Iran Widens Crackdown, Holds Professors After Mousavi Meeting
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By Ladane Nasseri
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Iran widened its crackdown on opposition supporters protesting the disputed presidential election, detaining 70 academics after they met with defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
They were taken into custody late yesterday, according to the Kalemeh Web site, which is linked to Mousavi’s campaign. It wasn’t clear where they were taken to, the Web site reported.
The government has banned opposition rallies, with security forces using water cannon, tear gas and clubs to disperse crowds protesting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the June 12 ballot. Ahmadinejad’s challengers have said the election was rigged.
Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the country’s leading dissident cleric, said today the continued suppression of opposition protests could destabilize the regime, Agence France- Presse reported.
“If Iranians cannot talk about their legitimate rights at peaceful gatherings and are instead suppressed, complexities will build up which could possibly uproot the foundations of the government, no matter how powerful,” the news agency cited him as saying in a faxed statement.
Protesters clashed with riot police again yesterday around Iran’s parliament, as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country won’t annul the results of the ballot.
“The Islamic establishment and people will never give in to forceful demands in regard to the election,” Khamenei, the highest authority among the Shiite Muslim clerics who rule Iran, told lawmakers yesterday in Tehran, according to state television. “The violation of the election will lead to dictatorship.”
Obama’s Criticism
Khamenei’s remarks came after President Barack Obama this week stepped up criticism of Iran’s crackdown on protesters.
Mehdi Karrubi, another defeated presidential candidate, has called off a ceremony mourning the deaths of protesters that was scheduled for today, AFP reported, citing his party Web site.
The ceremony will be held next week either at Tehran University or at a cemetery, AFP said. At least 17 people have been killed in post-election violence, the news agency said.
Iran is holding hundreds of opposition activists, who risk torture, human rights groups said. Many are being held without access to their lawyers or families and without being formally charged, the New York-based Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said in e-mailed statements this week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at [email protected]
Last Updated: June 25, 2009 03:16 EDT
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Ladane Nasseri
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Iran widened its crackdown on opposition supporters protesting the disputed presidential election, detaining 70 academics after they met with defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
They were taken into custody late yesterday, according to the Kalemeh Web site, which is linked to Mousavi’s campaign. It wasn’t clear where they were taken to, the Web site reported.
The government has banned opposition rallies, with security forces using water cannon, tear gas and clubs to disperse crowds protesting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the June 12 ballot. Ahmadinejad’s challengers have said the election was rigged.
Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the country’s leading dissident cleric, said today the continued suppression of opposition protests could destabilize the regime, Agence France- Presse reported.
“If Iranians cannot talk about their legitimate rights at peaceful gatherings and are instead suppressed, complexities will build up which could possibly uproot the foundations of the government, no matter how powerful,” the news agency cited him as saying in a faxed statement.
Protesters clashed with riot police again yesterday around Iran’s parliament, as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country won’t annul the results of the ballot.
“The Islamic establishment and people will never give in to forceful demands in regard to the election,” Khamenei, the highest authority among the Shiite Muslim clerics who rule Iran, told lawmakers yesterday in Tehran, according to state television. “The violation of the election will lead to dictatorship.”
Obama’s Criticism
Khamenei’s remarks came after President Barack Obama this week stepped up criticism of Iran’s crackdown on protesters.
Mehdi Karrubi, another defeated presidential candidate, has called off a ceremony mourning the deaths of protesters that was scheduled for today, AFP reported, citing his party Web site.
The ceremony will be held next week either at Tehran University or at a cemetery, AFP said. At least 17 people have been killed in post-election violence, the news agency said.
Iran is holding hundreds of opposition activists, who risk torture, human rights groups said. Many are being held without access to their lawyers or families and without being formally charged, the New York-based Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said in e-mailed statements this week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at [email protected]
Last Updated: June 25, 2009 03:16 EDT
