Riot police attack Mousavi supporters
TEHRAN. June 23. KAZINFORM. Riot police attacked hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas and fired live bullets in the air to disperse a rally in central Tehran yesterday, carrying out a threat by the country's most powerful security force to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
Britain, accused by Iran of fomenting postelection unrest, said it was evacuating the families of diplomats and other officials based in Iran - the first country to do so as Iran's worst internal conflict since the 1979 revolution escalated.
Witnesses said helicopters hovered overhead as about 200 protesters gathered at Haft-e-Tir Square. But hundreds of anti-riot police quickly put an end to the demonstration and prevented any gathering, even small groups, at the scene.
Iran says at least 17 protesters have been killed in a week of unrest so far after the electoral council declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winner of the June 12 election. His main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, charged the election was a fraud and insists he is the true winner. His followers have been staging near-daily rallies.
The council acknowledged yesterday that there were voting irregularities in 50 electoral districts, the most serious official admission so far of problems in the election. But it insisted the problems do not affect the outcome of the vote.
Earlier yesterday, the elite Revolutionary Guards warned protesters to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces" if they continue their rallies.
Mousavi's website called yesterday for supporters to turn on their car lights in the late afternoon as a sign of protest. His latest statement also warned supporters of danger ahead, and said he would stand by the protesters "at all times."
US Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg said Washington was concerned about violence in Iran and wanted the dispute settled by a fair process.
The United Arab Emirates said instability in Iran was not in the region's best interests and described foreign interference there as unacceptable.
Bahrain, meanwhile, ordered the closure until further notice of the country's oldest daily newspaper after it published a claim that Ahmadinejad is of Jewish origin. Akhbar Al-Khaleej was found guilty of violating the country's press code, the official BNA news agency said; Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.