Calm in Tehran; Authorities Confirm Hundreds of Arrests

Iran's capital appears tense but calm Monday, with no reports of the large-scale demonstrations and street violence that have gripped the city since the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are urging people to turn on their car headlights in the early evening as a sign of protest and a show of solidarity.


Iranian state radio reported Monday that at least 457 people were arrested Saturday - a day marked by clashes between security forces and demonstrators that resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people.

Tehran's police chief says those detained had provoked civil unrest.

Iran's official death toll from post-election violence now stands at 17. Other reports say the toll is considerably higher. None of the reports has been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Iranian media are reporting that Iran's Guardian Council has said voter irregularities have been documented in dozens of cities.

Iran's Press TV says the Council's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei made the comment Sunday on Iranian television - Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Channel 2. The spokesman said the total number of votes in 50 cities surpasses the number of people eligible to cast ballots there, and more than three million votes could be in question.

But the spokesman also said the Guardian Council has not yet determined whether the election's outcome was actually affected. And he denied defeated candidates' allegations that such an irregularity occurred in more than 80 cities.

The disputed vote has triggered Iran's greatest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr. Mousavi has issued a statement supporting further protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election victory.

In a statement posted on the Internet Sunday, Mr. Mousavi - a former prime minister - said Iranians have the right to protest what he called lies and fraud. But he pleaded with his supporters to show restraint and refrain from violence.

Witnesses in Tehran said Mousavi supporters took to their rooftops Sunday after sunset to exchange chants of defiance against the government.

Iranian media say the daughter of one of Iran's most powerful figures, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, and four family members were detained during the protests but later released.

Video of the protests obtained by VOA's Persian News Network can be found YouTube.

You also can follow PNN's Twitter feed in Farsi.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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Calm in Tehran; Authorities Confirm Hundreds of Arrests

Iran's capital appears tense but calm Monday, with no reports of the large-scale demonstrations and street violence that have gripped the city since the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are urging people to turn on their car headlights in the early evening as a sign of protest and a show of solidarity.


Iranian state radio reported Monday that at least 457 people were arrested Saturday - a day marked by clashes between security forces and demonstrators that resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people.

Tehran's police chief says those detained had provoked civil unrest.

Iran's official death toll from post-election violence now stands at 17. Other reports say the toll is considerably higher. None of the reports has been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Iranian media are reporting that Iran's Guardian Council has said voter irregularities have been documented in dozens of cities.

Iran's Press TV says the Council's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei made the comment Sunday on Iranian television - Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Channel 2. The spokesman said the total number of votes in 50 cities surpasses the number of people eligible to cast ballots there, and more than three million votes could be in question.

But the spokesman also said the Guardian Council has not yet determined whether the election's outcome was actually affected. And he denied defeated candidates' allegations that such an irregularity occurred in more than 80 cities.

The disputed vote has triggered Iran's greatest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr. Mousavi has issued a statement supporting further protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election victory.

In a statement posted on the Internet Sunday, Mr. Mousavi - a former prime minister - said Iranians have the right to protest what he called lies and fraud. But he pleaded with his supporters to show restraint and refrain from violence.

Witnesses in Tehran said Mousavi supporters took to their rooftops Sunday after sunset to exchange chants of defiance against the government.

Iranian media say the daughter of one of Iran's most powerful figures, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, and four family members were detained during the protests but later released.

Video of the protests obtained by VOA's Persian News Network can be found YouTube.

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Iraq: Bombs hit Baghdad, at least 5 killed

BAGHDAD (AP) — A roadside bomb exploded next to a bus carrying Iraqi high school students to their final exams on Monday, police said, the deadliest in a series of blasts that killed five people in Baghdad.

The attacks came two days after the country's deadliest attack this year — a truck bombing that killed at least 75 people in northern Iraq.


Violence has been escalating ahead of a June 30 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from major cities and urban areas in Iraq. Officials have warned they expect militants to step up attacks around that deadline.

Another blast, caused by a car bomb, occurred in the Karradah district of the Iraqi capital, on the east side of the Tigris River. It took place on a road leading to a checkpoint that controls access to a bridge into the Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy. The explosion killed two people and wounded 11 others, according to police.

