Iran protests: live
Police have clashed with protesters in Iran as the opposition movement continue its street protests against re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in defiance of threats from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Follow live updates on what is being seen as a crucial day in Iran
Supporters of defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate in Tehran, Iran. Photograph: Getty Images/Getty Images
9am:
Today's banned protest rally will go ahead, according to an aide to one of the other defeated candidate's, Mehdi Karoubi.
"The demonstration plan has not been cancelled and accordingly it must be held this afternoon," the Karoubi aide told Reuters. He declined to be named.
Last night Karoubi called for the election to be annulled.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims he beat Ahmadinejad in the race, was said by an ally to have no plans for a rally, but supporters vowed to go on protesting.
This build-up mirrors the pattern of previous days when Mousavi or his aide first called for rallies, then called them off, and then he attended rallies after hundreds of thousands of his supporters took to the streets. However after Khamenei's threatening speech, today might be different.
You can follow the events of previous days here:
19 June: Khamenei's hardline speech
18 June: mass mourning
17 June: crackdown continues
16 June: day of unrest
15 June: aftermath of disputed results
12 June: election day
As there are so many restrictions on journalists in Iran it is difficult to get information, so if you are in Iran and have news, please email me at matthew.weaver@guardian.co.uk or post updates or interesting links in the comments section below.
And if you have taken any pictures of the latest events in Iran, or know anyone who has, please send them to pictures@guardian.co.uk. Please provide as much information as you can about your pictures including what they show, and when and where they were taken. Thanks.
9.10am:
Bloggingheads TV has had some very interesting discussions on Iran. It's a good format – brainy informative Americans in a head-to-head dialogue that runs for an hour – so it doesn't cut off when it gets good, and it's "diavlog", so there's no interruption by facile news anchors.
This one between Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American writer and Middle East analyst, and Eli Lake, a national security correspondent for the Washington Times, provides a fantastic primer on Iranian politics and the current crisis.
Recorded before Khamenei's speech, it explains the personalities in the regime and the politics and history between them.
"We're getting an ant's eye view from Twitter, we're not getting a bird's eye view," Lake comments. This discussion provides an overview.
"The supreme leader is the new Shah," Lake says. "We're seeing the beginning of the end of the Islamic revolution." It could go either way, Aslan reckons: "It could be more militaristic and isolationist or it could be a more democratic and accommodating Iran," he says.
Here's another which features Flynt Levertt, a former Middle East analyst at the US national security council, who argues that Ahmadinejad won.
9.25am:
The other crucial event today is a meeting of Iran's powerful guardian council, which has invited the three defeated presidential election candidates to voice their complaints.
The conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaie is taking part in the meeting, but the two pro-reform candidates – Mousavi and Karoubi – are not, according to Reuters which is citing the Fars News Agency.
9.55am:
"Protest leaders and responsible for bloodshed," the Khamenei's official English-language website ominously declares.
Barack Obama has expressed alarm about the supreme leader's speech. He told CBS: "I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made that the government of Iran recognize that the world is watching. And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is - and is not."
Zara Rahnavard at a rally on Thursday with her husband Mir Hossein Mousavi. The photograph is circulating on Twitter 10.15am:
Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard has called for today's rally to go ahead, according to the BBC World Service.
The call was made on Rahnavard's Facebook page.
The rally is due to start at 4pm (12.30BST).
But a group of moderate clerics has called off their planned protest, according to State TV.
10.30am:
More official threats to Mousavi and his supporters: Iran's security council has warned him against rallies.
"It is your duty not to incite and invite the public to illegal gatherings, otherwise you will be responsible for its consequences," it said in a letter to Mousavi according to the state-controlled Press TV.
It added: "It is your responsibility to prevent the public from attending such rallies instead of making accusations against the law enforcement.
"We believe this is an organised network which is most probably affiliated to foreign-related groups and deliberately disturbs the peace and security of the public. Of course we have already ordered the law enforcement forces to deal with the issue."
10.45am:
As LiberalinCalif says in the comments below this is a moving video and poem capturing the mood and rooftop chants last night ahead of today's rally.
11am:
The powerful guardian council has agreed to count 10% of the votes in the disputed election.
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"Although the guardian council is not legally obliged ... we are ready to recount 10% of the (ballot) boxes randomly in the presence of representatives of the three (defeated) candidates," a council spokesman said according to Reuters.
There's a clever cartoon here of a Twitter bird crapping on Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. The Toronto Star's cartoon has Iran mistaking blogging for flogging.
And here's Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson's take on Iran.
