Protests illustrate split in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — Thousands of Iranians took to the streets Wednesday to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, but the annual state-sponsored anti-U.S. rally turned into another sign of the deep divisions in Iran.

As pro-government demonstrators ritually chanted "Death to America!" outside the former U.S. Embassy, opposition protesters vented their anger over a disputed presidential election in June and the crackdown that followed it. Converging on a square about a half-mile from the former embassy, opposition marchers denounced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with shouts of "Death to the dictator!"

The rival demonstrations — and ensuing street clashes between protesters and security forces — illustrated the split that has come to define Iran 30 years after Islamic revolutionaries overthrew the U.S.-backed shah and branded the United States "the Great Satan."

While Iran's ruling ayatollahs and government leaders maintain their entrenched distrust of and enmity toward the United States, the young people who form the bulk of Iran's population have no memory of those revolutionary days, and many opposition supporters favor a more open society and greater international engagement.

The government has struggled to quell protests for five months, deploying security forces and officially banning opposition demonstrations. Yet Wednesday, protesters defied the ban, even as police fired tear gas and warning shots. In video clips captured by cellphone cameras, helmeted police could be seen beating protesters, including women, with batons.

In Washington, before the clashes erupted, President Obama issued a statement marking the anniversary of the embassy takeover, when extremists stormed the building and seized diplomats and other U.S. personnel, whom they held hostage for 444 days. Obama called on the Iranian government to decide whether it wants to focus on the past or the future.

"Iran must choose," he said.

Clashes were reported Wednesday in several places in Tehran and in Shiraz, 420 miles south of the capital. Most demonstrators were unable to convene for long, as motorcycle units of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and members of a pro-government militia arrived to disperse them.

Security forces prevented opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister who challenged Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election, from leaving his office, a Web site affiliated with Mousavi reported. "He was under de facto house arrest today," another said.

The anti-government protests, planned for weeks via the Internet, graffiti messages and illegal leaflets, were smaller than similar rallies in September during annual state-sanctioned marches in support of Palestinians. Analysts said the protests nevertheless showed the persistence of anti-government groups.

Iranian authorities had warned protesters against disrupting or overshadowing the annual gathering outside the former U.S. Embassy.

Thousands attended the rally, holding up signs denouncing the United States. Young men burned a homemade U.S. flag and danced around the flames, punching their fists in the air.

"No compromise, no surrender! Battle with America!" one speaker shouted, as the crowd repeated his words.

"The Americans say they are worried about religious democracy in Iran," said Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a former head of parliament. "But they get upset when Islamic parties win free elections."