News

Iran's opposition has asked the government for permission to hold a rally in support of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

The opposition website Kaleme reports that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karoubi, leaders from Iran's Green Movement, asked to hold the rally February 14 in solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian demonstrators.

Green movement supporters have not held a major demonstration since Iranian authorities crushed their December 2009 protest against a disputed presidential election, leaving eight dead and hundreds arrested.

There was no immediate response from the Iranian government to the demonstration request.

On Friday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed the anti-government protests in Egypt and Tunisia as an "Islamic awakening" and urged the Egyptian army to back the protesters.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit responded on Saturday, saying that Ayatollah Khamenei should pay attention to his own people's calls for freedom instead of trying to distract them with what is happening in Egypt.