Protests erupt in Iran as cleric speaks out
- 00:02:28
- ITN
Protests erupt in Iran as cleric speaks out
Iranian police have used tear gas and batons against tens of thousands of supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. His supporters had flocked to Tehran University to hear influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani give Friday prayers. It is the first time he has led the weekly ceremony since the disputed June 12 presidential election. Mr Rafsanjani said many Iranians had doubts about the official result in favour of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. "We are all members of a family. I hope with this sermon we can pass through this period of hardships that can be called a crisis," he said in a sermon broadcast on state radio. Mr Mousavi, a former prime minister, attended the ceremony in his first official public appearance since the vote, which he says was rigged. The authorities deny any fraud. Rafsanjani, a key backer of Mr Mousavi's election campaign, also demanded the immediate release of people detained in post-election unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed. "In the current situation it is not necessary for us to have a number of people in prisons ... we should allow them to return to their families," he said. Earlier the crowd inside the hall could be heard on live state radio chanting "Mousavi, Mousavi, we support you", interrupting Mr Rafsanjani's sermon. The chants died away after he quietened the crowd, urging them "not to contaminate the position and the sanctuary of Friday prayers by comments and slogans". The pragmatic former president is one of four senior clerics who lead Friday prayers, but he had not done so for two months. Outside the university grounds, police fired tear gas at supporters of Mr Mousavi who were chanting slogans demanding the release of detainees. It was the biggest anti-government protest since those that erupted in the week after the contested election. At least 15 people were arrested, the witness said. June's election stirred the most striking display of internal dissent in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution and exposed deepening divisions in its establishment. At least 20 people died in post-election violence. Mr Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. The security forces have managed to largely quell last month's street demonstrations, but Mr Mousavi has remained defiant.
ITN | July 17, 2009
