Protests in Iran to continue despite government ban
15:2917/06/2009 MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti) - Supporters of the defeated reformist candidate in last week's election in Iran plan to hold a fifth day of rallies in the capital on Wednesday afternoon, in defiance of a government ban.
Tehran has been swept by mass protests over alleged vote fraud in the landslide reelection of the hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Several people have died and dozens have been injured in violent street protests in the capital, Tehran, since Saturday.
On Tuesday night, riot police arrested dozens of protesters in Shiraz, in the country's southwest.
Up to 500,000 supporters of Ahmadinejad's rival, moderate reformer Mir Hossein Mousavi, rallied on the streets of Tehran on Monday, and the protests continued on a smaller scale on Tuesday.
The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared his support for Ahmadinejad, calling him the "elected president." However, Ayatollah Khamenei has not been seen in public since the election.
The Guardian Council, which oversees elections, proposed a limited recount of the vote on Tuesday to appease protestors, but the offer was rejected.
Sociologist Hamid Reza Jalaipour, also a prominent journalist, was arrested at his house early on Wednesday morning, his colleague told AFP news agency. Another opposition figure, political and economic analyst Saeed Laylaz, was also detained.
The country's interior ministry earlier banned the rallies and said live ammunition could be used against the protestors. Foreign media have been prevented from filming the protests, and several news and social networking websites have been blocked in Iran.
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