11.10am:
Basij militia have been seen in large numbers in Tehran carrying clubs and rifles, according to witnesses cited by AFP (via France24).
11.30am:
Iran's deputy national police commander said that police will arrest all those who attend today's protest, according to al-Jazeera.
An update from a Twitter user in Tehran says the streets are full of riot police in Ebghelab square.
12pm:
The rally is on according to this on Mousavi's Facebook page.
Update on Mousavi's Facebook page 12.10pm:
Exiled Iranians will take part in a rally in Paris today. "The massive rally will be in solidarity with the Iranian people's uprising," said the National Council of Resistance of Iran in an email.
There will also be a protest in London today between 4pm and 7pm.
12.20pm:
The BBC's Jon Leyne provides this assessment of what could happen:
This is all about the position of the Supreme Leader. Any rally, particularly if it is attended by the opposition leaders, would be the most direct challenge to his authority. If it goes ahead and there is a large crowd, that would be a massive challenge to him. If it goes ahead and it is broken up with violent force, that could also damage his position enormously. It is a very tense situation. These are huge political issues at stake, if not even the future of the Islamic Republic.
12.35pm:
The opposition rally should have started now, but it is difficult to get credible information out of Iran. There are unconfirmed reports on Twitter of crowds gathering on the streets. One says: "People going to Enghelab [Square] in large numbers and growing rapidly. Police there but not doing anything."
There are also reports that mobile phones are not working in the square, which might help to explain the lack of news.
If you know more please let us know.
1pm:
An unconfirmed tweet from a usually reliable source says Mousavi is walking from his Ettelaat office to the ministry of interior and that 10,000 people are with him.
Photos, claimed to be taken today, show several rows of riot police.
The BBC says its witness have seen hundreds of riot police in Enghelab Square.
Al-Jazeera also reports a heavy police presence, but points out that it is difficult to verify because phones are jammed.
1.10pm:
The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, admitted on the World Service that he cannot tell if the rally is actually happening, because of the restrictions on reporting. The Guardian's reporters in Iran are in no position to comment either.
1.25pm:
The entrance to Tehran's Revolution Square, is blocked by fire engines, according to AP. It also reports that riot police have surrounded Tehran University.
Several unconfirmed tweets claim that protesters have clashed with the police. Some claim the police have used batons.
2pm:
Protesters have been dispersed with teargas, according to Reuters witnesses.
Smoke was rising over Enghelab (Revolution) Square, a witness said.
Witnesses have told AP that protesters are holding "small" rallies in Tehran.
This pictures claims to show police today on Calhor and Jamalzadeh Street.
2.15pm:
Witnesses: police using tear gas, water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters in Tehran, says a flash on AP.
Iranian riot police stand guard in Tehran in this picture uploaded to a blog. Photograph: Reuters 2.20pm:
There are heavy clashes on Azadi Street, and chants of death to Khamenei, according to this regularly updated live blog from Iran. It also reports intense clashes on Enghelab Square. It's impossible to verify this at the moment.
2.25pm:
One person has been killed in an explosion near the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran, according to the Fars News Agency.
Two people were injured, Reuters quotes it saying. State TV has the same report, according to AP.
2.30pm:
Protesters are being shot at in Azadi Street, according to an unconfirmed report from Saeed Valadbaygi.
2.35pm:
More on that explosion at the shrine: "A suicide bomber was killed at the northern wing of Imam Khomeini's shrine. Two people were injured," Fars news agency said, according to Reuters.
Khamenei talked about the threat of terrorism in his speech yesterday.
"Street demonstrations are a target for terrorist plots. Who would be responsible if something happened?" he said.
2.45pm:
The security forces out-number the protesters, according to al-Jazeera.
3pm:
This video, uploaded today, purports to show an explosion and what looks like teargas shells in Tehran.
3.30pm:
An eyewitness in Enghelab square reports around 20,000 riot police, made up of Basiji militiamen and soldiers, and armed with rifles, tear gas and water cannons.
The eyewitness saw dozens of people beaten by riot police in an attempt to frighten them into evacuating the square, with one young man being beaten to the ground by four policemen.
The protesters were not wearing the green insignia that signifies support for Mousavi, and were not making victory signs or chanting.
The eyewitness reports riot police attacking people on passing motorbikes and, on occasion, innocent passersby who have no way of escaping the heavy police presence. Nonetheless, there are thousands of Mousavi supporters, marching peacefully near the square, where rthey have been subjected to these brutal reprisals from the police.
