An Iranian woman holds signs in front of the White House in Washington, DC during a demonstration in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
(AFP/Nicholas Kamm)
By Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl Parisa Hafezi And Fredrik Dahl – 1 hr 7 mins ago
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian authorities on Sunday blamed "terrorists" for clashes in which at least 10 people were killed and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United States and Britain to stay out of unrest sparked by his disputed re-election.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iran state television said 10 people were killed and more than 100 others injured in protests held in Tehran on Saturday in defiance of a stern warning by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A separate report put the number of deaths at 13.
State television said the violence included the torching of a mosque, which it blamed on "rioters."
Sun Jun 21, 4:13 am ET
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) – Several people were killed when rioters torched a mosque in Tehran on Saturday, state television announced on Sunday.
"Yesterday, rioters set on fire the Lolagar mosque... in which unfortunately a number of our citizens were killed," the television announcer said, without specifying the exact number of those killed.
"In the unrest leading to clashes 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded," it said. "The presence of terrorists ... in yesterday's event in Enghelab and Azadi avenues was tangible."
The harshness of the language suggested the authorities could be preparing for a crackdown to end more than a week of protests.
The disputed June 12 election handed an overwhelming victory to the hardline, anti-Western Ahmadinejad sparking the biggest protests and most violent unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution which ousted the U.S.-backed shah.
Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, who came second to Ahmadinejad in the poll and whose followers have spearheaded protests, says the election was rigged and must be annulled.
State television, appealing for Iranian unity, suggested that only the West stood to gain from the unrest and Ahmadinejad accused Washington and London of interfering in Iran's affairs.
"Definitely by hasty remarks you will not be placed in the circle of friendship with the Iranian nation. Therefore I advise you to correct your interfering stances,"Ahmadinejad was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying at a meeting with clerics and scholars.
Ahmadinejad was directing this remark at U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, ISNA said.
Obama, in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to halt an Iranian nuclear program the West fears could yield atomic weapons, urged Tehran on Saturday to "stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people."
"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost," Obama said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband rejected the charge of interference. "The UK is categorical that it is for the Iranian people to choose their government," he said in a statement.
ARRESTS
In Paris, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said tensions in Iran had added to risks facing the world economy and underlined the need for strengthening the global financial system.
"Any additional geo-strategic tension is obviously an extra risk for the international economy," he told Europe 1 radio.
"We have to live with these risks and reinforce the solidity of the international economy, reinforce the solidity of international finance ...," he said.
There were no immediate reports of street protests on Sunday. Government restrictions prevent correspondents working for foreign media from attending demonstrations to report.
State TV earlier announced the arrests of members of the Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO), an exiled opposition group which it accused of "terrorist activities" including setting buses on fire and destroying public property.
Riot police were deployed in force on Saturday, firing teargas and using batons and water cannon to disperse groups of several hundred Iranians who had gathered across the city.
Mousavi on Saturday said the Islamic Republic must be purged of "lies and deviations" and told supporters he was "ready for martyrdom," according to an ally. But he said he did not seek confrontation with the authorities.
"We are not against the Islamic system and its laws but against lies and deviations and just want to reform it," he said in a statement on his website.
He said if authorities refused to allow peaceful protests they would face the "consequences" -- an apparent rejoinder to Khamenei's warning that opposition leaders would be held responsible for any bloodshed resulting from protests.
The authorities reject charges of election fraud.
But the highest legislative body said it was ready to recount a random 10 percent of the votes cast in the election to meet the complaints of Mousavi and two other candidates..
(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Zahra Hosseinian; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
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Leader: Alien fleet detrimental to PG
Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:49AM GMT
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has slammed the presence of US and European warships in the Persian Gulf as "detrimental and unwarranted."
"The days of hegemonic powers which determine the fate of other nations by imposing their military might has come to an end," Ayatollah Khamenei said addressing naval officers during a visit to the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out that regional states have become growingly vigilant and have come to believe that foreign troops bring insecurity to their countries.
"Even if some of the regional governments are still inclined to obey the orders of the arrogant powers, regional nations have awakened and become alert, and consider the foreigners' military presence as the cause of insecurity in the region," the Leader added.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has slammed the presence of US and European warships in the Persian Gulf as "detrimental and unwarranted."
"The days of hegemonic powers which determine the fate of other nations by imposing their military might has come to an end," Ayatollah Khamenei said addressing naval officers during a visit to the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday.
The Leader pointed out that regional states have become growingly vigilant and have come to believe that foreign troops bring insecurity to their countries.
"Even if some of the regional governments are still inclined to obey the orders of the arrogant powers, regional nations have awakened and become alert, and consider the foreigners' military presence as the cause of insecurity in the region," Ayatollah Khamenei noted.
“Today the situation is very different from the past,” the Leader said, adding that the region's coast is controlled by an independent government and an alert nation who knows its national power and resolve.
“By reliance on God, [Iran] will impose its resolve on any political and military power, and force them to retreat.”
“Today, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden are free and independent regions thanks to the powerful presence of the Islamic Iran,” the Leader noted.
“We have not encouraged any country to confrontation and war and will not [do so], and we will refrain from any accidental or calculated encounter as far as we can,” Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out.
Upon his arrival in Bandar Abbas on Saturday morning, Ayatollah Khamenei visited the navy's industrial complex and paid tribute to Iranian martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
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