"their freedoms are not as limited as some think. The fact that they are even allowed to march is clear evidence of that."
It is against the law to hold a public gathering in Iran without prior permission. Five people standing on a street corner can be an invitation for arrest on charges of conspiring against the gov't.
Any person joining a protest/demonstration takes the chance of being beaten, arrested. etc.
Demonstrations such as the one held today are expected by the regime and they put up with them to a point. Ahmadinejad and Khatami recently visited the U.S. and tried to convince everyone that they run a free country. Very bad press to be seen beating up all the protesters in an annual event.
However, the regime has been known to use helicopter gunships on its citizens in smaller out-of-the-way cities in order to control the crowds.
I've read that the ratio of protesters to cops and gov't vigilante thugs for this event were about 2 to 1. In other words, 1 thug for every 2 protesters. That's pretty heavy-handed tight security.
P.S. Please be advised that the gov't takes photos of people participating in these events and will arrest people days later with no publicity about it. Some of these people may remain in prison for years, or end up dead.
Now, would you like to hear what can happen to children who are caught attending a coed birthday party?
So much for Iranian freedoms.
>>It is against the law to hold a public gathering in Iran without prior permission.<<
It is in the US too. But we spell permission "permit".
>>Demonstrations such as the one held today are expected by the regime and they put up with them to a point. <<
Are you talking about the WTS marches in Seattle. I was there. It was incredible.