Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Iran

[Tyyr]

This has a good chance of starting it. They just killed a chance at a peaceful resolution.

[Aaron]

Well I guess the Iranian Republican Guard (or whatever they call their political regiments) is about to get practise gunning down civvies.

[Teaos]

Hope not, they might have learned by now that wont stop them.

[Mikey]

No surprise, though. "The clergy is backing their own puppet? Shocking!"

[Tyyr]

No, but they might have cut him loose when he turned into a liability.

[Capt. Jethro]

Who knows what they'll do over there.

[Sionnach Glic]

Latest reports state 150 people dead in clashes with police. It's getting violent over there, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Thousands of defiant protesters swept again Saturday into the streets of the Iranian capital, where they clashed with police armed with batons, tear gas and water cannons.
Demonstrators run past a burning barricade Saturday on a street in Tehran, Iran.

Demonstrators run past a burning barricade Saturday on a street in Tehran, Iran.
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A stream of videos posted on social networking Web sites depicted scenes of chaos -- the sound of gunshots and helicopters whirring overhead and graphic images of wounded men and women being carried away.

Unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 150 on the seventh day of post-election protests. Sources at one Tehran hospital confirmed 19 deaths Saturday.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said numerous protesters who had been beaten and injured by security forces were arrested and detained when they sought medical treatment in hospitals. It said fear of arrest had reportedly driven injured protesters, some in serious condition, to seek care at foreign embassies.

One woman, Shahnaz, said riot police used batons and water hoses to keep her and about 300 other people from reaching Revolution Square in central Tehran. She said she saw helicopters hovering and then she saw tear gas.

Shahnaz is being identified only by her first name for safety reasons.

Verifiable information was hard to come by. The Ministry of Culture on Saturday banned international media from reporting on the demonstrations unless they receive permission from Iranian authorities. A freelance journalist said it was "very dangerous" to take pictures. Video Watch police and protesters clash »

At midnight, a stretch of a main avenue near Revolution Square was littered with rocks, street signs and burned tires and trash, witnesses said. Windows were shattered and hundreds of uniformed riot police lined the streets.

In wealthy neighborhoods, reports surfaced late Saturday of raids by the Basiji militia, a paramilitary security force loyal to the government.
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The demonstrations unfolded as opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi reportedly declared he was ready for "martyrdom."

That was the message posted on Moussavi's page on Facebook, the social networking Web site that has proved to be a key source of information in the absence of international media coverage. iReport.com: Share images from Iran

The message urged Moussavi's supporters to "protest" and "not go to work."

"Today you are the media," said one message. "It is your duty to report and keep the hope alive."

Iran's ruling system is "going to the slaughterhouse," a post on the site said.

The post, attributed to Moussavi, reasserted his call for a new election to be overseen by an independent council.

The authenticity of the information could not immediately be established, but its posting coincided with growing unrest by demonstrators, who complain that hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory was rigged.

The protests were held in open defiance of warnings issued Friday by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the country's Security Council. Those authorities had said that protest organizers -- specifically Moussavi -- would be held accountable if the protests led to bloodshed. Photo See images of the clashes Saturday »

One video showed a woman trying to protect a man being beaten and kicked by protesters near a motorcycle in flames.

Another showed that the unrest had spread beyond the capital -- police clad in riot gear dispersing a crowd at a university in the southern city of Shiraz, beating screaming women with their batons.

Witnesses in Tehran said crowd members were chanting "Death to Khamenei!" and "I will kill whoever killed my brother!" The latter phrase dates to Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. Video Watch how protesters' tone has changed »

The chants from rooftops of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) grew longer and louder.

In a story posted Saturday on the Web site of the government-run Press TV, Iran's deputy police commander said 400 police personnel had been wounded since the opposition rallies began last weekend.

"Families of those killed or injured in the events since June 12 have filed 2,000 complaints so far," acting Police Chief Brigadier Gen. Ahmad-Reza Radan told Iran's Fars news agency.

Radan said 10,000 complaints had been filed by people asserting that their daily lives had been disrupted, adding, "They have called on the police to deal with rallies firmly."

Demonstrators gathered in major cities in France, the United States and Germany to condemn the crackdown. Video Watch demonstrators in New York demand change »

In Washington, President Obama urged the Iranian government to stop the violence.

"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching," Obama said in a written statement. "We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people."

"If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion," the statement said.

On Saturday night, the Iranian state-run news agency IRINN said an attacker had been killed earlier in the day outside Tehran at the entrance to the mausoleum that holds the body of Ayatollah Khomeini. The agency said the man "carrying the bomb" was killed, and there were no other casualties.

Press TV was reporting that the bomber was the sole fatality, and that three other people were wounded at the shrine to Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution that swept the shah of Iran from power in 1979. Khomeini is regarded as the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

With international journalists restricted from covering events in the capital, Iranians were again using cell phones and social networking sites to get news out. CNN was told that many protesters removed the SIM card, or memory chip, from their cell phones to prevent the government from tracing their calls. Video Watch a protest at Shiraz University »
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Witnesses reported that cell phone service was cut off in the area after 5:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government said Saturday it is ready to randomly recount up to 10 percent of "ballot boxes." The government agency that oversees elections, the Guardian Council, said it had received more than 600 complaints of irregularities from the three candidates.
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[Teaos]

God who'd think twitter would one day be useful...

