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| Iran: Mousavi warns of more protests |
| 2009-06-26 |
| [ADN Kronos] Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has warned of more protests while expressing concern about the number of people who have "vanished" or been targeted by authorities since the presidential election. In a statement on Thursday, Mousavi's official website expressed concern about pressure to withdraw his challenge to the election result and attempts to control the activities of him and his supporters. "Many people have been arrested in Iran since the release of the election results, some of whom have been paraded on national TV and titled as thugs, terrorists or foreign paid agents," the site said. "Many others have vanished completely in the system." He complained of restrictions on his access to people and a crackdown on his media group. In another development on Thursday, Iranian state media said that eight members of the pro-government Basij militia had been killed and dozens more wounded in the protests. The eight deaths were in addition to 17 other people whose deaths have already been reported. The figures cannot be verified due to severe reporting restrictions inside Iran. "I won't refrain from securing the rights of the Iranian people... because of personal interests and the fear of threats," Mousavi said on the website of his newspaper, Kalameh. Iran's Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri warned the nation's rulers on Thursday that the continued suppression of opposition protests over the disputed presidential election could destabilise the regime. "If Iranians can not 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," he reportedly said. Unrest has grown in Iran since hardline presidential incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the 12 June election - a vote that Mousavi and his supporters claim was rigged. Mousavi and his supporters are demanding an annulment of the election and the Guardian Council, the country's electoral body, will give its final verdict on the election on Sunday but it has already indicated it will not annul the election result. According to official Iranian media, Ahmadinejad received 62.3 percent of the vote, or 24.5 million votes, compared to Mousavi's 33.7 percent or 13.2 million votes. |
| Posted by:Fred |