Iran rounds up opposition figures after protests
Dr. Sir John Howard, AC, WSCMoF
Iranian security forces have arrested more than a dozen dissidents after at
least eight people were killed in fierce clashes, opposition websites say,
drawing international condemnation.
Those detained include aides to reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami and
opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, veteran dissident Ebrahim Yazdi and
award-winning rights campaigner Emadeddin Baghi, reports said on Monday.
The security force raids are certain to further antagonise the opposition, which
has defied the authorities to stage noisy protests at every opportunity since
Ahmadinejad was returned to power in a disputed June presidential vote.
The latest demonstrations came on Sunday, when thousands of opposition
supporters poured onto streets of Tehran and other major cities, making use of
the Shi'ite sacred day of Ashura to stage fresh anti-government rallies.
Police fired teargas and used batons to disperse crowds and, witnesses and the
opposition said, later resorted to live rounds, marking the bloodiest showdown
in months.
State-run English language Press TV on Monday put the death toll from the
clashes at eight, quoting an official with Iran's Supreme National Security
Council. It did not specify where the victims were killed.
Iranian state television earlier gave a contradictory toll of at least 15 killed
in the capital alone, branding 10 among them as members of "anti-revolutionary
terrorist" groups.
Islamic custom normally demands the dead be buried within 24 hours but state
media reported forensic tests were being carried out on the bodies of five of
those killed, including Mousavi's nephew, Seyed Ali, preventing their funerals
becoming new flashpoints for protest.
Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi condemned what he termed the "despicable
violence" and accused the government of "dipping its hand in people's blood and
unleashing a savage group on the people."
"Defiance and disrespecting the law and people's rights have inflicted
irreversible costs for seven months on the country and people," Karroubi said in
a statement carried by Rahesabz opposition website.
Hardliners by contrast demanded action against the opposition, with parliament's
majority conservative bloc calling on "security and judiciary authorities to
firmly deal with those who mock Ashura", in a statement carried by the official
IRNA news agency.
A Tehran speaker at Friday prayers, hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami, said:
"Controversial slogans shouted at this incident were in fact against the
establishment," ISNA news agency reported. "The judiciary needs to act firmly
and there is no room for tolerance."
Iran's bloody crackdown on the protesters drew criticism from around the world,
from key trade partner Russia as well as Western governments.
The Russian foreign ministry said: "We are worried about the events that have
taken place in Iran in recent days.
"In our opinion, the main thing in this situation is to show restraint, look for
and find compromises on the basis of law, undertake political efforts to prevent
further escalation of the internal confrontation."
The European Union said it "condemns the use of violence against demonstrators
who are essentially seeking to exercise their freedom of expression and right to
peaceful assembly".
And US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said: "We strongly
condemn the violent and unjust suppression of civilians in Iran seeking to
exercise their universal rights."
Monday's arrest came after more than 300 people were detained during the Ashura
protests.
Reformist website Parlemannews named the Khatami aides arrested as Morteza Haji
and Hasan Rasooli and said they run his non-governmental Baran organisation.
It said that aside from Beheshti, two other advisers to Mousavi, Ghorban
Behzadian-Nejad and Mohammad Bagherian were also arrested.
Rahesabz meanwhile said Ebrahim Yazdi, who served as foreign minister in the
early months of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and award-winning rights campaigner
and journalist Emadeddin Baghi, were both arrested on Monday.
Yazdi, 78, is secretary-general of the outlawed but tolerated Iran Freedom
Movement, while Baghi has campaigned for years for prisoners' rights and against
the death penalty.
"Security agents treated Baghi's family and daughters very offensively as they
arrested him," Rahesabz said. Baghi had backed Karroubi in the June election.
Security agents also raided the office of a women's magazine, Irandokht, run by
Karroubi's wife, and confiscated computers, pro-reform website Advarnews said.
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Dr. Sir John Howard, AC, WSCMoF
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