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| Iran announces more arrests over election unrest |
| 2009-07-03 |
| [Beirut Daily Star: Region] Iran on Thursday announced more arrests in the post-election turmoil, detaining seven alleged provocateurs of violence it says were linked to Iranian exiles, while a hardline lawmaker called for legal action against defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. The arrests continue a heavy crackdown that has squashed the mass protests that erupted over the disputed June 12 presidential vote. Iran's top police chief has said 20 people were killed in violence during the protests, and that 1,032 people were detained. The Basij, a paramilitary militia that had a prominent role in putting down the protests, on Wednesday formally requested that Mousavi be investigated for the post-election protests, saying he "supervised or assisted in punishable acts." A hard-line MP on Parliament's legal committee, Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, echoed that call Thursday, saying Mousavi had continued his calls for protests even after Iran's supreme leader had ordered a halt to street unrest. The semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday that families of the "innocent victims" of bloodshed during demonstrations would receive government compensation. Fars said "terrorists infiltrated among protesters to foment unrest," causing the violence. There was no word on who would receive compensation and how much - but it seems to refer to eight Basij members who were reportedly killed. The compensation is to come from the state-funded Martyrs' Foundation, a body that helps families of those who died in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, in which more than a million people from the two countries were killed and far more wounded. Iran has been eager to depict the unprecedented wave of protests as inspired by outsiders, apparently looking to boost the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was announced as a landslide victor over his pro-reform opponent Mousavi. Mousavi insists he is the winner, calling the official results fraudulent. The newly announced arrests were of seven members of "anti-government groups" who were "provoking unrest" in Tehran and the northwestern city of Qazvin, the state-run satellite channel Press TV reported. The Qazvin regional intelligence department said the suspects had confessed to connections with groups including the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), or People's Mujahedeen, the armed wing of a France-based opposition group, the National Resistance Council of Iran. Iran has repeatedly blamed the MEK for inciting post-election unrest. Meanwhile, the official tally of deaths among Iranian protesters during the demonstrations following the vote was upped from 17 to 20, police chief General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam announced, according to the state-run newspaper Iran. Police detained 1,032 people, and most have been released, said Ahmadi Moghaddam, adding that 500 policemen were injured in the clashes. He did not specify whether the numbers included those detained by the Basij, who are connected to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, not the police. Despite the crackdown, which has halted protests since Sunday, Mousavi appears driven to maintain his opposition. In a challenging statement Wednesday, he said he would consider an Ahmadinejad government illegitimate and demanded political prisoners be released. Tehran also faces pressure from the West, sharpened after the detention last week of several Iranians employed by the British Embassy. Iranian state television reported all but one of the detained has been released. The EU on Thursday called on Iran to release all the employees, but it held off on a British request that all 27 EU ambassadors be withdrawn from Tehran. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said it was too early to recall the envoys and the EU was "awaiting how the Iranian authorities will react." He added that "more than one" of the employee remained in detention. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called for next week's Group of Eight summit to send a "strong message of unity" in support of Iranians' human rights, and said efforts to address concerns over Tehran's nuclear ambitions must remain on track. But her call stopped short of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's statement this week that the G-8 nations would consider sanctions against Iran. |
| Posted by:Fred |