IRANIANS IN MALAYSIA PROTEST ELECTION RESULTS

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000486 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR EAP/MTS AND INR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM IR MY SUBJECT: IRANIANS IN MALAYSIA PROTEST ELECTION RESULTS ¶1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: Some 500 Iranians gathered in front of the UN offices in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 and demonstrated against the election results in Iran. Police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who consisted primarily of students. We have no reports of further protest actions. The Iranian student and expatriate community has been growing rapidly in Malaysia over recent years. The June 15 demonstration was the first significant protest by Iranians in Malaysia against their own government. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (U) Malaysian police fired tear gas at a protest by approximately 500-700 Iranians in Kuala Lumpur on June 15, according to local and international news reports. The protesters, mostly students from an estimated 9,000 Iranian expatriates in Malaysia, gathered at the United Nations building to pass an official memorandum of protest to a UN representative. The memorandum reportedly expressed disapproval with the tainted outcome of the June 12 Iranian presidential elections. ¶3. (SBU) There were conflicting reports as to the level of activity among the protesters that prompted the police to fire tear gas. According to the government-influenced newspapers, the police only fired after warning the protesters several times to disperse. A senior police official on the scene stated, "they refused to disperse and we were forced to fire several rounds of tear gas." However, according to a Reuters photographer who was at the scene, the protesters were already leaving the UN building when the police fired the tear gas. There were no reported injuries. ¶4. (U) The Youth Wing of the opposition Peoples Justice Party (PKR) condemned the police action in firing tear gas against the Iranian protesters as "excessive," according to a June 16 press report. ¶5. (SBU) Post has no reports of any further planned demonstrations by Iranian expatriates. A small detachment of police remained on stand-by at the Iranian embassy on June ¶16. The Iranian embassy is located approximately 600 meters for the U.S. Embassy. RAPSON