Iran arrests leading activists in latest crackdown on reform
Source: Agencies |
December 29, 2009, Tuesday
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OPPOSITION activists said Iranian security forces rounded up at least seven prominent activists yesterday, stepping up a crackdown on the country's pro-reform movement a day after eight people, including the nephew of the chief opposition leader, were killed in anti-government protests.
The bloodshed, some of the heaviest in months, drew an especially harsh condemnation from one opposition leader, who compared the government to the brutal regime ousted by the Islamic Revolution three decades ago.
Yesterday's developments were sure to deepen antagonism between the government and the reform movement, which has repeatedly shown resilience in the face of repeated crackdowns since June's disputed presidential election.
Mahdi Karroubi, an opposition leader who ran in the June election, posted a statement on an opposition Website asking how the government could spill the blood of its people on the Shiite sacred day of Ashoura. He said even the former government of the hated shah respected the holy day.
"What has really happened that spilled the blood of people on the day of Ashoura and gets a group of savage individuals confronting people?" he said.
The shah, who was overthrown in 1979, was widely hated, and comparing a rival to the shah is a serious insult in Iranian politics.
The government crackdown has attracted a growing chorus of international criticism.
Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, condemned the "brutal action" by security forces.
"I am calling on those responsible in Tehran to do everything in order to avoid a further escalation of the situation and to end the violence," he said. "The international community will watch and not look away."
Stone throwing
Sunday's violence erupted when security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of Tehran. Opposition Websites and witnesses said five people were killed, but Iran's state-run Press TV, quoting the Supreme National Security Council, said the death toll was eight.
The dead included a nephew of chief opposition leader Mir Mousavi, according to Mousavi's Website. Police denied using firearms.
Opposition Websites and activists said security forces raided a series of opposition offices yesterday, making at least seven arrests.
Three of Moussavi's top aides were said to have been rounded up, including his top adviser, Ali Riza Beheshti.
Security forces also stormed a foundation run by reformist former President Mohammad Khatami and arrested two people, a foundation official said. The Baran Foundation works to promote dialogue between civilizations.
In another move, former Foreign Minister Ebrahim Yazdi and human rights activist Emad Baghi were arrested, according to the Rah-e-Sabz Website. Yazdi, who was foreign minister after the 1979 Islamic revolution, is now leader of the banned but tolerated Freedom Movement of Iran.
The bloodshed, some of the heaviest in months, drew an especially harsh condemnation from one opposition leader, who compared the government to the brutal regime ousted by the Islamic Revolution three decades ago.
Yesterday's developments were sure to deepen antagonism between the government and the reform movement, which has repeatedly shown resilience in the face of repeated crackdowns since June's disputed presidential election.
Mahdi Karroubi, an opposition leader who ran in the June election, posted a statement on an opposition Website asking how the government could spill the blood of its people on the Shiite sacred day of Ashoura. He said even the former government of the hated shah respected the holy day.
"What has really happened that spilled the blood of people on the day of Ashoura and gets a group of savage individuals confronting people?" he said.
The shah, who was overthrown in 1979, was widely hated, and comparing a rival to the shah is a serious insult in Iranian politics.
The government crackdown has attracted a growing chorus of international criticism.
Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, condemned the "brutal action" by security forces.
"I am calling on those responsible in Tehran to do everything in order to avoid a further escalation of the situation and to end the violence," he said. "The international community will watch and not look away."
Stone throwing
Sunday's violence erupted when security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of Tehran. Opposition Websites and witnesses said five people were killed, but Iran's state-run Press TV, quoting the Supreme National Security Council, said the death toll was eight.
The dead included a nephew of chief opposition leader Mir Mousavi, according to Mousavi's Website. Police denied using firearms.
Opposition Websites and activists said security forces raided a series of opposition offices yesterday, making at least seven arrests.
Three of Moussavi's top aides were said to have been rounded up, including his top adviser, Ali Riza Beheshti.
Security forces also stormed a foundation run by reformist former President Mohammad Khatami and arrested two people, a foundation official said. The Baran Foundation works to promote dialogue between civilizations.
In another move, former Foreign Minister Ebrahim Yazdi and human rights activist Emad Baghi were arrested, according to the Rah-e-Sabz Website. Yazdi, who was foreign minister after the 1979 Islamic revolution, is now leader of the banned but tolerated Freedom Movement of Iran.
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