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Vice Blog

IRAN - COUNTER-PROVOCATEURS

Ali Golsar is a kid in Tehran who's been sending us updates on how it's going in the city the last week and a half. Weird, in case you're wondering. Here's a little incident he told us happened to him last week that slightly blew us away. He took some photos too. And no, that's not his real name.

Wednesday I was in a video store on Vali Asr Ave when the owner abruptly asked me to get out. I left thinking that perhaps I'd accidentally said something offensive or asked too many open questions about their collection of blacklisted films (I was trying to buy a copy of Mohsen Makhmalbaf's

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for my girlfriend) when I realized all the boutiques were closing early because a large demonstration from an intersecting street was about turn the corner.

Two blocks ahead of me several Basiji were approaching with riot shields and batons, sandwiching me between them and the oncoming protestors four blocks away. As I turned around to walk into the demonstrators two of the Basiji called out for me to stop. I dropped my head down and walked a little faster. In hindsight, I should have seen if one of the nearby noon-vahi owners would let me duck into their shop before they locked the door, but when you're all alone no one helps you in the city. In an instant, I remembered all the messed-up things I've seen and heard about in the past week, a woman's hand being beaten in traffic for hold up a peace sign out of her window and her husband being brutally clubbed after stepping out of his car to defend his wife, all the while everyone sits quietly and obeys the orders to continue the constant flow of traffic.

I turned to look back, and one of the two had started running towards me. I slowed down thinking at least the protesters were getting closer. Again, they told me to stop, and I stopped.

"Where are you going?"

"To my home, it's in this direction," I said, raising to my neck to indicate it was towards the demonstrators.

"No it's not," they said. One of the Basiji raised his baton around my back and tapped me on my shoulder blade. "It's this way."

The story continues here.