Arrests of Iran’s
Opposition Figures Continue
The
Iranian security has continued to arrest oppositions and
protesters a day after violent protests in the capital left at
least eight people dead.
Those detained include senior aides to opposition leader Mir
Hossein Mousavi, opposition politician Ebrahim Yazdi, a foreign
minister after the 1979 revolution and now leader of the Freedom
Movement of Iran, and his nephew, Lily Tavasoli.
Seyed Ali Mousavi, a nephew of opposition leader Miir Mousavi,
was among those killed in Sunday's violence, the worst since
June's contested elections. Family members say they are being
prevented from holding his funeral because his body has been
taken from the hospital where it was being kept.
Other opposition sources say the body has been taken by
government agents in order to prevent his funeral becoming a
rallying point for more protests.
An opposition website, Norooz, said police had fired teargas on
Monday to disperse a group of Mousavi supporters who were
demonstrating outside the hospital.
According to Mr. Mousavi's website, Seyed Ali Mousavi was shot
in the back as security forces fired on demonstrators in Tehran
on Sunday.
The authorities are blaming troublemakers for the violence, with
the police denying that security forces are responsible for any
deaths and suggesting that protesters may have shot each other.
Monday's arrests follow violent clashes which broke out on
Sunday after opposition supporters took to the streets as the
Shia Muslim festival of Ashura reached its climax.
Al Jazeerah/BBC/Seun/Qasim/Yinka
