Iran Admits Protester Was Beaten to Death

February 11 will test regime, international community

(NEWSER) - Feb. 11, the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, promises to bring tests for all parties with a hand in the nation's fate, writes Gerald Seib. Big marches traditionally herald the anniversary, and members of the opposition movement that has bloomed since last June's election will undoubtedly come out in big numbers. That's the test for Mahmoud "Ahmadinejad and his government, which will have to decide how hard to bring down their iron fist." More»

Karroubi says more allegations of protester abuse to come

(NEWSER) - A testimony released by defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi details a male protester's beating and rape at a notorious prison after the disputed election. The first-person account is just one of many, Karroubi alleges, and CNN reports that he will continue to publish them on his website "if the current trend continues." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently ordered the closure of Kahrizak prison, where several inmates say they were raped. More»

Crackdown intensifies as opposition calls off rally

(NEWSER) - Iranian authorities arrested 70 university professors yesterday, after they met with Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to a dissident website, as the regime intensified its crackdown on demonstrators. The professors' whereabouts are now unknown, but hundreds of activists are now being held in a prison system notorious for torture and human rights abuses. Tehran is calmer today after yesterday's brutal scenes, and an opposition rally scheduled for today has been canceled. More»

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urges high turnout

(AP) - Iran's supreme leader urged Iranians to vote in large numbers as the country holds parliamentary elections today, saying a high turnout would send a strong message to the enemies of the nation amid the nuclear standoff with the West. The balloting for the 290-member parliament is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. 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»