Witnesses yesterday said police were using tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters rallying in Tehran to demand a new presidential election.
Iranian anti-riot policemen also reportedly blocked and beat protesters trying to reach the site of a planned mass rally in Tehran yesterday, a witness said.
Police blocked all access routes to the main rally site, Enghelab Square, the witness said.
“They are blocking the side lanes and beating them,” the witness said.
Eyewitnesses said a crowd of 3,000 chanted “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to dictatorship!” near Revolution Square in central Tehran before police used tear gas and water cannon.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition leaders on Friday to end street protests or be held responsible for any “bloodshed and chaos” to come.
Also yesterday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Tehran mausoleum of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, killing himself and wounding a pilgrim, a police official told the Mehr news agency.
Earlier in the day, the government threatened harsh action if opposition supporters took to the streets again to demand a new election in open defiance of the country’s supreme leader.
Web sites run by supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called for street protests at 4pm, but the candidate himself issued no public statement.
Mousavi did not attend a meeting of the country’s top election authority, but one of his sites said he planned to issue a statement “soon.” It did not elaborate.
The decision to rally or stay off the streets will be crucial for the opposition movement and the unprecented threat it poses to Iran’s cleric-led government.
Rallying could spark a bloody crackdown on Mousavi’s supporters, or greatly weaken the government by forcing it to back away from its threat of violence.
If the opposition heeds the official warnings and cancels, it could give the government the opening it needs to suppress its greatest internal challenge since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
It was not clear if Mousavi has the power to halt street demonstrations even if he orders his supporters to stay inside. The government appeared to be preparing for a confrontation.
Police and members of the pro-government Basij militia were out in force on the streets, particularly in central commercial districts.
Tehran Province Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan said “police forces will crack down on any gathering or protest rally which are being planned by some people.”
State TV said the country’s highest national security body had ordered security forces to deal with the situation. It did not elaborate.
The government statements were the most explicit warnings yet of force against protesters who gathered in massive rallies last week to demand the government cancel and rerun elections that ended with a declaration of overwhelming victory for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi said he won and that Ahmadinejad stole the election through widespread fraud.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sided with Ahmadinejad on Friday, saying the result reflected popular will.
The statement effectively closed the door to Mousavi’s demand for a new election, ratcheting up the possibility of a confrontation.
The Iranian Interior Ministry raised the possibility of directly punishing the 67-year-old former prime minister, saying he would “be held responsible for the consequences of any illegal gatherings.”
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