Iranian Opposition Takes to Streets in U.S.

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2009— -- Iranian Americans joined the protest movement in support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi today, as thousands of people marched in rallies in cities across the country, from Los Angeles to New York and Washington.

The armbands and T-shirts they wore were green, the color of Mousavi's movement and they carried signs that read "Where's My Vote?" and "Democracy for Iran."

While President Obama has made an effort to stay out of what he says is a domestic Iranian political issue, Iranians in the United States have made this their fight.

On the frontlines is 31-year-old Ahmad Batebi, who was arrested in 1999 for taking part in a student-led political protest that landed his picture on the cover of the Economist magazine.

He was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to 15 years in the wake of international pressure on the Iranian government.

Batebi now lives in an apartment just outside Washington. It's a small space, furnished with just a bed, a couch and a desk with two computers running at the same time.

On the far wall is that very magazine photo depicting a younger version of Batebi, wearing a black armband and holding up a T-shirt stained with the blood of another protester.

Batebi has suffered a lot since the photograph was taken. He endured nine years in the infamous Evin prison outside Tehran, during which time he was tortured repeatedly.

He managed to escape and and made his way across the border into Iraq and was ultimately granted asylum in the United States.

Batebi has become a kind of hero for political dissident movements in Iran, but when pressed for details about his incarceration and escape he shifts the focus away from himself.

"My story is finished," he says. "There are hundreds of these stories unfolding in Iran right now. That's what we should pay attention to."

He gestures to his computer screen flashing violent images of the clashes in Iran over the past few days. Batebi puts his head in his hands as he describes the risks that protesters are facing -- the same risks he faced almost a decade ago.