On the fortieth day after the death of a martyr, Shi'ite Muslims congregate to memorialize and celebrate the dead. The prototype of this sort of memorial is the arba'în of the death of Emâm Hoseyn, grandson of the Prophet, who was killed at Karbala by the forces of the Caliph Yazîd.
June 20, 2009 (the 30th day of the month of Khordâd, 1388 in the Persian calendar), a young woman called Nedâ Âghâ-Soltân was shot dead, without provocation, in a street in Tehrân by a member of the Basij militia. The militia were seeking to quell the popular protests that had emerged since the Iranian presidential election on June 12, 2009, which are popularly believed to have been won by challenger Mirhoseyn Musavi, but which the Iranian government announced had been won by a very large (many would say unbelievably large) majority for incumbent president Mahmud Ahmadinezhâd. Her death was captured on a cell-phone camera, and quickly came to be seen throughout Iran and the world.
June 20, 2009, was forty days ago. Today the 8th of Mordâd in the Persian calendar, Iranians are once again out on the streets in great numbers. Many have attempted to visit the Behesht Zahrâ cemetery where Nedâ's body was buried.
As the Iranian people fill the streets, the government has, as expected, resorted to harsh and brutal measures to reassert its own authority. Police began by arresting visitors to Behesht Zahrâ. Presidential candidate Musavi attempted to visit the cemetery, but was physically forced to leave by the police. Another reformist presidential candidate, Mehdi Karrubi, also appeared at the cemetery.
Large numbers of people have gathered in public squares (Valiasr, Vanak, Haft-e-Tir, Ferdowsi, Enghelâb) in Tehrân and apparently other cities (Esfahân, Shirâz, Tabriz) in Iran as well. These sites have become the site of clashes between the people and either the police or militias. Gunshots have been heard at various locations, including in the neighborhood where Nedâ Âghâ-Soltân was murdered. Some video from today is now available (below) showing police beating protestors with clubs and firing at them.
A further large gathering is reported to have assembled at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran.
These are ongoing developments, and much remains unconfirmed. However, it is clear that the Iranian protest has taken to the streets again.