Iran Students Hope to Reignite Smoldering Unrest

Beaten on the streets, reformer takes uphill battle to the elite

(NEWSER) - The Iranian protest movement is running out of time and options as the regime continues its brutal crackdown, Time reports. Government forces have full control of the streets of Tehran, hundreds of political opponents are in jail, and Western journalists have been packed off. Mir Hossein Mousavi now has no choice but to take his battle into the Iranian establishment, but even there his hopes for a new election look unlikely. More»

Pro-regime papers may be laying ground for new crackdown

(NEWSER) - Several Iranian newspapers sympathetic to the regime have published articles blaming Mir Hossein Mousavi for recent violence, reports the Telegraph. The papers demand that the opposition leader be arrested for treason, a strategy that may be part of an effort to strengthen the position of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Meanwhile, the Iranian intelligence services accused "a presidential candidate" of "a plot against national security" and alleged he had ties to foreign governments. 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»

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) - Iranian protesters, both male and female, were raped in a notorious prison in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election, one of the defeated candidates alleged today. Reformist Mehdi Karroubi wrote on his website that senior prison officials told him about "really shameful issues," including sexual violence that "caused serious injuries." Last week Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the prison closed; its director has been arrested. More»