If Ali Khamenei thought that threats from the Revolutionary Guard would keep protests off the street, they have discovered that freedom doesn’t fade so quietly.  Protesters marched on the Parliament building today, according to CNN, and the mullahs met them with deadly force.  Broken bodies litter the streets as the regime amplifies its crackdown on opposition:

Security forces wielding clubs and firing weapons beat back demonstrators who flocked to a Tehran square Wednesday to continue protests, with one witness saying security forces beat people like “animals.”

At least two sources described wild and violent conditions at a part of Tehran where protesters had planned to demonstrate.

“They were waiting for us,” the source said. “They all have guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mouse trap.”

“I see many people with broken arms, legs, heads — blood everywhere — pepper gas like war,” the source said.

About “500 thugs” with clubs came out of a mosque and attacked people in the square, another source said.

The security forces were “beating women madly” and “killing people like hell,” the source said.

Gateway Pundit has been following the protests closely, with photos and videos.

The more the regime creates images and videos like this with violent reaction to protests, the less legitimate they become with Iranians.  Gandhi used this technique very effectively in India, when he and his followers would force the British to react harshly to non-violent provocations.  The difference between the two situations is substantia; Britain considered itself an enlightened empire, while Iran’s mullahs run a non-rational theocracy.  However, even those who support a nation run by mullahs will wonder what need Allah has of murderous Basiji, attacking peaceful if vociferous Iranians.

It’s hard to say the mullahs miscalculated in hauling out the IRGC, as they had little choice.  Their biggest blunder was manufacturing an election in the first place, especially one rigged from the start to include only mullah-approved candidates.

Update (AP): Horrible. But on the bright side, now Obama’s got a conversation icebreaker for that July 4th barbecue.