Across Tehran, there is widespread fear and panic, with many desperate to know what is going on in Enghelab square, but unable to find out due to reporting restrictions. Now the question seems to be: what will Mousavi do next?
3.40pm:
Mousavi supporters have set to a building in southern Tehran used by backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a witness told Reuters.
The witness also said police shot into the air to disperse rival supporters in Tehran's south Karegar street.
Does that refer to this incident shown on the BBC Persian service?
There are unconfirmed reports of deaths at "Vali Asr Cr" and "Sattar Khan Street" on the Revolutionary Road rolling blog from Iran.
3.55pm:
The police have attempt to portray the protesters as rioters by detailing the damage they have caused, and claimed public backing for a violent crackdown.
Iran's deputy police commander, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said 400 police have been wounded since last Friday's vote.
He claimed 10,000 complaints have been been made, according to state-run Press TV. "They have called on the police to deal with rallies firmly," he said.
"The recent rallies destroyed 700 buildings, burst 300 banks into flame, damaged 300 cars and 300 public properties," Radan added.
4.05pm:
Here's more video claiming to show clashes today between the police and stone throwing protesters.
4.25pm:
New pictures from the citizen journalist campaign Demotix show teargas being used against protesters today. In one a woman holds up a broken police truncheon.
4.30pm:
There are Twitter accounts claiming that Mousavi has given a speech at Jeyhoon Street in which he said: "We all go back to God." Once again this is difficult to impossible to verify at this stage.
4.40pm:
Mousavi has sent a letter to the guardian council alleging that there were plans to rig the election months in advance, according to his website.
Here's the Farsi version, and there is a very rough Google translation here.
The letter sets out a number of detailed complaints about counting discrepancies and concerns about how the ballot was conducted.
"These irritating measures (election rigging) was planned months ahead of the vote ... considering all the violations ... the election should be annulled," Mousavi said according to a Reuters translation.
4.55pm:
Here's another new video claiming to show today's protests in Tehran.
5.10pm:
There are more images of today's unrest here from the citizen journalist site Demotix.
5.20pm:
Mousavi has said protesters are ready for martyrdom, a witness told Reuters.
And there's more footage of chaotic scenes and fires on the streets of Tehran from another video that appears to have been made today.
Supporters of the defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi fled from the riot police on Saturday in Tehran. More Photos >
TEHRAN — Police officers used sticks and tear gas to force back thousands of demonstrators under plumes of black smoke in the capital on Saturday, a day after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there would be “bloodshed” if street protests continued over the disputed presidential election.
Iranian Readers: Share Your Views on the Outcome
Police officers confronted demonstrators Saturday in Tehran. The opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, appeared at a demonstration in the city and called for a strike if he were to be arrested. More Photos »
Separately, state-run media reported that three people were wounded when a suicide bomber attacked at the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the southern part of the city, several miles from the scheduled protests. The report of the blast could not be independently confirmed.
The violence unfolded on a day of extraordinary tension across Iran. The opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, appeared at a demonstration in southern Tehran and called for a general strike if he were to be arrested. “I am ready for martyrdom,” he told supporters.
Mr. Moussavi again called for nullifying the election’s results, and opposition protesters swore to continue pressing their claims of a stolen election against Iran’s embattled and increasingly impatient clerical leadership in Iran’s worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In Washington, President Obama called the government’s reaction “violent and unjust,” and, quoting Martin Luther King Jr., warned again that the world was watching what happened in Tehran.
Iran’s divisions played out on the streets. Regular security forces stood back and urged protesters to go home to avoid bloodshed, while the feared pro-government militia, the Basij, beat protesters with clubs and, witnesses said, electric prods.
In some places, the protesters pushed back, rushing the militia in teams of hundreds: At least three Basijis were pitched from their motorcycles, which were then set on fire. The protesters included many women, some of whom berated as “cowards” men who fled the Basijis. There appeared to be tens of thousands of protesters in Tehran, far fewer than the mass demonstrations early last week, most likely because of intimidation.
The street violence appeared to grow more intense as night fell, and there were unconfirmed reports of multiple deaths. A BBC journalist at Enghelab (Revolution) Square reported seeing one person shot by the security forces. An amateur video posted on YouTube showed a woman bleeding to death after being shot by a Basiji, the text posted with the video said.
“If they open fire on people and if there is bloodshed, people will get angrier,” said a protester, Ali, 40. “They are out of their minds if they think with bloodshed they can crush the movement.”
Mr. Obama’s statement was his strongest to date on the post-election turmoil in Iran. Saying that “each and every innocent life” lost would be mourned, he added: “Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
“Martin Luther King once said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people’s belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.”
