Iranian protests - the first clash

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Reporter Hugh Sykes is chased from a demonstration by Iranian police

Hugh Sykes
BBC News

On the morning of Saturday 13 June, the day after the elections in Iran, Tehran was quiet.

But as people woke up and the improbable result began to sink in, Mir Hossein Mousavi supporters came out of their homes, and gathered in small informal groups.

This was not organised protest - I saw friends greeting each other with pleasure and surprise - and shared shock at the outcome of the vote.

But the police, the army and the volunteer Basij militia had prepared for trouble.

See map of the area

Outside the Ministry of the Interior, where the votes were counted, Dr Fatemi Avenue had been blocked off with low concrete barriers.

But the pavement was open on the other side of the road. People stopped and peered at one of the upper floors of the ministry building.

They were firmly moved on by policemen - barking out orders, and carrying batons to reinforce the message.

What the crowd was peering at high up on the ministry was a young man in a white shirt, perched precariously on the window ledge of about the ninth floor.

He looked like someone threatening to jump off.

But as soon as I stopped to have a look, I was moved on: "Borro, Haji, Borro! Befarmayid!" - "Go away old man, go away, please!"

Turning nasty

I went away. On the corner of Dr Fatemi and Darab 3 Street, a man shouted in support of the reformist candidate, Mr Mousavi.

Three policemen attacked him, hit him over the back and legs with their batons, grabbed his shirt and pulled him away and pushed him into a police car.

I walked to Fatemi Square, about 100 metres to the east of the ministry. There was a line of police cars, Basiji militiamen on motorcycles, and a phalanx of riot police.

Reporters were warmly welcomed at rallies before the elections

About 20 protesters gathered on some steps at the far end of the square.

The riot police suddenly clattered across the square, shields and batons held high.

The crowd dispersed.

But a few minutes later, a larger crowd (of about 200 people I guess) assembled on each side of Dr Fatemi St at the eastern end of Fatemi Square.

They chanted their support for Mr Mousavi. They chanted their opposition to President Ahmadinejad: "Bad, Bad, Dictator, Bad Bad Dictator!"

One man shouted, in English, "The election is not true".

I started filming - with a discreet High Definition camera. Almost immediately I was stopped by a man in a black leather jacket.

"Where is your press card?" demanded the plainclothes policeman.

"Na! Na!" a group of protesters shouted at him as I fished the card out of my pocket. They surrounded the man in the leather jacket and pushed him away.

This happened twice.

Running for cover

I went on filming. Then I heard a shout of "Run!" I could hear motorbikes approaching. I ran. I didn't turn round to look. I held my camera up, hoping to capture whatever was happening behind me.

The crowd ran with me. We ran down the pavement, separated from the road by bushes, small trees and a rainwater drainage channel.

I could hear a motorcycle on the pavement behind me.

Suddenly, there was a militia motorcycle on the pavement in front of us, trying to cut us off. One man collided with one of the Basiji, knocking him off his bike. Surreally, he shouted "Bebashid!" (Sorry!) as he ran on.

FROM THE PM PROGRAMME Hugh Sykes' account of the day on the PM blog

Most of the crowd escaped down an alleyway conveniently fitted with sturdy steel hoops - a common feature of Tehran alleyways, designed to stop motorcycles using them as short-cuts.

As I was running, I dropped my camera. I recovered it later from a water-filled ditch. It's taken two weeks to dry it out and view the footage I recorded.

Those motorbikes got very close.

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