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Tehran cracks down on dissidents after protests Published Date: December 29, 2009 TEHRAN: Iranian security forces arrested more than a dozen dissidents yesterday after at least eight people were killed in fierce clashes, opposition websites said, drawing international condemnation. Those detained included 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. 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 on to streets of Tehran and other major cities, making use of the Shiite sacred day of Ashura to stage fresh anti-government rallies. Police fired teargas and used batons to disperse crowds and according to witnesses and the opposition 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 a s 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. A moderate website said yesterday the body of Mousavi's nephew was missing from the hospital. The official IRNA news agency denied the report, saying his body had been kept for "further investigation". "We cannot hold a funeral until my brother's body is found," said another of Mousavi's nephews said, according to Parlemannews website. Clashes were expected at the funeral ceremony. 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 IRNA. A Tehran Friday prayer speaker, 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," he said. 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. Yesterday's arrest came after more than 300 people were detained during the Ashoura 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 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. - Agencies [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
