EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.
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Iran's feared Basij militia asked the country's chief prosecutor Wednesday to investigate embattled opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi for his role in violent protests that it said undermined national security in the aftermath of last month's presidential election.
The semiofficial Fars news agency said the militia known as supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's street enforcers sent the prosecutor a letter accusing Mousavi of taking part in nine offenses against the state, including "disturbing the nation's security," which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
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Posted by: ed ||
07/01/2009 10:15 ||
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warns of revenge on pro-democracy states
Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned the regime would seek revenge against states it has accused of fanning pro-democracy demonstrations in the wake of its disputed election.
Mr Ahmadinejad used the attack on Western powers send a defiant message in his first public comments since his controversial re-election was upheld by the electoral authorities on Monday. He said: "We must use all the capacities to break the monopoly of the global powers."
"Those who asked for the annulment of 10th presidential election are anti-revolutionary and against the regime," hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami told the official news agency IRNA. "If anyone said there was fraud in the election, he has lied and committed a sin,"
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Foreign Secretary David Miliband says Britain and Iran have agreed to resolve the dispute over the arrest of four local British Embassy staff in Tehran.
The Tuesday announcement came one day after Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed that five of the nine detainees had been released following primary investigation into their alleged role in 'inciting mass public protests' following the June 12 vote.
Miliband told parliament that the decision had been reached for the safekeeping of the interests of both countries and expressed concern over the "continued detention of some of our locally engaged staff in Tehran."
"I have discussed this issue with Iranian Foreign Minister (Manouchehr) Mottaki and we both agreed in our second telephone conversation yesterday that a swift resolution was in both of our interests," Miliband said, calling for the release of the remaining Embassy employees.
The announcement of the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election sparked opposition rallies in the capital Tehran with defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejecting the result as fraudulent and demanding a re-run.
Iran has lashed out at foreign 'interference' in its internal affairs, saying the 'biased' attitude of European countries and their media incited the post-election unrest
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A word of advice to UK: drop your pants before you spread.
[Iran Press TV Latest] An Iraqi security official says the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) triggered the recent post-election unrests in Iran.
National Security Advisor Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said in an interview with al-Hayat that certain members of the terrorist group had instigated and fomented the recent political unrest in Iran.
"We have intelligence reports available that certain elements of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) infiltrated into the crowd of protestors [after the election results were announced] and sparked the riots."
The announcement of the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election sparked opposition rallies in the capital Tehran with defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejecting the result as fraudulent and demanding a re-run.
President Ahmadinejad's victory caused Mousavi supporters to take to the streets to protest the vote result. The rallies turned violent, resulting in the death of at least 20 people.
Al-Rubaie, however, rejected claims that MKO members had entered the country through neighboring Iraq, claiming that MKO terrorists were 'either already in Iran or had entered it from another country'.
Iranian security officials had earlier reported that a large number of MKO members who were involved in recent riots had been identified and arrested.
According to security officials, the detained MKO members had confessed to receiving extensive training in Iraq's camp Ashraf to create post-election mayhem in the country.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Former Iranian president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami calls for effective measures to be taken to restore public trust and safeguard the Islamic establishment.
In a Sunday meeting with members of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Khatami raised the alarm that the breach of public confidence could shake the foundation of the Islamic establishment.
Khatami said it was inappropriate to slander or arrest people in response to what he called "logical objection and civil behavior of a large segment of the society who protest against the election results."
The two-time Reformist president then suggested that the formation of an 'impartial panel' to look into the issue could remove any ambiguities and restore public trust.
Citing his adherence to the principles of the Islamic Revolution, Khatami stressed the need for taking measures to ensure freedom of expression for all and 'by doing such, the establishment will ensure that the people will be present in the political scene in the future.'
Khatami added that the religious and democratic principles integrated into the Islamic establishment must be protected by the best possible approach.
"The nation-oriented establishment will become vulnerable if its social resources are lost," warned the former president.
The veteran Reformist figure described defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi as one of the 'religious, noble and valuable assets' of the Islamic Revolution whose 're-emergence in the political scene is an opportunity for the country'.
Following the announcement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the June 12th election with nearly two-thirds of the votes, defeated candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejected the result as fraudulent and demanded a re-run.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[Beirut Daily Star: Region] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday hailed his disputed re-election as a victory for the Iranian people and a defeat for the Islamic Republic's enemies. The June 12 poll sparked Iran's most vigorous internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but hardliners have regained the upper hand in Iran, whose nuclear program has alarmed the West. "This election was actually a referendum. The Iranian nation were the victors and the enemies, despite their ... plots of a soft toppling of the system, failed and couldn't reach their aims," the state IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Iran often accuses the West of seeking to promote a "velvet revolution" to overthrow its 30-year-old Islamic system.
The body that supervised the vote ruled out any further legal appeal and said those alleging fraud should be prosecuted. "Based on Iran's constitution, the Guardian Council is the top legislative body to review complaints over the election. The council members have unanimously approved the election result," its spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai told a news conference. "The case of the 10th presidential election is closed," Kadkhodai said, a day after the council dismissed complaints raised by two defeated candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi.
Kadkhodai urged the judiciary to take legal action against those who "spread rumors about election-rigging."
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
short round's wrong -- This is truly a defeat for anyone who actually cares about the best interests of iranians.
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Foreign Secretary David Miliband says Britain and Iran have agreed to resolve the dispute over the arrest of four local British Embassy staff in Tehran. 
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday hailed his disputed re-election as a victory for the Iranian people and a defeat for the Islamic Republic's enemies. The June 12 poll sparked Iran's most vigorous internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but hardliners have regained the upper hand in Iran, whose nuclear program has alarmed the West. "This election was actually a referendum. The Iranian nation were the victors and the enemies, despite their ... plots of a soft toppling of the system, failed and couldn't reach their aims," the state IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