A roadside bomb also targeted a police patrol in a commercial area of eastern Baghdad's Ur district, wounding nine people, police said.

The attack on the minibus with the students took place after 8 a.m. in the Habibiyah area in Baghdad's former militia stronghold of Sadr City.

Police and hospital officials said three people were killed and 13 wounded, including three of the high school students. The bus was peppered with shrapnel and the students blood-soaked books covered the floor of the vehicle.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

In the northern Iraq, rescue crews were searching for at least 12 people still missing in a massive explosion Saturday near the ethnically tense city of Kirkuk that flattened a Shiite mosque and dozens of mud-brick houses around it.

Iraqi police have blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the attack, saying it was part of an insurgent campaign to destabilize the country and undermine confidence in the government.

Americans will remain ready to help, as they were in the aftermath of Saturday's bombing, but many Iraqis fear their departure after two years of a steady urban presence will prove deadly.

Another bomb exploded Sunday evening in a cafe in a Shiite enclave in a mainly Sunni area of southern Baghdad, killing at least two civilians and wounding 13, police said.

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Calm in Tehran; Authorities Confirm Hundreds of Arrests

Iran's capital appears tense but calm Monday, with no reports of the large-scale demonstrations and street violence that have gripped the city since the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are urging people to turn on their car headlights in the early evening as a sign of protest and a show of solidarity.


Iranian state radio reported Monday that at least 457 people were arrested Saturday - a day marked by clashes between security forces and demonstrators that resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people.

Tehran's police chief says those detained had provoked civil unrest.

Iran's official death toll from post-election violence now stands at 17. Other reports say the toll is considerably higher. None of the reports has been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Iranian media are reporting that Iran's Guardian Council has said voter irregularities have been documented in dozens of cities.

Iran's Press TV says the Council's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei made the comment Sunday on Iranian television - Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Channel 2. The spokesman said the total number of votes in 50 cities surpasses the number of people eligible to cast ballots there, and more than three million votes could be in question.

But the spokesman also said the Guardian Council has not yet determined whether the election's outcome was actually affected. And he denied defeated candidates' allegations that such an irregularity occurred in more than 80 cities.

The disputed vote has triggered Iran's greatest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr. Mousavi has issued a statement supporting further protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election victory.

In a statement posted on the Internet Sunday, Mr. Mousavi - a former prime minister - said Iranians have the right to protest what he called lies and fraud. But he pleaded with his supporters to show restraint and refrain from violence.

Witnesses in Tehran said Mousavi supporters took to their rooftops Sunday after sunset to exchange chants of defiance against the government.

Iranian media say the daughter of one of Iran's most powerful figures, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, and four family members were detained during the protests but later released.

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Armed vandals 'killed civilians' in Tehran

Tehran's prosecutor general's office has said that some armed saboteurs opened fire on civilians and killed people in post-election violence in Tehran.

"A number of Tehrani citizens were shot dead by unknown vandals Saturday night," said the office on Monday.

It said security forces have arrested an armed man involved in Saturday's riots but rejected reports over the arrest of an armed man whose photo was released by some news agencies.

"Iran's security and intelligence officials are currently probing into the identity of the individual whose photo was published and broadcast by news agencies," it added.


This is while the situation in Tehran is back to normal for the second consecutive day on Monday. On Saturday, 'terrorist elements'-who had infiltrated the rallies --created the most violent day of protests by setting fire on a mosque and two gas stations as well as killing a number of people.

Despite warnings by Iranian police, protesters staged illegal rallies in Tehran for several days to cry foul over what they call 'vote-rigging' in Iran's presidential election.

Supporters of the defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi have held illegal street protests in Tehran and some other cities since the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12.

Presidential contenders Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi reject the result as fraudulent and demand a re-run.

On Saturday, acting Police Chief Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Radan warned against any illegal gatherings, saying police would firmly deal with any illegal rallies from now on and those who plan such activities would be prosecuted.

SF/SC/DT

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Leader of Russian Region Attacked

MOSCOW — The leader of an unstable republic near Chechnya, who had been installed by the Kremlin in an effort to tamp down tensions there, was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt Monday morning, officials said.

The leader, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, president of Ingushetia, was being driven to work in a motorcade when it was hit by an enormous bomb. One or more of his bodyguards may have been killed, local news agencies said.



