 More images available from the BBC
Iranian protesters came out in large numbers to defy the Ayatollah Khamenei. The response to their protests was brutal.
Iranian police have used water cannon, batons, tear gas and live rounds to break up protests over the presidential election, witnesses in Tehran say. A BBC reporter said he saw one man shot and others injured amid running fights.
The BBC has video of what looks like a massive protest in Tehran, and another of a crowd being disbursed using tear gas.
Nico Pitney has all the updates, including Youtube video of disturbing, violent scenes of police beating women, and one woman who was fatally shot (warning: graphic) apparently by the pro-government "Basji" forces. Meanwhile, Mr. Mousavi is said to have told some that he is preparing for martyrdom. Ominous. And he's now charging that the election was rigged months in advance.
President Obama issued a very strong, well done statement: The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness. Amen. Our prayers are with the people in Iran.
Labels: democracy, Iran, Iran's green revolution, Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
