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Reporting from Tehran and Beirut - "What is this place?" the guard shouted.

"The end of the world!" the prisoners replied.

"Are you happy with the food?" he demanded.

"Yes, sir!" they answered.

"Have you been tamed?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!"

As ordered, they answered as one. And over the next five hellish days, they forged a bond that would remain even when they were freed. Cut off from the world, the 147 Iranian protesters rounded up during a July 9 demonstration in Tehran and stuffed into the notorious Kahrizak prison found they could rely only on themselves.

At first some of the prisoners hogged the space in their cramped cell or stretched their legs out. But as hours turned into days, they all began to cooperate.