Report: Iran opposition candidate blasts ‘clear lies’

An opposition candidate in Iran’s disputed presidential election blasted what he called the "thoughtless and clear lies" of the country’s security forces Sunday, while students mounted new demonstrations at a university in Shiraz. Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi, who ran last in the June 12 election, compared government claims that it had not attacked his supporters to the statements that came out of the Iranian monarchy in the days before the 1979 revolution that established the Islamic republic, according to Iran’s Aftab news agency.

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Man’s family learns of his death one month after Iran protests

An Iranian family learned of their 19-year-old son’s death nearly a month after he was shot during a demonstration over the Islamic republic’s disputed election results, an international human rights group said Sunday. Sohrab Aarabi was apparently shot dead June 15 during one of the bloody protests that followed the June 12 presidential elections, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. At least 20 protesters were killed in the chaos and more than 1,000 were arrested in Tehran in the first few days after the election, but it was not clear whether Aarabi’s death was counted among those

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Iranian authorities vow to quell protests on key anniversary

The commander of Iran’s security forces warned that police would "strongly confront" anyone planning to protest Thursday, a day that marks the anniversary of a pivotal point in Iran’s reformist movement. In an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Maj

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Ex-Iranian president seeks to free detainees

Iranians worried about their loved ones detained in the protests that followed the presidential election got the ear of a former president, who wants the detainees released, an Iranian reformist party newspaper reported on Thursday. Former reformist President Mohammad Khatami met with families of some of the people detained and said that if the courts uphold the civil rights of the detainees, the court would order them freed, reported presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi’s party newspaper. Spouses of detainees told Khatami they wanted their spouses released and that they worried about their physical and mental health, the paper reported.

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Iran’s election authority: Partial recount shows election valid

Saying it had completed an investigation into alleged voter irregularities, Iran’s election authority on Monday stood by its findings that gave hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory and sparked more than two weeks of chaos in the streets. There was “no tangible irregularity,” Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told government-run Press TV after reporting that a recount of some 10 percent of the votes found no significant differences.

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Iranian minister blames Britain, U.S. for unrest

Iran’s intelligence minister Sunday blamed Western powers for stirring up protests over its disputed presidential election, singling out Britain and saying the British Embassy in Tehran "played a heavy role in the recent disturbances." “The fact that Iran is stable, calm and secure, they’re upset with this,” Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hosein Mohseni Ejei told Iran’s Press TV.

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