BEIRUT – Students clashed with pro-government Basiji militiamen on the campus of a Tehran university yesterday and security forces continued to round up dissidents as Iran reeled from the aftershocks of last weekend’s deadly protests.
Iran’s hard-liners, who dominate the government, official media, and security forces, struggled to win control of the domestic political narrative following protests that shook the nation and left at least eight people dead.
Iranian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 protesters, dissidents, activists, and journalists and broadcast nonstop calls for government supporters to head to the streets today to rally against those who “desecrated’’ the holy day of Ashura with protests.
Among those arrested were relatives of prominent Iranian dissidents, including the sister of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, who is currently abroad, and the brother-in-law of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, whose 43-year-old nephew was shot dead under mysterious circumstances Sunday near the protests.
The son of a leading opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi, said guards assigned to his father by Iranian police have stopped providing security for him when he goes out, the Associated Press reported. Police have for years provided leading opposition figures with security.
Taghi Karroubi said the lack of security means his father cannot go outside safely, calling it a “quasi-house a… >>>
