Iranian security forces fired shots in the air to disperse people protesting the death of Iranian activist Haleh Sahabi, witnesses told AFP.
According to AFP, the protesters had tried to gather in silence outside Tehran's Hosseini Ershad mosque, a traditional site for reformists, but forces used batons and aerial shots to break up the assembly. The report says about 15 people were arrested at the scene.
Several opposition websites and a Facebook group had rallied people to demonstrate in front of the mosque to protest Sahabi's sudden death at the funeral of her father, veteran politician and leader of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition Ezzatollah Sahabi.
Haleh Sahabi, a prominent activist in her own right, died in a scuffle when government forces overran her father's funeral last Wednesday. Haleh Sahabi's remains were taken from the family and given a speedy burial in Lavasan Cemetery that same night.
The government maintains that Haleh Sahabi died from a heart attack brought on by the stress of her loss and the heat; however, several relatives and witnesses at the scene maintain that her death was caused by the beating she received from security forces at the funeral.
The Nationalist-Religious Coalition has called on the government to investigate the death of Haleh Sahabi and prosecute its perpetrators.
source: Radio Zamaneh
Iran’s Supreme Leader has called for unity among Islamic Republic supporters, which is being interpreted as an implicit show of support for embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In a speech marking 22 years since the death of the system’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader said: “If there are criminal charges against a movement, then officials are obliged to legally confront it.” Ayatollah Khamenei continued: “However, if someone is not seeking to topple the regime or carry out the bidding of our enemies, but disagrees with our political tastes and views, we must not deprive them of justice and security or crush them under our feet.”
After the 2009 presidential election, millions of people supported opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in their challenge of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory and protested against alleged vote fraud.
The government used extreme violence to crush the protests, which resulted in dozens of deaths and the widespread incarceration of reformists and protesters.
Even though Mousavi and Karroubi have been under house arrest since February for rallying protesters for an Arab solidarity march, Ayatollah Khamenei insisted that election protests have died down.
However, in an implicit show of support for Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khamenei insisted that attacks against “forces that are loyal to the foundations of the system and Islam” are a deviation from the path of the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Ahmadinejad has come under heavy attack in recent months from extreme conservatives, who claim Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, is leading a “deviant current” that threatens the foundations of the regime.
The Supreme Leader went on to laud the Ahmadinejad government, saying the “administration has been able to accomplish many great tasks, realize major infrastructure projects… the results of which will soon be evident to the people."
This appears to be a clear indication to senior figures in the establishment to cease their attacks against the government.
source: Radio Zamaneh
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