There had been varying reports in the hours leading up to the opposition rally about whether it would be called off in the face of the government’s threatened crackdown. State television reported that Mr. Moussavi had called it off, but some of his supporters, posting on social networking sites, urged demonstrators to gather.
Journalists were banned from leaving their offices to report on the protests. A reporter from an American news organization said she had been called by a member of the Basij militia warning her not to go to the venue for the Saturday rally because the situation would be dangerous and there could be fatalities.
The authorities were also reported on Saturday to have renewed an offer of a partial recount of the ballots in the disputed election — an offer that the opposition has previously rejected. A letter from Mr. Moussavi published on one of his Web sites late Saturday repeated his demand for the election to be annulled.
“The Iranian nation will not believe this unjust and illegal” act, he said in the letter, which was addressed to the powerful Guardian Council, a panel of clerics which oversees and certifies election results. Making his case for electoral fraud, he charged that thousands of his representatives had been expelled from polling stations and some mobile polling stations had ballot boxes filled with fake ballots.
In a long and hard-line sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei declared the June 12 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad valid and warned that demonstration leaders “would be responsible for bloodshed and chaos” if demonstrations continued.
Regional analysts said that, by calling for an end to the rallies, Ayatollah Khamenei had inserted himself directly into the confrontation, invoking his own prestige and that of Iran’s clerical leaders. But his speech also laid the groundwork to suppress the opposition movement with a harder hand, characterizing any further protests as being against the Islamic republic itself.
Iran’s National Security Council reinforced Ayatollah Khamenei’s warning on Saturday, state media reported, telling Mr. Moussavi to “refrain from provoking illegal rallies.”
The demand came in a letter from the head of the council after a formal complaint by Mr. Moussavi that law enforcement agencies had failed to protect protesters.
(Page 2 of 2)
On Saturday morning, security forces — regular and riot police officers, and the Basij — were deployed in huge numbers around Tehran and, unconfirmed reports said, other major Iranian cities. The reports of confrontations came not only from northern Tehran, a hotbed for the opposition, but in the south, generally considered more supportive of Mr. Ahmadinejad.
Amateur video posted to the Web showed scenes of chaos and gunfire, some of it as vividly violent as in the clashes on Monday that left at least seven people dead. One video posted on the BBC Farsi service showed streets on fire and a large crowd fleeing amid several rounds of semiautomatic gunfire. A photo showed the riot police repelling demonstrators with a hand-held water cannon.
The Basij militia completely blocked off Enghelab Square, one major gathering ground for the protesters. They are less accountable than regular security forces and, many witnesses said, were far more violent on Saturday.
“Please go home,” one regular officer told protesters. “We are scared of the Basijis, too.”
One woman who lives off Vali Asr Square, near where the protests took place, said Basijis beat and kicked anyone outside, shouting at them to return to their houses.
“The streets near our house were full of Basijis wearing helmets and holding batons,” she said.
The government warned that it would step up the pressure on the opposition from its regular security forces if it continued to stage demonstrations.
“We acted with leniency, but I think from today on, we should resume law and confront more seriously,” Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said on state television. “The events have become exhausting, bothersome and intolerable. I want them to take the police cautions seriously because we will definitely show a serious confrontation against those who violate rules.”
In a measure of the scale of the opposition’s complaints, one losing candidate in the June 12 election, Mohsen Rezai, a conservative former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, claimed to have won between 3.5 million and 7 million votes compared with the 680,000 accorded to him in the first announcement of results a week ago, state-run Press TV reported Saturday.
Witnesses said that Mohammad Ghoochani, a prominent journalist and editor in chief of several reformist publications that had been shut down, was arrested Saturday by the authorities. There were no further details of his condition or location.
The authorities had also invited the three opposition candidates to attend a meeting on Saturday with the 12-member Guardian Council, the panel of clerics which oversees and certifies election results. But only one candidate — Mr. Rezai — attended, Press TV said.
The panel has been presented with 646 complaints of electoral irregularities, the authorities have said.
Mr. Moussavi has expressed mistrust of the panel, accusing some of its members of campaigning before the election for Mr. Ahmadinejad.
Press TV quoted Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, the council’s spokesman, as saying the body was investigating complaints including shortages and delays in the supply of ballot papers, the denial of access to polling stations by candidates’ representatives and intimidation and bribery of voters.
“Although the Guardian Council is not legally obliged,” Mr. Kadkhodaei was quoted as saying, “we are ready to recount 10 percent of the ballot boxes randomly in the presence of representatives of the candidates.”
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