TEHRAN – Iranian police used batons to disperse dozens of opposition supporters chanting “death to the dictator” in central Tehran on Monday to protest against the closure of a reformist newspaper, a witness has said.
The latest street unrest after Iran's disputed June 12th presidential vote took place near the offices of the Etemad-e Melli, the daily of leading pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi.
Mr Karoubi angered many hardliners last week by saying some post-election protesters had been raped in jail. His party said yesterday that the paper had been temporarily shut down, and the prosecutor’s office later confirmed this.
"In accordance with the law . . . the Etemad-e Mellinewspaper belonging to Mr Karoubi has been suspended until further notice," an official statement carried by the semi-official Mehr news agency said, without giving a reason.
Although the security forces quelled the mass demonstrations after the vote, backers of defeated moderate candidates have defied the authorities by staging several smaller rallies over the last month.
The poll and its turbulent aftermath have plunged Iran into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deepening divisions within its ruling elite and further straining relations with the West.
The witness said he had seen police beat two young men who were in one of several smaller groups of protesters moving around in the streets near the Etemad-e Melli building, chanting anti-government slogans.
The witness, who declined to be named, said he had seen one demonstrator being arrested and put into a police car. The authorities say such street protests are illegal.
Earlier, police prevented demonstrators from gathering outside the Etemad-e Mellioffices, where the witness said he saw scores of police and police vehicles.
“They tried to gather in front of the building but police did not let them and told them to leave,” the witness said. – (Reuters)