Q&A: Iran protests

By Kasra Naji
Special correspondent, BBC Persian TV

Protesters used an officially-sanctioned rally to make their mark

Security forces have used batons and tear gas to disperse opposition supporters in the Iranian capital, Tehran, witnesses and state media say, but how did this crisis begin?

It all started when the results of the presidential elections were disputed by the three defeated candidates - all establishment figures in Iran, including former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and the former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, Mehdi Karroubi.

The two are now the leaders of the opposition movement in Iran which is known as the Green Movement, after its signature colour.

The disputed elections opened the floodgates of the opposition.

The continued demonstrations show that months later, and in spite of a brutal crackdown on opposition figures, journalists and ordinary demonstrators, the opposition remains potent and a serious threat to the government in Iran.

What next for the protesters?

The opposition has taken to the tactic of using the relative safety of officially-sanctioned demonstrations to come out in big numbers and turn the official rallies into a show of force of its own, with an entirely different and opposing set of slogans.

They did this on the anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy building in Tehran, when dozens of its diplomats and staff were taken hostage for 444 days.

The anniversary is marked every year with small demonstrations in support of the anti-American movement.

On this anniversary, the 30th, the opposition took over proceedings not just in Tehran but also in several towns and cities across the country in a renewed show of force, in spite of warnings by the authorities that unauthorised demonstrations would be put down.

The opposition leaders have promised to use similar occasions in the future to come out on the streets to voice their demands for change.

What is going on behind the scenes?

There is a good deal of debate within the government, and the regime as a whole, as to how to deal with the opposition. So far, the hardliners have had the upper hand.

They have cracked down on the opposition in the hope that this will force it off the streets. But this has not worked.

The continued show of force by the opposition has undermined the hold on power by the hardliners in Iran.

There are almost daily demonstrations in universities, where many students support the opposition.

Indeed, the opposition leaders have warned that the government, feeling the pressure from within Iran, might choose to make concessions abroad on international issues.

There are now signs that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his immediate supporters in the regime may be following a different and more conciliatory line to that of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Iran's dispute with the international community over its nuclear issue.

How is Iran divided?

There is growing divide between the government and the regime as a whole on one side and a good number of Iranians on the other.

The opposition demonstrators have been directing a lot of their anger at Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lately.

He is seen as the power behind the crackdown, behind President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed win in the elections, and behind many of Mr Ahmadinejad's domestic and foreign polices that have brought more hardship to Iranians.

The fact that this latest round of demonstrations spread further than just the capital, Tehran, is not a comforting sign for the government.