Iran Hardliner Calls Mousavi a US Puppet, Demands Trial

It was a pretext used to create a Jewish state, he says

(NEWSER) - Iran's president repeated his assertion that the Holocaust is a myth today, calling it a "pretext" used to create Israel, the New York Times reports. "It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told attendees at an anti-Israel rally in Tehran. "Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty" for Iranians, he said. "This regime will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it." 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»

In-law stays despite pro-Israel comments

(NEWSER) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied a direct order from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to dismiss his vice president, opening a rift between Iran's president and supreme leader, reports the Los Angeles Times. Ahmadinejad's newly chosen VP, who is his son's father-in-law, has infuriated hardliners by making favorable remarks about Israel. But Ahmadinejad surprised the Iranian elite by keeping him in office, saying, "He is very loyal to the Islamic Revolution and a servant of people." More»

(NEWSER) - An eerie silence descended on Tehran early today as Iranian officials admitted to discrepancies in the controversial presidential election, but still declared it legal. More votes were cast in 50 cities than the number of registered voters, officials concluded. But authorities said the discrepancy, which affects some 3 million votes, was a "normal occurrence," and unlikely to have changed the outcome of the race, reports the New York Times. More»

(NEWSER) - Iran is calm but tense today as police freed four family members of a former president and important Iranian cleric, the Los Angeles Times reports. But the oldest daughter of Hashemi Rafsanjani, a key backer of challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was not released by authorities in Tehran. Five members of Rafsanjani's family were arrested yesterday, illustrating a clerical divide between reformers like Rafsanjani and conservatives like Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. More»