*Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - June 20, 2009: One day after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly cut off any compromise over the nation’s disputed elections, the authorities piled on pressure for an end to street demonstrations on Saturday, and a group of reformist clerics was reported to have withdrawn from a major rally. 
Media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiles as he talks to Judiciary Chief Mahmood Hashemi Shahroodi during Friday prayers in Tehran June 19, 2009. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday demanded an end to street protests that have shaken the country since a disputed presidential election a week ago and said any bloodshed would be their leaders' fault.
With the police threatening to arrest and prosecute organizers of unauthorized protests, and opposition leaders facing an excruciating choice between conciliation and an ever-greater risk of reprisals and possible bloodshed, the fate of the opposition movement seemed to have reached a pivotal phase after a week of protests.
State television reported that a reformist group called the Combatant Clerics Assembly had called off a rally planned for Saturday, saying that “permission was asked to hold a rally, but since it has not been issued, there will be no rally held.” The clerics’ statement was also posted on a Web site linked to the main opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi.
But it remained unclear whether people would mass again in the huge numbers protesters have deployed over much of the past week since the election results were announced.
A reporter from an American news organization said she had been called by a member of the paramilitary Basij militia warning her not to go to the venue for the Saturday rally because the situation would be dangerous and there could be fatalities.
In a long and hard-line sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei declared the elections on June 12 valid and warned of violence if demonstrators continue, as they have pledged, to flood the streets in defiance of the government.
Iran’s National Security Council reinforced the warning Saturday, Iran’s Labor News Agency, or ILNA, and other state media reported, telling Mr. Moussavi, to “refrain from provoking illegal rallies.”
The demand came in a letter from the head of the council, Abbas Mohtaj, following a formal complaint by Mr. Moussavi that law enforcement agencies had failed to protect protesters.
“It is your duty not to incite and invite the public to illegal gatherings; otherwise, you will be responsible for its consequences," the letter said, according to state media.
Ahmad Reza Radan, a senior police officer, warned on state television that the police “will act with determination against all illegal demonstrations and protests.”
Unidentified opposition officials were quoted in news reports Saturday as saying protest would be held as planned, despite the authorities’ thinly-veiled warnings that their response would be more forceful than previously.
In his sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei said opposition leaders who failed to halt the protests “would be responsible for bloodshed and chaos.” The tough words seemed to dash hopes for a peaceful solution to what defeated candidates and protesters call a fraudulent election last week, plunging Iran into its gravest crisis since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Regional analysts said that, by calling for an end to the demonstrations, Ayatollah Khamenei had raised the stakes significantly, invoking his own prestige and that of Iran’s clerical regime.
In a measure of the scale of the opposition’s complaints, one losing candidate in the June 12 election, Mohsen Rezai, a conservative former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, claimed to have won between 3.5 and 7 million votes compared to the 250,000 accorded to him in the first announcement of results a week ago, state-run Press TV reported Saturday.
And, in a sign of mixed signals emerging from the authorities, the English-language network also reported Saturday that Ibrahim Yazdi, a former foreign minister who leads an organization called Freedom Movement, had been released after being detained in hospital earlier in the week. Several opposition figures, journalists and analysts were detained during a week of defiance that brought forth an array of official measures — part conciliatory, part repressive — to try to stem the protests.
There was no ambiguity in Ayatollah Khamenei’s sermon Friday.
“Flexing muscles on the streets after the election is not right,” he said, before tens of thousands of angry supporters at Tehran University. “It means challenging the elections and democracy. If they don’t stop, the consequences of the chaos would be their responsibility.”
The sermon put Ayatollah Khamenei, who prefers to govern quietly and from behind the scenes, at the forefront of a confrontation not only among factions of the government but among Iranians themselves.
It also presents Mr. Moussavi, whom the opposition says was the real winner of last Friday’s elections, with a fateful choice. The former prime minister and long-time insider must decide whether to escalate his challenge to Iran’s supreme leader and risk a bloody showdown, or abandon his support for a popular uprising that his candidacy inspired.
On Saturday, the authorities have invited the three opposition candidates to attend a meeting with the 12-member Guardian Council, an authoritative panel of clerics which oversees and certifies election results. The panel has been presented with 646 complaints of electoral irregularities, the authorities have said.
Iranians demonstrate near the Iranian embassy in Paris, Friday June 19, 2009 protesting the outcome of the presidential election in Iran. Iran's supreme leader sternly warned Friday of a crackdown if protesters continue their massive street rallies, escalating the government's showdown with demonstrators demanding a new presidential election. The inscriptions on the photos read "Change for Iran", left, and "No to police violence in Iran".
Media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiles as he talks to Judiciary Chief Mahmood Hashemi Shahroodi during Friday prayers in Tehran June 19, 2009. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday demanded an end to street protests that have shaken the country since a disputed presidential election a week ago and said any bloodshed would be their leaders' fault.
With the police threatening to arrest and prosecute organizers of unauthorized protests, and opposition leaders facing an excruciating choice between conciliation and an ever-greater risk of reprisals and possible bloodshed, the fate of the opposition movement seemed to have reached a pivotal phase after a week of protests.
State television reported that a reformist group called the Combatant Clerics Assembly had called off a rally planned for Saturday, saying that “permission was asked to hold a rally, but since it has not been issued, there will be no rally held.” The clerics’ statement was also posted on a Web site linked to the main opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi.
But it remained unclear whether people would mass again in the huge numbers protesters have deployed over much of the past week since the election results were announced.
