than two weeks have been calling on longtime President Hosni Mubarak to resign.

Iranian state television said the anniversary rallies this year show solidarity with the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Hundreds of thousands marched today in Tehran towards Azadi Square, chanting slogans denouncing the United States and Israel. Some also carried placards in support of the Egyptian and Tunisian protests.


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The anger and frustration of the people and their efforts are legitimate and obviously real, no one doubts that, its more ado with the fact that the US has kept this person in power and is now pretending to side with the people (as evidenced in US media) which is clearly indicative of some contrived rearranging. Then they have the nerve to attribute the upheaval to wikileaks, and claim that Egyptians are at a loss for not having to Goldman Sachs Facebook or Twitter (what Americans call 'internet'). The real patronizer is in claiming that it was Wikileaks that compelled these people to move and not their own common sense understanding of the corruption in their country which if anything has been impeded by the consolidated western internet, and indeed it would not be beyond the US to provide this theater of a regime change like a smaller scale Bush to Obama type move. As for the prisoners being released, that just will make the people beg for "order" to be restored, a textbook maneuver. 

FROM PRESS TV

Thousands of inmates have managed to escape from a prison in western Egypt as thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets.


Some 5,000 Egyptian prisoners broke out of a penitentiary in Faiyum Governorate, located about 130 kilometers (81 miles) southwest of Cairo, early on Sunday, DPA reported.

A top official holding the rank of general was killed in the incident.

There are also reports that angry crowds kidnapped another senior defense official, who also holds the rank of general.

Meanwhile, a massive crowd of Egyptians staged a rally outside UN headquarters in New York on Saturday to show their support for the anti-government demonstrations in their homeland.

Egyptian-American protesters chanted slogans denouncing President Hosni Mubarak at the rally.

On Saturday night, protesters in downtown Cairo set a building of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) on fire for the second time.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers could be seen on the streets of Cairo while fires from Friday's violence are still smoldering.

Some mobile phone networks resumed service in the capital on Saturday after being shut down by authorities on Friday. Internet services, however, remain cut.

In addition, twelve people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in Beni Suef, located about 115 kilometers (72 miles) south of Cairo, on Saturday.

The number of people killed in protests since Friday is reported to be at least 100. More than 2,000 were also injured in clashes that have rocked Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria.

Egypt's main opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, is calling for the establishment of an interim government without the ruling NDP.

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