News / Reports

Iranians mark 2009 pro-establishment rallies that ensued post-election unrest

Monday, 30 December 2019 6:57 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 30 December 2019 7:04 PM ]

Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran

Iranians in Tehran and across the country took to the streets on Monday to mark the anniversary of the 2009 pro-establishment rallies referred to as the ninth of Dey, during which millions of Iranians showed support for the Islamic establishment to condemn the unrest that followed the presidential election earlier that year.

Here’s what happened back then;

Two candidates who were competing against the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that there had been a vote rigging in the election; something that Iranian authorities vehemently dismissed as baseless.

The two defeated candidates, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, called on their supporters to take to the streets and demand a new election.

Going on for months, the unrest turned violent and reached its pinnacle on the day of Ashura; when protesters reportedly insulted Islamic religious beliefs.

That triggered nationwide rallies condemning the protesters, who Iranian authorities described as foreign-mercenaries and seditionists.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi have since been under house arrest for provoking turmoil and harming national security.

Since then, every year, Iranians commemorate the anniversary of the 9th of Dey.

Since the 2009 rallies on ninth of Dey, such pro-establishment rallies have followed every incident that threatens the Islamic Republic. The last such gathering occurred very recently after the riots that erupted over the hike in gasoline prices.

In November this year, nationwide protests broke out in Iran after the government increased fuel prices by at least 50-percent. The protests turned violent when a group of people set ablaze banks, gas stations and other properties.

A few days later, Iranians held nationwide rallies to denounce the riots and draw a line between peaceful protests and what they regarded as riots.

Iranians here find a resemblance between the 2009 post-election unrest and the recent protests, and that is in the trace of external forces. They say they do have grievances over the current economic conditions, but they would not allow such problems to tilt the balance in favor of foreign opportunists.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

Iran