Mousavi Fights On as Ahmadinejad Bashes Obama

Banned for life for wristbands showing Mousavi support

(NEWSER) - Iran has barred four of its national soccer players from the field for life after they wore green wristbands during a match last week in apparent support of opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, an Iranian pro-government newspaper said. Six players wore the bands; most took them off at halftime, the Guardian notes. More»

Tear gas, beatings mark 30th anniversary of US Embassy takeover

(AP) - Iranian security forces beat anti-government protesters with batons and fired tear gas today on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies in Tehran to mark the 30th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover. While pro-government demonstrators chanted "death to America" outside the former embassy, opposition marchers nearby cried "death to the dictator." Security forces swept through several hundred demonstrators in the city center, clubbing, kicking, and slapping protesters. More»

(NEWSER) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been sworn in for a second term as president of Iran, one day after the White House finally announced that the US recognized him as the country's elected leader. In his inaugural address, Ahmadinejad took a swipe at the US and European nations that "decided to recognize but not congratulate the new government. Well, no one in Iran is waiting for your messages," he added. More»

(NEWSER) - As his adversaries faced a mass court hearing condemned as a show trial, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was formally endorsed today for a second term as president of Iran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conducted the ceremony, which Mir Hossein Mousavi and other opposition figures boycotted. The endorsement came after state television screened courtroom confessions by two prominent reformists, who said they had "changed" since their arrest. They added that they had not been tortured, as supporters alleged. More»

Khatami accuses government of murdering protesters

(AP) - The reformist former president of Iran blasted the country's extraordinary mass trial of activists and protesters as a sham that would undermine the country's ruling regime, reports the AP. Mohammad Khatami, president from 1997 to 2005, said he hoped the "show trial" would not "lead to ignorance of the real crimes" carried out by authorities following the June 12 vote, including alleged abuse and murder of detainees. More»