TEHRAN, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that the Sunday anti-government protests in Tehran was a play staged by Israel and the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.
During the annual Ashura commemorations of Shiite Muslims on Sunday, anti-government protestors clashed with the security forces in Tehran. According to local media, eight people were killed and more than 300 were arrested.
"Iranians have seen more of such plays. The Zionists (Israel) and the Americans who are the commissioners of these plays would be the sole audience," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.
Calling the protest event as "nauseating play," he strongly criticized the positions taken by U.S. President Barack Obama and the British government over the recent protests in Tehran, saying "We have advised them several times, but they are insisting to experience the contempt," according to IRNA.
On Monday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband praised Iran's Ashura Day anti-government protestors for "their great courage" and called on Iran "to observe human rights of its own citizens."
Obama also condemned on Monday Iran's crackdown on protesters, saying "history will be on the side of those who seek justice."
The Ashura ritual is performed in Iran and some other countries with large populations of Shiite Muslims. During the annual Ashura commemorations, mourners, generally clad in black, take to the streets or gather in mosques to grieve over the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, who was killed and buried in Karbala in 680 AD.
TEHRAN, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani urged "most severe punishment" for Ashura Day anti-government protesters, the local satellite Press TV reported on Tuesday.
"Majlis calls on officials at the Interior and Intelligence Ministries and the Judiciary to arrest the desecraters of the religion and to administer the most severe punishment for these anti-government individuals," Larijani was quoted as saying. Full story
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday condemned Iran's crackdown on protesters, saying "history will be on the side of those who seek justice."
The United States "strongly condemns" the oppression of Iranian citizens, Obama said in his native Hawaii where he is taking vacation with his family. Full story
TEHRAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported on Monday that the dead bodies of five, out of eight, murdered people in Tehran's Sunday "riots" have been retained for further forensic examinations.
The dead bodies of Seyed-Ali Habibi-Mousavi and four others who were killed in Tehran's Sunday "riots" have been retained for complete forensic and police examinations, IRNA said rejecting some media reports on Monday that Habibi-Mousavi's dead body was taken away by Iran's security forces. Full story
An Iranian opposition supporter holds a policeman during clashes in central Tehran December 27, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
TEHRAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Death toll in Sunday's clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in Tehran rose to eight, Iran's state-run satellite channel Press TV reported Monday.
"Eight people have been killed in anti-government protests," Iran's Supreme National Security Council was quoted as saying. Full story