There were conflicting reports about the gravity of Mr. Yevkurov’ s wounds. He was said to be undergoing surgery at a local hospital.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Moscow, said the attack may have been a suicide bombing.

“It has been established that at the moment when the president’s motorcade was driving, an explosive device equivalent to some 70 kilos of TNT went off,” Mr. Markin told the Interfax news agency. “Early reports indicate that the bomb had been planted in a foreign-made car parked at the roadside in which a suicide terrorist could have been sitting.”

The attack underscored the difficulties facing the Kremlin as it continues to grapple with Muslim extremism, deep-seated corruption and clan rivalries in the northern Caucasus mountains, which are on Russia’s southern rim.

Mr. Yevkurov, a former Russian military intelligence officer, was appointed last fall by Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, after the unrest in Ingushetia escalated under the previous leader.

Mr. Yevkurov sought to portray himself as less dictatorial than his predecessor and more willing to build public trust. Seeking to reach out to opponents, he regularly met with politicians and human rights activists.

The Kremlin has depicted Chechnya, where two major wars were fought in the last two decades against Muslim separatists, as largely pacified under the leadership of its strongman president, Ramzan A. Kadyrov. In April, federal officials formally declared the end of military operations in Chechnya.

Still, violence has not completely subsided in Chechnya, and has spiked nearby. Earlier this month, the interior minister of another part of the Caucasus, Dagestan, was gunned down at a wedding for a colleague’s daughter.

President Medvedev then flew to Dagestan to denounce the violence, saying that the situation was “difficult and lamentable” and ordering a new crackdown.

A day later, a deputy chief justice in Ingushetia’s Supreme Court was assassinated.

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France condemns 'brutal repression' in Ira

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned Iran's "brutal repression" of street demonstrations that left several dead.
Paris – French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday condemned Iran's "brutal repression" of street demonstrations that left several dead and rejected Tehran's claims of Western meddling.


Kouchner reiterated French calls for "the full light to be shed" on the disputed 12 June presidential election that led to mass protests over the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"I learned with great concern that the demonstrations in Tehran yesterday ended with several victims including some who died," said Kouchner in a statement.

"I condemn this brutal repression. I call for the immediate release of all detained persons," he added.

Iranian state television reported that at least 10 people had died and more than 100 were wounded in Tehran during mass demonstrations on Saturday in support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Kouchner called on Iranian authorities to allow journalists to work freely and hit back at claims by Tehran that the United States and Britain had a hand in fomenting the protests.

"It is not with such insults that the Iranian government will respond to the aspirations of its people," he said.

"We reject these accusations."

"We do not want in any way to make decisions for the Iranians about their future.

"It is precisely the Iranian voters' freedom of choice that prompts us to call for the full light to be shed on this election that is contested by all the defeated candidates, by eminent Shiite religious figures and by a popular movement that is courageously leading a struggle for transparency and justice."Paris – French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday condemned Iran's "brutal repression" of street demonstrations that left several dead and rejected Tehran's claims of Western meddling.

Kouchner reiterated French calls for "the full light to be shed" on the disputed 12 June presidential election that led to mass protests over the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Maoist alert issued during strike

Five states in central and eastern India could be targets for attacks during a two-day strike called by Maoist rebels, authorities say.

An interior ministry alert has been sent to West Bengal, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.

The strike began a day after 11 police died in a rebel attack in Chhattisgarh.

The rebels said the strike was a protest against a "war" on people in Lalgarh, West Bengal, where security forces have launched an offensive.


Lalgarh has been under the virtual control of the rebels since November.

Two policemen have been wounded after a "mine-sweeping vehicle" carrying them was blown up by a landmine near Lalgarh early on Monday, the police said.

Sixteen policemen died in landmine blasts triggered by the Maoists in the central state of Chattisgarh over the weekend.

The rebels have sought to hit out to demonstrate their strike power after federal interior minister P Chidambaram promised "co-ordinated and tough action" against them across the country.

Issuing a high alert for the five states, the interior ministry said India's federal Intelligence Bureau had "specific inputs" that Maoists were planning possible attacks.

