Tuesday, June 16, 2009 TEHRAN: Seven people were killed when violence erupted during a massive opposition rally in the heart of Tehran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election, state radio said on Tuesday. Tyres, dustbins and motorbikes were set ablaze by protestors as hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in a public outpouring of anger reminiscent of the days of the Islamic revolution in 1979. State radio said at least seven people were killed when "thugs" attacked and vandalised government buildings at the end of the rally, which had been banned by the authorities as an illegal gathering. "A military post was attacked with the intention of looting its weapons. Unfortunately, seven of our citizens were killed and a number of them injured," it said. One source said the emergency services department had information that eight people were killed, while the coroner's office said it had registered no deaths in connection with Monday's rally. In one incident late Monday, one man was reportedly shot in the head outside a local base of the Basij Islamic volunteer militia, which was set on fire. Pictures showed armed men, wearing helmets and in civilian clothes, pointing guns at the crowds from the rooftop of the base. In the face of the unrest, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a probe into the vote-rigging allegations laid by former wartime premier Mousavi, who had declared himself the victor on polling day Friday. The violence flared after Mousavi appeared in public for the first time since the election that has highlighted deep divisions in Iran as it grapples with a struggling economy and a standoff with the West over its nuclear work. "God willing, we will take back our rights," Mousavi shouted from the roof of a car amid a sea of hundreds of thousand of Iranians, young and old, who packed into central Tehran despite the ban. One policeman said between 1.5 and two million demonstrators, some wearing the green of Mousavi's campaign colour, had swarmed into central Tehran. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative rival to Ahmadinejad, blamed the interior minister for attacks on civilians and university students. Monday's demonstration came a day after Ahmadinejad himself addressed a vast victory rally in Tehran to defend the results, saying the people of Iran had triumphed against the "world arrogance" (the West). The authorities have warned that they would nip any "velvet revolution" in the bud and police said on Sunday they had rounded up 170 people over the protests, including a number of reformist leaders. The Iranian authorities have also cracked down on local and foreign media, with Mousavi's own newspaper reportedly suspended and international outlets reporting the arrest and harassment of their journalists. Some telephone, texting and Internet services have also been disrupted, and protestors have been turning to Twitter to spread word about the dramatic events.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 TEHRAN: Seven people were killed when violence erupted during a massive opposition rally in the heart of Tehran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election, state radio said on Tuesday. Tyres, dustbins and motorbikes were set ablaze by protestors as hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in a public outpouring of anger reminiscent of the days of the Islamic revolution in 1979. State radio said at least seven people were killed when "thugs" attacked and vandalised government buildings at the end of the rally, which had been banned by the authorities as an illegal gathering. "A military post was attacked with the intention of looting its weapons. Unfortunately, seven of our citizens were killed and a number of them injured," it said. One source said the emergency services department had information that eight people were killed, while the coroner's office said it had registered no deaths in connection with Monday's rally. In one incident late Monday, one man was reportedly shot in the head outside a local base of the Basij Islamic volunteer militia, which was set on fire. Pictures showed armed men, wearing helmets and in civilian clothes, pointing guns at the crowds from the rooftop of the base. In the face of the unrest, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a probe into the vote-rigging allegations laid by former wartime premier Mousavi, who had declared himself the victor on polling day Friday. The violence flared after Mousavi appeared in public for the first time since the election that has highlighted deep divisions in Iran as it grapples with a struggling economy and a standoff with the West over its nuclear work. "God willing, we will take back our rights," Mousavi shouted from the roof of a car amid a sea of hundreds of thousand of Iranians, young and old, who packed into central Tehran despite the ban. One policeman said between 1.5 and two million demonstrators, some wearing the green of Mousavi's campaign colour, had swarmed into central Tehran. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative rival to Ahmadinejad, blamed the interior minister for attacks on civilians and university students. Monday's demonstration came a day after Ahmadinejad himself addressed a vast victory rally in Tehran to defend the results, saying the people of Iran had triumphed against the "world arrogance" (the West). The authorities have warned that they would nip any "velvet revolution" in the bud and police said on Sunday they had rounded up 170 people over the protests, including a number of reformist leaders. The Iranian authorities have also cracked down on local and foreign media, with Mousavi's own newspaper reportedly suspended and international outlets reporting the arrest and harassment of their journalists. Some telephone, texting and Internet services have also been disrupted, and protestors have been turning to Twitter to spread word about the dramatic events.
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