Police, Protesters Clash Near Iran's Parliament
Iranian police blocked protesters from gathering in Tehran Wednesday, as the nation's supreme leader insisted authorities will not yield to demands for a new election.
Witnesses told VOA (Persian News Network) that riot police forcibly dispersed hundreds of people who gathered near Iran's parliament for another post-election protest.
In an address Wednesday on state television, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he insists on implementing the law on the election. He said "neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost."
Iran's government has maintained a heavy police presence in the streets, with at least 17 people killed in post-election violence.
Hundreds of people have been arrested. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's Web site said at least 70 university professors were detained after meeting with the reformist challenger on Wednesday.
Despite the crackdown, opposition leaders have vowed to continue to challenge the election outcome, alleging the June 12 vote was rigged.
In Washington, several experts on Iran told U.S. Senate lawmakers the opposition movement in Iran likely will continue, despite the government's crackdown on demonstrations.
Iran's disputed vote has triggered the country's greatest unrest since the 1979 revolution, and the government has created a special court to try the hundreds of Iranians it has arrested in the post-election turmoil.
Iran's official death toll stands at 17 since unrest began, but witnesses to clashes between protesters and security forces put the toll much higher. Figures cannot be verified because Iran has severely restricted news organizations' abilities to report from the country.
Iranian media reported Tuesday the nation's Guardian Council will not annul results of the election.
Opposition protesters allege election fraud, including the contention that the reported margin of victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Mousavi was impossibly high. Iran's Guardian Council has admitted finding voter irregularities in 50 districts.
The council says it will continue to investigate polling complaints beyond Wednesday's set deadline (until June 29), but it has ruled out overturning the results.
Video of the protests obtained by VOA's Persian News Network can be found on YouTube.
You also can follow PNN's Twitter feed in Farsi.
VOA News
-
Related News
- The Situation in the West Kazakhstan Is Still Tense
- Kazakhstan in War? (VIDEO)
- Iran nuclear programme&sanctions: Protesters set alight British embassy in Tehran (VIDEO)
- U.S. Republican Presidential debates: Candidates focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran
- STRATFOR analysis: Iran at a Crossroads
- Top Terrorism Risk list by Maplecroft (198 countries)
- Syria: Thousands still fleeing into Turkey
- Moldova: Cannon fodder by and for Dodon
- Moldova: Attention, red code is expected in Chisinau
- In a New Trend for the North Caucasus, Dagestani Muslims Organize Civil Protests
- 10 most important world events of 2005
- The rise and fall of Saddam Hussein
- Iraq: Saddam Hussein and another ex-senior officials sentenced to death by hanging
- Analysis: Black Sea Rivalry
- Report: Saddam Hussein has been executed
- On 31 August Moldova celebrates the Language Day
- Sexual humiliation and torture of female protesters reported
- Saddam Hussein handed over to Iraqi authorities, say lawyers
- Saddam Hussein's execution could be within next 48-36 hours
- Deadly blast at checkpoint near Peshawar