"Security forces, as well as economic infrastructure like railways, buses and crowded markets, may be targeted by the Maoists to make their presence felt during the strike," the interior ministry advisory said.

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Obama to sign anti-smoking bill in Rose Garden

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is set to sign into law an anti-smoking bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco.

Obama is scheduled to sign the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act during an event Monday in the Rose Garden. The law allows the FDA to reduce nicotine in tobacco products, ban candy flavorings and block labels such "low tar" and "light." Tobacco companies also will be required to cover their cartons with large graphic warnings.


The law won't let the FDA ban nicotine or tobacco outright, but the agency will be able to regulate what goes into tobacco products, make public the ingredients and prohibit marketing campaigns, especially those geared toward children.

Anti-smoking advocates looked forward to the bill after years of attempts to control an industry so fundamental to the U.S. that carved tobacco leaves adorn some parts of the Capitol.

Opponents from tobacco-growing states like top-producing North Carolina argued that the FDA has proved through a series of food safety failures that it's not up to the job. They also said that instead of unrealistically trying to get smokers to quit or to prevent others from starting, lawmakers should ensure that people have other options, like smokeless tobacco.

As president, George W. Bush opposed the legislation and threatened a veto after it passed the House last year. The Obama administration, by contrast, issued a statement declaring strong support for the measure.

Obama has spoken publicly of his own struggles to quit cigarettes.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Iran arrests hundreds in clashes

Tehran (AFP) — Iranian authorities arrested at least 457 people after post-election clashes that left 10 people dead, state radio reported on Monday, as the nation's clerical leaders battled to contain the worst crisis since the Islamic revolution.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has led a wave of massive protests over what he says was a rigged presidential election, remained defiant as he urged supporters to continue demonstrating but to adopt "self-restraint."



Iran's electoral watchdog, the Guardians Council, acknowledged of vote discrepancies, saying its preliminary investigation revealed that the number of ballots cast in 50 districts exceeded the number of eligible voters.

Iranian state radio, quoting the police, said the mass arrests were made when demonstrators and security forces clashed on Saturday around the capital's Azadi square in violence that left 10 people dead.

The streets of Tehran were tense on Monday but have remained largely quiet since Sunday and there were no immediate reports of any planned demonstrations. Witnesses said they did not see many security personnel out on the streets.

Mousavi, a post-revolution prime minister who lost to incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by a landslide according to official results from the June 12 election, told his supporters to continue their protests.

"The revolution is your legacy. To protest against lies and fraud is your right. Be hopeful that you will get your right and do not allow others who want to provoke your anger... to prevail," he said on his newspaper website Kalemeh.

But he urged his supporters -- who have adopted his green campaign colour -- to refrain from violence and show self-restraint, adding: "The nation belongs to you."

A total of 17 people have been killed and many more wounded, according to state media, while hundreds of protestors as well as prominent reformists, journalist and analysts have been rounded up in the post-election turmoil.

World leaders have voiced mounting alarm over the unrest, which has jolted the pillars of the Islamic regime and raised concerns over the future of the Shiite Muslim powerhouse, the fourth largest oil producer in the world.

Iranian leaders have lashed out at "meddling" by Western nations, and accused the foreign media -- already facing tight restrictions on their work -- and the exiled opposition of fomenting the unrest.

The spokesman for the 12-member Guardians Council, which is considering a partial recount after the opposition branded the election a "shameful fraud" and called for a new vote, acknowledged some discrepancies on polling day.

Abbasali Kadkhodai said that in 50 out of the total 366 electoral districts, there were more votes cast than eligible voters.

The defeated candidates have complained that this occurred in up to 170 districts, and have listed a total of 646 irregularities.

British think-tank Chatham House said the results showed "irregularities" in the turnout and "highly implausible" swings to Ahmadinejad, according to an analysis published on Sunday.

There would have to have been a radical shift in rural voting patterns and a "highly unlikely" change of heart among former reformist voters for Ahmadinejad to win as he did, the study concluded.

Ahmadinejad, who had put Iran on a collision course with the West during his first four-year term with his anti-Israeli tirades and defiant stance on the country's nuclear drive, was declared the victor with 63 percent of the vote.

But in a sign of the divisions emerging among senior Iranian figures over the vote, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said: "A large portion of the people perceived the election result to be different to the one officially announced. This perception must be respected."

