Tehran Uprising - 4
- Mass demonstration by 50,000 in Tehran chanting "Down with mullahs' regime" and "Khatami, this is the final warning, National Liberation Army is ready for uprising' shocks ruling mullahs'
- Emergency meeting of top officials of mullahs' regime to consider ways of tackling rising popular uprisings throughout Iran

In the wake of Saturday's mass demonstration in Tehran by 50,000 students and residents, which continued until midnight over a large area of central Tehran, all the "senior officials and executives" of the mullahs' regime were summoned to attend an emergency meeting at the headquarters of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The meeting considered the irrepressible rise of antigovernment uprisings in different parts of the country, with Saturday's uprising in Tehran being the fourth in less than two weeks, after popular uprisings in Islamshahr (South Tehran), Piranshahr in the northwest, and Abadan in the southwest.

The resounding chants of "Down with Khamenei," "Down with the mullahs' regime," "Guns, tanks and (paramilitary) Bassijis are no longer effective," "Victory to Mojahedin" and "National Liberation Army is ready for uprising" have instilled grave fear in the ruling mullahs.

The impact of yesterday's mass protest and the slogans chanted by the crowd was evident even in today's government-run newspapers. One of them, Entekhab, wrote: "Yesterday's events (in Tehran) proved that the turmoil inside the country is driven and led by hands outside the country... They were chanting 'Incompetent Khatami, this is the final warning, National Liberation Army is ready for uprising' and 'Down with Bassijis' and 'Guns, tanks and (paramilitary) Bassijis are no longer effective'.

The state-run radio and television reported that in today's emergency meeting, Khamenei underlined his "grave concern over the issue of unity and vigilance in the face of enemies." He referred to "the well-calculated and complex conspiracy of the enemy" and urged "maximum vigilance and alertness by the people and the authorities."Khamenei also tried to lift the sagging morale of his demoralized officials and remove their profound fears and uncertainty over the future of the regime.

The entire ruling clique were present in today's meeting, including Khatami, Rafsanjani, Judiciary Chief Shahroudi, Majlis Speaker Karrubi, Guardian Council chief Jannati, and Revolutionary Guards and army top brass, ministers and Majlis deputies.

In yesterday's mass demonstration, Revolutionary Guards and State Security Forces agents fired tear gas and live ammunition at the crowd. In other scenes, Revolutionary Guards operating in the guise of a group of thugs known as "Ansar Hizbollah" and armed with knives, daggers, clubs, chains, cutters and broken bottles charged at the crowd and seriously wounded many of the students and protesters who sustained injuries to their faces and heads.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 9, 2000

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