Iran Opposition Calls for Release of Protesters

Iranian opposition candidates issued a statement today demanding an end to the “savage, shocking attacks” against protesters, and calling for the release of innocent people arrested in the government’s post-election crackdown, the New York Times reports. “The useless wave of arrests must end immediately,” read the statement, signed by Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and former president Mohammad Khatami.

The three met late yesterday, issuing the statement on an opposition website. They denied the “inhuman, illegal” confessions that detainees have reportedly made, and called for military forces to return to their bases. Hundreds have been arrested since protests began. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has warned that anyone voicing opposition will be treated as an enemy of the state. (More Iran stories.)