A reporter from an American news organization said she had been called by a member of the paramilitary Basij militia warning her not to go to the venue for the Saturday rally because the situation would be dangerous and there could be fatalities.
In a long and hard-line sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei declared the elections on June 12 valid and warned of violence if demonstrators continue, as they have pledged, to flood the streets in defiance of the government.
Iran’s National Security Council reinforced the warning Saturday, Iran’s Labor News Agency, or ILNA, and other state media reported, telling Mr. Moussavi, to “refrain from provoking illegal rallies.”
The demand came in a letter from the head of the council, Abbas Mohtaj, following a formal complaint by Mr. Moussavi that law enforcement agencies had failed to protect protesters.
“It is your duty not to incite and invite the public to illegal gatherings; otherwise, you will be responsible for its consequences," the letter said, according to state media.
Ahmad Reza Radan, a senior police officer, warned on state television that the police “will act with determination against all illegal demonstrations and protests.”
Unidentified opposition officials were quoted in news reports Saturday as saying protest would be held as planned, despite the authorities’ thinly-veiled warnings that their response would be more forceful than previously.
In his sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei said opposition leaders who failed to halt the protests “would be responsible for bloodshed and chaos.” The tough words seemed to dash hopes for a peaceful solution to what defeated candidates and protesters call a fraudulent election last week, plunging Iran into its gravest crisis since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Regional analysts said that, by calling for an end to the demonstrations, Ayatollah Khamenei had raised the stakes significantly, invoking his own prestige and that of Iran’s clerical regime.
In a measure of the scale of the opposition’s complaints, one losing candidate in the June 12 election, Mohsen Rezai, a conservative former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, claimed to have won between 3.5 and 7 million votes compared to the 250,000 accorded to him in the first announcement of results a week ago, state-run Press TV reported Saturday.
And, in a sign of mixed signals emerging from the authorities, the English-language network also reported Saturday that Ibrahim Yazdi, a former foreign minister who leads an organization called Freedom Movement, had been released after being detained in hospital earlier in the week. Several opposition figures, journalists and analysts were detained during a week of defiance that brought forth an array of official measures — part conciliatory, part repressive — to try to stem the protests.
There was no ambiguity in Ayatollah Khamenei’s sermon Friday.
“Flexing muscles on the streets after the election is not right,” he said, before tens of thousands of angry supporters at Tehran University. “It means challenging the elections and democracy. If they don’t stop, the consequences of the chaos would be their responsibility.”
The sermon put Ayatollah Khamenei, who prefers to govern quietly and from behind the scenes, at the forefront of a confrontation not only among factions of the government but among Iranians themselves.
It also presents Mr. Moussavi, whom the opposition says was the real winner of last Friday’s elections, with a fateful choice. The former prime minister and long-time insider must decide whether to escalate his challenge to Iran’s supreme leader and risk a bloody showdown, or abandon his support for a popular uprising that his candidacy inspired.
On Saturday, the authorities have invited the three opposition candidates to attend a meeting with the 12-member Guardian Council, an authoritative panel of clerics which oversees and certifies election results. The panel has been presented with 646 complaints of electoral irregularities, the authorities have said.Mr. Moussavi has expressed mistrust of the panel, accusing some of its members of campaigning before the election for Mr. Ahmadinejad. And it is not clear what the panel would discuss since Ayatollah Khamenei has already endorsed the legitimacy of the ballot.
On Saturday, Press TV quoted the Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, the Council’s spokesman, as saying the body was investigating complaints including shortages and delays in the supply of ballot papers, the denial of access to polling stations by candidates’ representatives and intimidation and bribery of voters.
During the tough sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei tried to tamp down factional disputes among the elite, at one point even chastising pro-government militias and President Ahmadinejad for their role in the crisis. But he hardened his stance on the election results.
On Monday, a crowd that the mayor of Tehran estimated at three million rallied for the first of four days, and Ayatollah Khamenei ordered an investigation into the election results, which declared Mr. Ahmadinejad the winner, with 63 percent to Mr. Moussavi’s 34 percent.
But the ayatollah said Friday that there was nothing to discuss, as he again endorsed the victory of Mr. Ahmadinejad, seated in the audience, and called the elections “an epic moment that has become a historic moment.” He dismissed allegations of fraud.
“Perhaps 100,000 votes, or 500,000, but how can anyone tamper with 11 million votes?” he asked as the crowd burst into laughter. “If the political elite ignore the law — whether they want it or not — they would be responsible for the bloodshed and chaos,” he said.
He added that foreign agents were behind the street unrests and that there were efforts to stage a “velvet revolution.”
“They thought Iran is Georgia,” he said, adding, “Their problem is that they don’t know this great nation yet.”
Tens of thousands of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s supporters gathered for the sermon. Television showed the streets filled with people near Tehran University.
Newspapers said Thursday that a group of members of Parliament reported that the forces of the Basij militia were responsible for the attack on a dormitory in Tehran and a housing complex called Sobhan this week. Students said that five students — two women and three men — were killed in the attack.
In his sermon, Ayatollah Khamenei criticized those who carried out the attack. “Have you calculated the impact of going to the dormitories in the name of the leader?” he asked. “Muscle-flexing after elections is not right. Put an end to this.”
There was no immediate reaction from Mehdi Karroubi, another presidential candidate who accused the government of fraud. Many analysts and aides to Mr. Moussavi have been arrested and were not available for comments.
In a letter on Friday, Mr. Karroubi urged the Guardian Council to nullify the elections. “This is not the demand of an individual, it is the demand of the people,” he wrote in a letter posted on his Web site. “I warn you that insulting people would only intensify their rage.”
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