Iran Resumes Crackdown, Reports Say

Protests Continue Outside Parliament; Supreme Leader Vows Not To "Give In"

(CBS/AP)  Last Updated 12:36 p.m. EDT

Reports of a violent crackdown on protesters outside Iran's Parliament flooded the Internet Wednesday, though accounts of the clashes could not be confirmed.

Earlier Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader said that the government would not give in to pressure over the disputed presidential election, effectively closing the door to compromise with the opposition.

But reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's official Web site said that a protest was planned nonetheless outside Iran's parliament Wednesday afternoon. It distanced him at the same time, calling the demonstration independent and saying it had not been organized by Mousavi.

IranWatch: Track the latest on the Iran election upheaval.

Mousavi's mixed messages about the demonstration reflected the dilemma facing the unlikely opposition leader, a longtime supporter of Iran's government thrust to the head of a pro-democracy protest movement.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered protests to end, leaving Mousavi with the choice of restraining followers or continuing to directly challenge the country's ultimate authority despite threats of escalating force.

Unconfirmed reports on social networking site Twitter said that police were clashing with demonstrators in Baharestan Square, near the parliament building. Iran's severe restrictions on Western journalists make confirming those reports very difficult.

Those unconfirmed reports indicated that shops had been closed and protester were being beaten by police. Some reports claimed two protesters were wounded by gunfire.

However, an unnamed CBSNews.com source in Tehran did confirm that a demonstration took place.

At it's peak, there were around 5,000 protesters, the source said. Around 1,000 police and Basij militia arrived to disperse the crowd. Busloads of additional Basij also arrived on the scene.

The source heard reports of a girl being taken to the hospital with a gunshot would, but could not confirm.

Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, a former university dean who campaigned beside her husband, said on one of his Web sites that his followers had the constitutional right to protest and the government should not deal with them "as if martial law has been imposed in the streets."

She called for the release of all activists and others arrested at protests.

Meanwhile, Tehran's mayor is calling for Iranian authorities to legalize peaceful opposition protests, according to a report on Iran's PressTV.

In an interview on Iranian TV, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said easing restrictions on rallies would prevent "saboteurs who draw weapons and kill people."

Mousavi, a former prime minister, saw his campaign transform into a protest movement after the government declared that hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the overwhelming winner of the June 12 election.

Mousavi said the result was fraudulent and Western analysts who have examined available data on the vote said there were indications of manipulation.

His supporters flooded the streets of Tehran and other cities after the vote, massing by the hundreds of thousands in protests larger than any since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Security forces initially stood by and permitted the demonstrations.

Khamenei ordered an end to protests on Friday and security forces beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at rallies the next day. At least 10 protesters were shot, according to official tallies.

An unconfirmed report stated that the country's powerful, 86-member Assembly of Experts - headed by former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani - is split in its support for Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. However, neither is expected to lose their positions.

Khamenei's comments come on the heels of a conservative candidate withdrawing his complaints about voting fraud for the sake of the country, state television reported.

The announcement by Mohsen Rezaie, a former commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, moved the cleric-led government one step closer to a final declaration of victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. State TV reported that Ahmadinejad would be sworn in sometime between July 26 and Aug. 19.

State media have said that at least 17 people have been killed in post-election unrest. Amateur footage of a 27-year-old woman bleeding to death from a gunshot on a Tehran street unleashed outrage at home and abroad.

Despite the heavy security, a few Iranians apparently dared to venture onto the streets to pay tribute to that victim, who has been identified as Neda Agha Soltan.

On Wednesday, smouldering embers of candles were clearly visible on a street corner in central Tehran, where a vigil was held the night before for the slain young woman.

Another opposition figure, reformist presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, called for a day of mourning for those killed in protests since the election. Some social networking sites suggested that the mourning would take place Thursday.

Amnesty International said Wednesday it was concerned that arrested demonstrators were at risk of torture or other ill treatment. It urged Iranian authorities to give the detainees access to their families, lawyers and any medical treatment they might need.

"Anyone detained solely for their peaceful expression of their views regarding the outcome of the election should be released immediately and unconditionally," it said.

Two players on Iran's national soccer team, Mehdi Mahdavikia and Ali Karimi, resigned for personal reasons, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. The pair were among several team members who wore wrist bands in green — the colour of Mousavi's opposition movement — before a World Cup qualifying match played last week against South Korea in Seoul.

In weighing the direction of the protests, Mousavi appeared to be trying a compromise approach: He has made no public appearances since Thursday but he has issued strongly worded statements calling for supporters to continue demonstrations.

The protest set for Wednesday could set the stage for new confrontation.

"On the current situation, I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law. That means, we will not go one step beyond the law," Khamenei said on state television. "For sure, neither the system nor the people will give in to pressures at any price." He used language that indicated he was referring to domestic pressures.

He told opposition supporters to halt their protests and blamed the U.S., Britain and other foreign powers for instigating unrest.

Iran also said that it was considering downgrading ties with Britain, which it has accused of spying and fomenting days of unprecedented street protests over the vote.

