Arash Aramesh

Reporting on the events to mark the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, the pro-government and state-run news outlets claimed that up to 50 million people turned out to show their support for the Islamic Republic. This was interpreted by these news organizations as a show of support for Iran’s government.

Raja News, a pro-government website, called yesterday’s rallies a “great defeat” for the opposition and said that those involved in the sedition were now “severely repressed.” According to Raja, members of the opposition are now facing defeat and are blaming each other.

At today’s Friday prayer in Tehran, Kazem Sedighi, the prayer leader, said, “The great epic of February 11 was a sign of national unity and belief in Velayat Faqih.” Sedighi added, “In recent days, the enemy tried to cause hopelessness among our people by waging propaganda campaigns, but we witnessed that such propaganda has no effect on the revolutionary spirit of the Iranian people.”

Fars News, a semi official news agency with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported, “The people of Tehran repelled Moussavi, Karroubi, and Khatami from their crowds.” Fars claimed that yesterday’s rallies proved the opposition to the Islamic Republic was fully defeated.

IRNA, Islamic Republic News Agency, claimed that yesterday’s rally showed the “helplessness of the US.” IRNA reported that yesterday’s rallies have pushed two American senators, John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) to propose a bill that would provide the opposition with non-military assistance.

Pro-opposition sites today focused on why yesterday’s turnout was lower than expected. In an article titled, “The Pathology of the Presence of the Greens on February 11,” Jaras, a Green Movement website, tried to analyze what went wrong with the opposition’s strategy and tactics that led to a lower than expected turnout. Jaras puts the blame on the overwhelming presence of Iranian security forces at every major street in Tehran and the government’s effective fear tactics that dissuaded the supporters of the opposition from joining the protests yesterday.

Many pro-opposition websites were hacked today by a group called “Iranian Cyber Army.” The message on their hacked sites read, “This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army,” and “Do not allow yourselves to become chess pieces in a game played by those who reside in safe havens in America.”