Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Jim Sciutto of ABC News on Twitter:

Speaking to dissidents on the ground in Tehran, there are ambitious plans for protests tomorrow to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1999 student uprising. The demo’s are just ambitions for now – recent planned demo’s have fizzled – but tomorrow’s appear to be more organized. Protesters plan to make a showing in a number of Iranian cities. They’ll gather in several locations to confuse police – nine locations in Tehran, nine locations in Shiraz, similar numbers in Isfahan and other cities – and then march toward a common gathering place. Word is spreading organically: fliers, internet notices and friends calling friends. Protesters are emboldened in part by Mousavi’s refusal to back down, but more so by their own continued anger and frustration. They, like several prominent Iranian leaders from Mirhossein Mousavi to Ali Larijani to clerics in Qom, believe they’re fighting not just for the presidential election but to rescue the last vestiges of democracy - to keep the ‘republic’ in the ‘Islamic Republic’. Many protesters are speaking in bold terms. One told me. “We’re ready for anything, to be killed, beaten up, arrested. When we go out there, it’s real war.” Government security forces are certainly aware of the plans – which have been advertized widely on Facebook, Twitter, etc. – and will be waiting for them. It’s an open question as to whether protesters can somehow regain the upper hand but their intention is to show they can still generate numbers.