Iran opposition warned against street rally
Iran’s opposition leader received another stern warning today not to encourage his supporters to take to the streets.
The new caution comes a day after the country’s top leader sought to end the deepening election crisis by effectively declaring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.
Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi were planning a massive rally in Tehran later today, but it was unclear if he would attend and how large the rally would be after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday ordered opposition leaders to end street protests or be held responsible for any “bloodshed and chaos” to come.
Iran’s Interior Ministry reiterated the warning to Mr Mousavi today, saying he would “be held responsible for the consequences of any illegal gatherings”.
The ministry also accused the 67-year-old former prime minister of supporting protests that “have led to the disruption of security and public order”, State Security Council secretary Abbas Mohtaj said in a statement on the ministry’s website.
The warnings mark a pivotal moment for Mr Mousavi. He can either back down or risk a crushing response from police and the forces at Ayatollah Khamenei’s disposal – the powerful Revolutionary Guard and their volunteer citizen militia, the basij.
There also are questions about Mr Mousavi’s ability to control his own followers, many of whom were waiting for a clear response to Ayatollah Khamenei’s edict yesterday before today’s planned rally.
Mr Mousavi, who accuses the government of widespread voter fraud in the June 12 election, and the two other candidates who ran against Mr Ahmadinejad were to meet Iran’s Guardian Council today.
The council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts close to Ayatollah Khamenei, investigates voter fraud claims.
The council has said it was prepared to conduct a limited recount of ballots at sites where candidates claim irregularities. It was not clear, however, if they had initiated any investigations.
It was also unclear if today’s planned rally would take place. Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters flooded the streets of Tehran during several massive marches earlier this week which recalled the scale of protests during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In a first sign of possible resistance to Ayatollah Khamenei’s orders came shortly after nightfall in Tehran. Cries of “Death to the dictator!” and “Allahu akbar” – “God is great” – rang from rooftops in what has become a nightly ritual of opposition unity.
Since the June 12 election, Mr Mousavi has become the figurehead for a broad collection of demonstrators – from the most liberal-leaning reformists to religious conservatives.
Some could be prepared to take their protests to the limit, but many others have no interest in an all-out mutiny against the country’s Islamic system.
Ayatollah Khamenei was blunt yesterday about what a wider fight would bring - warning that those who “want to ignore the law or break the law” will face the consequences.
Police clashed with protesters in running battles around Tehran immediately after the election and the basij militia had a reported role in attacks at the university. Gunfire from a basij compound in Tehran also left at least seven people dead on Monday.
However, the full force of the police and Revolutionary Guard has remained in check.
This was Ayatollah Khamenei’s implicit message since the Guard and the vast volunteer militia force it controls is under direct command of the ruling clerics.
A spokesman for Mr Mousavi said yesterday that the opposition leader was not under arrest but was not allowed to speak to journalists or stand at a microphone at rallies.
Iranian film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf told the Association Press from Paris that it was even becoming difficult to reach people close to Mr Mousavi. He said he had not heard from the Mousavi camp since Ayatollah Khamenei’s address.
Iranian authorities have placed strict limits on the ability of foreign media to cover recent events, banning reporting from the street and allowing only phone interviews and information from officials sources such as state TV.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other European Union leaders expressed dismay over the threat of a crackdown.
Both houses of the US Congress approved a resolution condemning “the ongoing violence” by the Iranian government and its suppression of the internet and mobile phones.
In an interview taped yesterday with CBS, US President Barack Obama said he was very concerned by the “tenor and tone” of Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments. He also said that how Iran’s leaders “approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard” will signal “what Iran is and is not”.
The crowds in Tehran and elsewhere have been able to organise events despite a government clampdown on the internet and mobile phones.
The government has blocked certain websites, such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites which are conduits for Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence.
Text messaging has not been working in Iran since last week, and the mobile phone network in Tehran is frequently down.
