Iran Bans Protest Rallies After Ahmadinejad Win Sparks Violence
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By Ali Sheikholeslami
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Iran banned rallies called to protest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election after demonstrators clashed with police in Tehran amid allegations of vote-rigging.
Former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi, 67, Ahmadinejad’s main challenger in the June 12 polling, said there were “obvious violations” and called for the election’s annulment after official results gave the incumbent almost 63 percent of the vote. The former prime minister took about 34 percent, according to the results.
“The Interior Ministry has granted no permit to the headquarters of Mousavi for staging rallies of his supporters in different cities of the country on Monday,” the state-run Fars news agency cited Governor General of Tehran Morteza Tamaddon as saying. “The rallies are and remain illegal. The police will stop any unauthorized rallies or gatherings.”
Police fired tear gas at protesters in Tehran yesterday, in the second day of clashes since authorities declared Ahmadinejad, 52, the winner. More than 100 people in Tehran were arrested, including political leaders. Efforts are still being made to obtain permission for the rallies, according to a statement posted today on Mousavi’s campaign Web site.
The president said the vote was fair and said Iran would not tolerate outside pressure. “Our nation is not afraid of threats,” he told a news conference in Tehran yesterday. “It will stand up to those who want to prevent its progress.”
Ahmadinejad, accused by rival candidates of unnecessarily stoking tensions with the West, may see success at the ballot box as a vindication of his policies. That could be a setback for President Barack Obama’s policy of engaging Iran in dialogue, rather than ostracizing it, as a means to ensure the Islamic republic doesn’t acquire nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Program
The U.S. has fundamental interests in the region, including preventing a Middle East arms race, which requires pressing for Iran to abandon any pursuit of atomic weapons, said an administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday “there is some real doubt” about the election results. Still, he said the Obama administration will proceed with the plan to engage with Iran. “The decision has been made to talk,” irrespective of the election’s outcome, Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.
Mousavi called yesterday for the election’s supervisory body to annul the outcome. He urged supporters to continue “civil and legal opposition throughout the country peacefully.”
Conciliatory Approach
Mousavi, who called during the campaign for a more conciliatory approach to the West and acknowledged the shift in U.S. policy under Obama, claimed victory after polls closed on June 12, shortly before state-run media said Ahmadinejad had won.
During the demonstrations in Tehran, protesters set fire to buses, and motorbikes belonging to police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse a crowd of several thousand chanting “fraud” and “Mousavi, Mousavi, get my vote back.”
Mobile telephones were functioning sporadically yesterday. The Internet was either down or working slowly in Tehran. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter weren’t operational in the country and Mousavi-supporting Web sites didn’t work. It wasn’t clear whether government agencies were involved in blocking services.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ali Sheikholeslami in London at [email protected].
Last Updated: June 15, 2009 04:37 EDT
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Ali Sheikholeslami
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Iran banned rallies called to protest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election after demonstrators clashed with police in Tehran amid allegations of vote-rigging.
Former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi, 67, Ahmadinejad’s main challenger in the June 12 polling, said there were “obvious violations” and called for the election’s annulment after official results gave the incumbent almost 63 percent of the vote. The former prime minister took about 34 percent, according to the results.
“The Interior Ministry has granted no permit to the headquarters of Mousavi for staging rallies of his supporters in different cities of the country on Monday,” the state-run Fars news agency cited Governor General of Tehran Morteza Tamaddon as saying. “The rallies are and remain illegal. The police will stop any unauthorized rallies or gatherings.”
Police fired tear gas at protesters in Tehran yesterday, in the second day of clashes since authorities declared Ahmadinejad, 52, the winner. More than 100 people in Tehran were arrested, including political leaders. Efforts are still being made to obtain permission for the rallies, according to a statement posted today on Mousavi’s campaign Web site.
The president said the vote was fair and said Iran would not tolerate outside pressure. “Our nation is not afraid of threats,” he told a news conference in Tehran yesterday. “It will stand up to those who want to prevent its progress.”
Ahmadinejad, accused by rival candidates of unnecessarily stoking tensions with the West, may see success at the ballot box as a vindication of his policies. That could be a setback for President Barack Obama’s policy of engaging Iran in dialogue, rather than ostracizing it, as a means to ensure the Islamic republic doesn’t acquire nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Program
The U.S. has fundamental interests in the region, including preventing a Middle East arms race, which requires pressing for Iran to abandon any pursuit of atomic weapons, said an administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday “there is some real doubt” about the election results. Still, he said the Obama administration will proceed with the plan to engage with Iran. “The decision has been made to talk,” irrespective of the election’s outcome, Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.
Mousavi called yesterday for the election’s supervisory body to annul the outcome. He urged supporters to continue “civil and legal opposition throughout the country peacefully.”
Conciliatory Approach
Mousavi, who called during the campaign for a more conciliatory approach to the West and acknowledged the shift in U.S. policy under Obama, claimed victory after polls closed on June 12, shortly before state-run media said Ahmadinejad had won.
During the demonstrations in Tehran, protesters set fire to buses, and motorbikes belonging to police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse a crowd of several thousand chanting “fraud” and “Mousavi, Mousavi, get my vote back.”
Mobile telephones were functioning sporadically yesterday. The Internet was either down or working slowly in Tehran. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter weren’t operational in the country and Mousavi-supporting Web sites didn’t work. It wasn’t clear whether government agencies were involved in blocking services.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ali Sheikholeslami in London at [email protected].
Last Updated: June 15, 2009 04:37 EDT
