IRAN: As many as 3 million protesters anticipated at Thursday rally

LA Times – Excerpt: “The 22nd day of the Persian calendar month of Bahman, the date 31 years ago when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic, is traditionally a time for official patriotic fervor and the unveiling of national achievements. But on Sunday, a source inside Tehran police headquarters told a friend of the Los Angeles Times in Iran that security forces expect as many as 3 million anti-government protesters to descend on the center of the capital during the holiday, which falls on Thursday this year, after loud calls by opposition leaders to take the streets. The government is also expected to be prepared, deploying about 12,000 baton-wielding Basiji militiamen from outside the capital and legions of supporters bused in from around the country. ‘The government managed to collect and gather around 500,000 supporters,’ the friend of the newspaper said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ‘This number is very real. All of their efforts have amounted to 500,000.’