By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
TEHRAN, Iran – Anti-government protesters clashed with Iranian security forces on December 27. The clash left at least eight protesters dead, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi. Iranian officials deny opposition claims that police shot Seyed Ali Mousavi.
According to Mousavi’s website, Seyed Ali was shot in the back on the 27th as security forces fired on demonstrators in Tehran. The Mousavi family claims that Seyed Ali’s body had been taken without their permission from the hospital where it had been held. The official news agency of Iran reports that Seyed Ali and other bodies of people killed on December 27 were “retained in order to complete forensic and police examinations and find more leads on this suspicious incident.”
Opposition websites report that police fired tear gas on December 29 at a group of Mousavi supporters who were demonstrating outside of the hospital where Seyed Ali’s body had bee held.
Foreign media in Iran reports that the country is arresting opposition figures to stifle protests. Among those arrested on December 29 is Ebrahim Yazdi, leaders of the Freedom Movement of Iran, and his nephew. Yazdi’s son, Khalil, who lives in the US, told the BBC that Iranian authorities wanted to close down all opposition groups.
Also among the arrested was three aides to Mir Hussein Mousavi. A senior cleric from the holy city of Qom close to Mousavi, Mousavi Tebrizi, is also reported to have been arrested The Parlemannews website also reports that two aides to reformist former President Mohammad Khatami were among the individuals rounded up by authorities.
The violence on the streets of Iran’s major cities on December 27 were the worst since the protests immediately after the disputed presidential election. While state media confirmed eight deaths, other reports put the number as high as fifteen people. Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate in the election, accused the Ahmedinejad regime of “dipping its hands in people’s blood.”
The Iranian government’s action towards the protesters has sparked controversy around the world. The US, UK, France, Germany and Canada all condemned the violence in Iran’s streets. President Barack Obama said that “the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality.”
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Iran Rally Leaders ‘Enemies of God’ – 30 December 2009
Los Angeles Times – Iran Clamps Down on Protests – 29 December 2009
BBC – Iran Opposition Figures Arrested After Protests – 28 December 2009
Telegraph – Iran Arrests Key Opposition Figures in Effort to End Protests – 28 December 2009
