Huge police operation breaks up Iranian protests
Huge police operation breaks up Iranian protests
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Saturday, 20, Jun 2009 06:10
A rally in protest at the Iranian presidential elections has been dispersed after a significant police operation reportedly used water canons, tear gas and batons to deter demonstrators.
A BBC correspondent reported a man was shot near the Enghelab Square in Tehran while defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi reiterated his call for the election result to be annulled, alleging it was rigged.
The Reuters news agency has since quoted a Mousavi ally as saying the reformist has said he is "ready for martyrdom".
There have been claims of a fire at the headquarters of controversial president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian news agencies have reported a suicide bombing at the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, though foreign correspondents have stated there is no evidence of a blast as of yet.
Though state television had claimed the protests would be cancelled, the wife of defeated candidate Mousavi and an aide of rival candidate Mehdi Karroubi both stated the demonstration would go ahead, in defiance of Ayatollah Khamenei warning against upheaval.
Supporters of the opposition parties have taken part in mass protests against the results which resulted in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country's president with 63 per cent of the vote.
Though Iran's supreme leader Khamenei had said there was no unfairness in the elections and called for people to accept the results and end demonstrations in the country, it is thought the government warnings evoked defiance among thousands of protestors determined to voice their discontent.
The Associated Press news agency reports some 3,000 protestors are gathered at Enghelab Square, shouting "Death to the dictator" and "Death to dictatorship", while witnesses told AP as many as 60 people were seriously beaten by police.
Though thousands are attempting to demonstrate, according to witnesses, a BBC correspondent in Tehran has claimed the sheer size of the police and military presence at Enghelab Square is preventing the groups of protestors from entering the square to hold their rally.
Earlier on Saturday, an aide to opposition candidate Karroubi said a rally planned to be held in the country's capital today would go ahead as planned, despite the supreme leader's call for an end to upheaval.
Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of defeated candidate Mousavi, also stressed the demonstration would go ahead, in an update on her page on the Facebook social networking site.
In his speech yesterday, revered Iranian cleric Ayatollah Khamenei accused western powers such as its "most treacherous" enemy, the UK, of doubting the poll results in order to achieve their own aims.