The government accused Britain of using spies to foment the unprecedented street protests and Iran expelled two British diplomats Tuesday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that two Iranian diplomats were being sent home in retaliation.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was asked about the option of reducing diplomatic relations with London after a Cabinet meeting in Tehran.

"We are studying it," Mottaki said, according to state television.

On Tuesday, President Obama hardened his rhetoric on the crackdown, saying the world was "appalled and outraged".

"I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not interfering in Iran's affairs," Mr. Obama said. "But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society."

Mr. Obama had been avoiding harsh condemnation of Iran's government, which often labels domestic unrest as the work of foreign agents.

Iran expelled two diplomats from Britain - a nation it bitterly accuses of meddling and spying - and Britain in turn sent two Iranian envoys home. There was no immediate word Wednesday on any Iranian reaction to the speech by Mr. Obama, who had been trying to warm relations with the Islamic Republic.

[cbsantispin]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can't blame beating Iranian Citizens with Clubs and sharp Axes, breaking bones and drawing blood because they gather to protest peacefully on the U.S.

The World looks on in shock as Islamic Sharia Law is administered in brutal fashion as Iran eats its own. No Iran, you can't blame this brutal crack down on the U.S., C.I.A. or anyone or anything external, this is all internal Iran's doing. Ahmadinejad and Khamenei better hope Iranian Security Forces don't wise up and see them as the fraud they are and side with the Iranian Protesters. Ahmadinejad's power is now diluted since many don't view him as legitimate.

[anti-global2]

all of you need to read up on Iran and it's people. This whole thing is being staged, probably by the CIA. The majority in Iran don't want change and are afraid of freedom as we know it. The reform candidate did not have a chance, his supporters are students and urban poor, which combined make up less then 15% of the population. not only that in pre-election polls the reform candidate only had 14% of the vote.
I believe they would have fixed the election if they needed to but it was not even necessary.
If we want regime change that is understandable, but have the balls to say we don't like the leader you elected so we're going to create a disturbance and back a coup.
We are involved in this, and our CIA is probably largely responsible.
to all of you crying about the injustice to Iranians, aren't you the same people that wanted to start bombing them a year or so ago?

[BaselessCritique]

Full post on http://baselesscritique.blogspot.com/

Will somebody please learn from John McCain?s mistakes?

Here we are about twelve days out from Iran?s national election. The aftermath has captured the world?s attention, and in a span of less than a fortnight the American public has been introduced, chiefly through television, to a host of previously obscure experts on the Iranian political landscape, making us all experts in the process.

At Starbucks, while pumping gas into your automobile, on the message boards of every news site that accepts comments, everywhere people assemble or exchange information, you can hear newly minted experts trading the currency of certainty and actionable insight.

?The Supreme Leader is vulnerable?.Factions in the Counsel of Experts may force him from power?.I hear that citizens are actually counter-attacking some members of the Basij Militia?.America really needs to take a leadership role in this.?

All said with same level of doubtless confidence one might use to explain what they did last weekend.

To be honest, the events in Iran have captured my attention too. It?s been an amazing confluence of politics and technology. It tempts me to ponder the rosiest ?what if? scenarios. However, if I thought I really had a voice in this, that my opinion might actually affect policy, I would try to be more cognizant of just how little I actually knew before setting on a course of definitive action.

S.I. Hayakawa, the linguist and former U.S. Senator from California, developed a model of what he called The Ladder of Abstraction to describe the level of ?graininess? in conceptual knowledge. Several years later, seemingly inspired by Hayakawa, Ira Glass created an imaginary magazine devoted to profusion of blathering people do using incomplete, minimal, or grainy information to espouse sweeping conclusions about complex subjects. He called the magazine "Modern Jackass."

see blog for full post

[cockroachcrusher]

Too bad the U.S. 'Liberal" media didn't cover the phony 2000 and 2004 elections in the U.S. with the same day-to-day scrutiny it is giving the post-election violence in Iran.

Two elections were stolen by the Republicans and Conservatives in those two United States "elections".

In the first one, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Scalia, thrashed the U.S. Constitution, ruling that all votes in this country don't have to be counted after all as long as his party is ahead. Sad period in U.S. History that will forever be a black mark on this country.

It's good to see citizens of other countries don't goose step to two-bit dictators like Cheney and Bush. They risk their lives in protest.

[notblue]

nothing in this post is true every recount clearly showed Gore didn't have the votes, secondly the re-election was never disputed, Bush was clearly the victor. It is amazing the libs that cling to this fantasy even to this day, it exemplifies the profound hatred they have for fellow conservative Americans. This is the greatest democracy on the planet as was proved once again last november. This article has nothing to do with Bush and yet libs like tyhis clown can ignore the truth of this article and conrinue to crisize Bush! Amazing

[government_control]

ATTN: People of Iran yearning to breathe free - OBAMA HAS ABANDONED YOU

[gravyboat3000]

Obama's not their president, what would you have him do?