[Sionnach Glic]

10 more dead.

At least 10 people were killed when police clashed with "terrorists" in Tehran on Saturday, state TV says.

It accused "rioters" of setting two petrol stations and a mosque ablaze in protest at a disputed poll result.

State media also say five family members of one of Iran's most powerful figures, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, were arrested during the protest.

Meanwhile the Iranian authorities have ordered BBC correspondent Jon Leyne out of the country.

The protests were sparked by disputed presidential elections, but have since escalated into a political crisis.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has demanded an end to protest, but the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Tehran says further protests are expected on Sunday.

See map of central Tehran

Reports of Saturday's violence cannot be verified as foreign media in Iran are being severely restricted.

High-level arrests

The state TV report said 10 people had been killed and more than 100 wounded in clashes between police and "terrorist groups" in Tehran. It said "rioters" had set two gas stations on fire and attacked a military post.


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Earlier it said an unspecified number of people had died when "rioters" set a mosque on fire. But later reports said there had been no deaths at the mosque. A correction was also issued reducing the overall death toll to 10 from 13.

Our correspondent says the reports could serve as a warning to Iranians that if they take part in further protests they risk getting embroiled in violence, or being identified as a "terrorist".

Mr Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh - who addressed supporters of protest leader and defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi on Tuesday - was among the Rafsanjani family members arrested on Saturday.

It is not clear whether they have since been released.

The arrests suggest the political dispute is fracturing the heart of the Iranian leadership, our correspondent says.

Mr Rafsanjani has maintained a public silence over recent days, but it is certain that he is active behind the scenes, he adds.

Protests quashed

Witness accounts on Saturday suggested police used live rounds, batons, tear gas and water cannon to break up demonstrations which went on late into the night.


TEHRAN LATEST
Jeremy Bowen
Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Tehran

There seems to be an expectation based on things that we're hearing here that there will be more demonstrations later on today, and that means that perhaps the pattern of yesterday might be repeated.

I think that what's important is that there's a split at the top of the country, that both sets of leaders on either side are digging in their heels, and that's then mirrored by the split on the streets between those people who really think the election was a fraud and people who don't.

That suggests there's a serious fracture that's happened which means this isn't going to go away. They're not going to kiss and make up in the near term.

The protests went ahead despite a direct demand from the Ayatollah Khamenei to end them and accept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in 12 June presidential elections.

Police have warned they will not tolerate any further unrest.

Mr Mousavi has been quoted as saying peaceful protests should continue and that people have a constitutional right to demonstrate.

In a statement on his website, Mr Mousavi accused authorities of cheating the Iranian people out of a rightful election result, reports said.

He reportedly warned of "dangerous ways ahead" if peaceful protests were not allowed.

Critics of the presidential poll - which gave President Ahmadinejad a resounding 63% of votes, compared with 34% for Mr Mousavi, his nearest rival - say there is evidence of widespread vote-rigging.

UK denounced again

The Iranian leadership has repeatedly criticised foreign powers for interfering in Iran's domestic affairs, with the UK the particular focus of ire.

On Sunday President Ahmadinejad again highlighted alleged interference by the UK and US.

"By making hasty comments, you will not have a place in the circle of the Iranian nation's friends. Therefore, I recommend you to correct your interfering positions," he said in a statement on his website.

But UK Foreign Minister David Milliband said he rejected "categorically the idea that the protesters in Iran are manipulated or motivated by foreign countries".

In other reported developments, state TV said members of the exiled opposition group Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (MKO) had been arrested for "terrorist activities". The report said they had been burning buses and smashing public property - and had been taking orders from their operation room in the UK.

US President Barack Obama urged Iran's leaders to "govern through consent, not coercion".

In a statement from the White House on Saturday, he said: "The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

They were Mr Obama's strongest comments so far on the Iranian crisis, our Middle East editor says - and come amid Republican accusations that he has not been outspoken enough in his condemnation of the Iranian government.

Video of the riots here. This looks like it's turning into a full-out revolution.

Another video. A young woman, an innocent bystander, shot dead by the Iranian Basij.

[stitch626]

This is getting out of hand. Why can't they off both of the candidates and appoint a random person off the street...

[Tsukiyumi]

What they need to do is off Khamenei and stop letting religion run their government.

In fact, some of the protestors are now chanting "Death to Khamenei!".

[Tyyr]

I hope it does get out of hand and a second* Iranian revolution happens.

*Whatever number they're up to.

[Capt. Jethro]

It's gonna be interesting to see how this is gonna turn out. I just hope it doesn't become something like Tiananmen Square.

[Foxfyre]

It's gonna be interesting to see how this is gonna turn out. I just hope it doesn't become something like Tiananmen Square.

At the rate they are going Tiananmen Square will look like a school yard fight between two 9 year olds.

[Teaos]

No big protests today so far...