The leader of the Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi, got very angry. His wife had been assaulted yesterday by regime thugs, who unleashed pepper spray at her face when she attempted to join the demonstrations. At one this morning she was taken to a private clinic, complaining of trouble breathing and seeing. She was sent back home, apparently in better shape, some hours later.
Meanwhile, Mousavi had been forced to spend the night at his offices at the Fine Arts Center, surrounded by Basij hooligans, and mid-morning, contrary to the pleas of his security detail, he went out and got into his car. Basij on motorcycles surrounded the car as it tried to move. Some of them beat the vehicle with clubs and shouted at him. So he got out of the car and confronted them, as a crowd of his supporters gathered.
“I know you have your orders,” he said. “You have been told to beat me or shoot me. Do not delay. Here I am. Do it now.”
The Basiji hesitated, then left. Mousavi continued on home to join his wife. The news is now all over the country, on VOA and the BBC.
Meanwhile, there is intense fighting at university campuses in Tehran. Reports of tear gas and gun shots.
Silence from the White House as the future of the world revolves around the Iranian cauldron.
UPDATE: More details.
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