Top Cleric Calls for Inquiry as Protesters Defy Ban in Iran
By ROBERT F. WORTH and NAZILA FATHI
NYT
TEHRAN — Hundreds of thousands of people marched in silence through central Tehran on Monday to protest Iran’s disputed presidential election in an extraordinary show of defiance that appeared to be the largest demonstration in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
The march began hours after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for a inquiry into opposition claims that the election was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The ayatollah’s call — announced every 15 minutes on Iranian state radio throughout the day — was the first sign that Iran’s top leadership might be rethinking its position on the election. Mr. Khamenei announced Saturday that the election results showing a landslide victory for Mr. Ahmadinejad were fair, but on Sunday he met with Mir Hussein Moussavi, the former prime minister and moderate who was the main opposition candidate, to listen to his concerns.
As evening fell, Iranian state television reported that shots had been fired at the rally, and an Associated Press photographer reported that one person had died. It was impossible to independently confirm these reports, which came after hours during which government security forces stood by at the edges of the avenues, allowing demonstrators to stream past in a deliberate and striking contrast with the chaos of the past few days.
(More here.)
NYT
TEHRAN — Hundreds of thousands of people marched in silence through central Tehran on Monday to protest Iran’s disputed presidential election in an extraordinary show of defiance that appeared to be the largest demonstration in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
The march began hours after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for a inquiry into opposition claims that the election was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The ayatollah’s call — announced every 15 minutes on Iranian state radio throughout the day — was the first sign that Iran’s top leadership might be rethinking its position on the election. Mr. Khamenei announced Saturday that the election results showing a landslide victory for Mr. Ahmadinejad were fair, but on Sunday he met with Mir Hussein Moussavi, the former prime minister and moderate who was the main opposition candidate, to listen to his concerns.
As evening fell, Iranian state television reported that shots had been fired at the rally, and an Associated Press photographer reported that one person had died. It was impossible to independently confirm these reports, which came after hours during which government security forces stood by at the edges of the avenues, allowing demonstrators to stream past in a deliberate and striking contrast with the chaos of the past few days.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home