Police, Protesters Clash Near Iran's Parliament
By VOA News
24 June 2009
Witnesses in the Iranian capital say riot police forcibly dispersed hundreds of people who tried to gather near the parliament building in Tehran for another post-election protest.
Internet postings had called for the rally outside Iran's Parliament Wednesday afternoon, despite a warning by the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and threats of violence by the Revolutionary Guard.
Witnesses tell VOA's Persian News Network and other news agencies that the large security force beat people with batons and fired weapons to prevent protesters from gathering.
The government has maintained a heavy police presence in the streets, especially since Saturday's violence between authorities and protesters killed at least 10 people. Hundreds have been arrested.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets last week to protest official presidential election results.
In the face of violent suppression, many opposition supporters have taken to their rooftops in a nightly ritual to shout "Allahu akbar" - God is Greatest, a tactic also used during Iran's Islamic Revolution 30 years ago.
Western nations have criticized Iran's government for its violent response to demonstrations.
The disputed vote has triggered Iran's greatest unrest since the 1979 revolution, and the government has created a special court to try the hundreds of Iranians it has arrested in the post-election turmoil.
Iran's official death toll stands at 17, but witnesses to clashes between protesters and security forces put the toll much higher. Figures cannot be verified because Iran has severely restricted news organizations' abilities to report from the country.
Opposition protesters say Iran's presidential vote was rigged. They cite numerous alleged instances of election fraud, among them a contention that the reported margin of victory for President Ahmadinejad over reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi was impossibly high. Iran's Guardian Council has admitted finding voter irregularities in 50 districts.
The council says it will continue to investigate polling complaints beyond Wednesday's set deadline (until June 29th), but it has ruled out overturning the results.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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