Gunmen Fire on Iranian Opposition Cleric's Car

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»

Tehran formally detains opposition leaders, wives

(NEWSER) - Iran is cracking down on its opposition today, jailing prominent leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, reports the AP. The pair and their wives were arrested and taken to Tehran's Heshmatiyeh jail, according to reformist website Kaleme.com. The two have been under house arrest for two weeks for encouraging public protests in the wake of the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. A semi-official news agency denied that the leaders had been jailed. More»

Montazeri appreciations banned after days of protests

(AP) - Iran banned memorials for the country's most senior dissident cleric and reiterated a stern warning to the opposition today, after days of services in honor of the spiritual leader turned into street protests against the government. A commemoration had been planned for Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in the town of Kashan. But a large banner was put up in the town proclaiming that the Supreme National Security Council has banned any memorials for Montazeri except in the holy city of Qom and the cleric's hometown of Najafabad. More»

Green movement plans major protest tomorrow

(NEWSER) - Iranian students are planning a major protest tomorrow, their first in six weeks, hoping to turn an annual parade commemorating the taking of the US embassy in 1979 into an anti-government rally. Though largely forgotten by the media and discounted by Western policy makers, the so-called “green movement” that erupted after Iran’s presidential elections is still active, particularly on college campuses, the LA Times reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Riot police swarmed around Tehran University today, dispersing anyone attempting to gather in protest with batons, shields, and pepper spray, the Washington Post reports. “There are 300 of us in a small alley, and we are under attack by dozens of security forces,” one witness reported. Others say they saw Baseej militia members beating protesters with clubs, and plainclothes police officers leading people into unmarked vans. More»