Mousavi on Saturday fired off an unprecedented criticism of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has ruled out any election fraud and warned that opposition leaders would be responsible for "blood, violence and chaos" if there was no end to protests.

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad bluntly told the United States and Britain to stop interfering while Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki accused London of plotting for the past two years to sabotage the election.

"By making hasty comments, you will not have a place in the circle of the Iranian nation's friends.

Therefore, I recommend you to correct your interfering positions," Ahmadinejad said.

Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the US Senate Intelligence Committee, backed President Barack Obama's cautious response to the turmoil, saying: "It is very crucial, as I see it, that we not have our fingerprints on this."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband rejected the charges that protesters were being "manipulated or motivated" by foreign nations and denounced what he said were Iran's effort to turn the election dispute into a "battle" with the outside world.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned what he called "this brutal repression" while President Nicolas Sarkozy told Qatar's QNA news agency that the attitude of the Iranian authorities was "inexcusable".

In the latest crackdown on the media, Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari of Newsweek has been detained without charge and not been heard of since, the magazine said.

The BBC's permanent correspondent in Tehran has been ordered to leave and the authorities warned the British media of further action if the "interference" continues.

Dubai-based television channel Al-Arabiya said its Tehran bureau had been ordered to remain closed indefinitely for "unfair reporting" of the election.

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Miliband denies Iran 'meddling'

Iran's claims that protests over its disputed elections were orchestrated by overseas powers have been rejected by Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki had accused the UK of a plot to sabotage the presidential vote.

But Mr Miliband said that the allegation was "without foundation".

In a statement, he added: "I reject categorically the idea that the protesters in Iran are manipulated or motivated by foreign countries."

'Level of concern'

Mr Mottaki has claimed that a number of Britons, including secret service personnel, had entered Iran prior to voting.

On Friday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei singled out the UK as the "most evil" of Western governments.

But Mr Miliband said that the blame being "heaped" on foreigners was "no excuse" for the treatment of demonstrators inside Iran.
He added that reports of the deaths of 10 further protesters in Tehran on Saturday would "raise the level of concern" around the world.

"The UK is categorical that it is for the Iranian people to choose their government, and for the Iranian authorities to ensure the fairness of the result and the protection of their own people," Mr Miliband said.

"I therefore deplore the continuing violence against those seeking to exercise their right of expression.

"This can only damage Iran's standing in the eyes of the world."

The protests were sparked by disputed presidential elections, but have since escalated into a political crisis for the establishment.

A state TV report said 10 people had been killed in clashes between police and "terrorist groups" in Tehran, and added "rioters" had set two gas stations on fire and attacked a military post.

The BBC and other foreign media are subject to heavy restrictions which have prevented reporters from leaving their offices to confirm these reports.

Critics of the presidential poll - which gave President Ahmadinejad a resounding 63% of votes, compared with 34% for Mr Mousavi, his nearest rival - say there is evidence of widespread vote-rigging.

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Iran's Ahmadinejad tells US, Britain to not interfere

TEHRAN, June 21 (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United States and Britain on Sunday to stop interfering in the Islamic Republic's internal affairs after its presidential election, the ISNA news agency said.

"Definitely by hasty remarks you will not be placed in the circle of friendship with the Iranian nation. Therefore I advise you to correct your interfering stances," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a meeting with clerics and scholars.

Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, was directing this remark at U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, ISNA said.

Many Western countries have criticised the election, which was won by Ahmadinejad according to official figures, and its aftermath. His main opponent, moderate Mirhossein Mousavi, says the vote was rigged. The government denies the charge.

"They (Western countries) want to portray as small the great and powerful position that has been created for the Iranian nation inside and outside after the recent election, by which of course they made a mistake and they showed they still do not know the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said.

"Definitely recent events will add to the Islamic Republic of Iran's greatness and might," he said. (Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian; writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Jon Hemming)

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Cautious Response Reflects Obama's Long-Term Approach

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 21, 2009

All last week, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators surged through Tehran, President Obama resisted pressure to side with them against the Iranian government.
Yesterday, as murky images of clashes and bloodshed flashed on cable news reports, the president called on the Iranian government "to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people."

