Update | 6:44 p.m. In its English-language coverage of the holiday of Ashura, the semiofficial Fars News Agency, which is close to the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, completely ignored the protests and violence, reporting that “tens of millions took part in massive processions across Iran on Sunday, marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of one of Shiite Islam’s most beloved leaders.” According to the Fars report, the only blood spilled was in ritual sacrifice: “Some Tehran streets were partially covered with blood from the slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cooked the meat and fed it to the poor.”
Press TV, Iran’s official English-language broadcaster, reported that the country’s intelligence ministry had arrested a number of “terrorists” who, it said, were members of the anti-regime Mujahedeen Khalq organization, which has long opposed the government of the Islamic Republic.
During mass trials of protesters arrested earlier this year, prosecutors charged that several of the reformists arrested at protests were secret agents of the Mujahedeen Khalq, a group based in Paris that does want to overthrow the regime, but has been used to discredit political leaders who want to reform rather than end Iran’s system of government.
Update | 6:37 p.m. According to the Iranian-American Web site Tehran Bureau, Mohammad Sadeghi, who is the administrator of the Mir Hussein Moussavi Facebook page, citing sources in the … >>>
