Tehran hovers under shroud of security measures

Tehran has a heavily security-laden face on Qods Day with security and plain clothes forces deployed in various parts of the city.

Jaras website reports that anti-riot forces as well as plain clothes forces are seen on Mofatteh Street, Haft-e Tir Square and streets leading to Enghelab Square.

Soldiers carrying batons and police vans are on many corners of the city.

According to Jaras, a number of people were arrested at Haft-e Tir and in one of the police vans, they were in the process of filling out forms of their identity.

Jaras adds that due to the heavy security atmosphere the presence of protesters is not “clearly evident”; however, “a man with a green ribbon around his forehead was arrested at Haft-e Tir.”

Yesterday Tehran security forces carried out a manoeuvre titled “Subduing in Tehran” and head of the security forces announced that his forces will be present in all the “sensitive locations of the city on Qods Day.”

While anti-riot police have been in position in Tehran since yesterday, since yesterday internet access, especially in Tehran, has been heavily limited, and users have not been able to access social networking sites and their emails.

Last year Iranian protesters caught the security forces off-guard by taking to the streets and coupling the anti-Israeli slogans of the day with protest slogans against the alleged fraud that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power in the 2009 June elections.