U.S. officials say Obama is intent on calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour. They say he is seeking to avoid having the demonstrators accused of being American stooges and is trying to preserve the possibility of negotiating directly with the Iranian government over its nuclear program, links to terrorism, Afghanistan and other issues.

The rest of Obama's three-paragraph statement yesterday, written in meetings with his senior advisers, was essentially a greatest-hits version of his comments during a week of turmoil in Iran. He repeated that the "world is watching," he again cited the "universal rights to assembly and free speech," and he once again quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in saying that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."


There were only hints of what may come if the government's crackdown becomes especially bloody. Obama said: "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."
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Obama has not yet said whether he thinks the election was stolen, but he alluded to that by noting the "Iranian people's belief" in the "truth" of King's saying in the later part of his statement.

Despite increasingly intense Republican criticism, and the passage of resolutions in the House and Senate on Friday that were tougher than the president's words, U.S. officials say they will stick to their current course. They say there is not much the United States can do to influence the situation -- except make it worse for the opposition -- but they have begun planning for the administration's response if the crackdown turns very violent.

"We have to watch every day to see what is happening, even while we anticipate several different possibilities and what to do in those circumstances," one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Within the administration, officials say, Obama's cautious stance has the support of key senior officials, with disagreements centered mostly on quibbles over a word choice.

Obama signaled earlier this year that he recognized the current ruling structure of Iran and hoped to seek a dialogue with officials close to the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Friday, Khamenei warned against further demonstrations against the election results.

Still, in a sign of possible Democratic nervousness that the president may be missing a historic moment, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) issued a statement yesterday saying that "the international community should condemn the use of harsh tactics against Iranians who are attempting to peacefully express their political beliefs. The outcome of the elections in Iran must reflect the will of the Iranian people."

And the National Iranian American Council, which supports engagement with Iran, last night praised Obama for not taking sides but called on him "to speak vociferously against the bloodshed taking place before our eyes."

The president's approach has generally been praised by foreign-policy experts, with one exception. On Tuesday, he told CNBC that the difference between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi "in terms of their actual positions may not be as great as has been advertised."

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Iran raises death toll in clashes to at least 19

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — State media reported Sunday at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities have arrested the daughter and four other relatives of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's most powerful men.

The reports brought the official death toll for a week of unrest to at least 19. State television inside Iran said 10 were killed and 100 injured in clashes Saturday between demonstrators contesting the result of the June 12 election and black-clad police wielding truncheons, tear gas and water cannons.


However English-language Press TV, which is broadcast only outside the country, put the toll at 13 and labeled those who died "terrorists." There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

Amnesty International cautioned that it was "perilously hard" to verify the casualty tolls.

"The climate of fear has cast a shadow over the whole situation," Amnesty's chief Iran researcher, Drewery Dyke, told The Associated Press. "In the 10 years I've been following this country, I've never felt more at sea than I do now. It's just cut off."

On Sunday, the streets of Tehran were eerily quiet.

Press TV reported Rafsanjani's eldest daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, and four other family members were arrested late Saturday. It did not identify the other four. Last week, state television showed images of Hashemi speaking to hundreds of Mousavi supporters.

Rafsanjani, 75, has made no secret of his distaste for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election victory in a June 12 vote was disputed by opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Ahmadinejad has accused Rafsanjani and his family of corruption.

Rafsanjani now heads two very powerful groups. The most important one is the Assembly of Experts, made up of senior clerics who can elect and dismiss the supreme leader. The second is the Expediency Council, a body that arbitrates disputes between parliament and the unelected Guardian Council, which can block legislation.

Also Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held a news conference where he rebuked Britain, France and Germany for raising questions about reports of voting irregularities in hardline Ahmadinejad's re-election — a proclaimed victory which has touched off Iran's most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Thousands of supporters of Mousavi, who claims he won the election, squared off Saturday against security forces in a dramatic show of defiance of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Underscoring how the protesters have become emboldened despite the regime's repeated and ominous warnings, witnesses said some shouted "Death to Khamenei!" at Saturday's demonstrations — another sign of once unthinkable challenges to the virtually limitless authority of the country's most powerful figure.

Sunday's state media reports also said rioters set two gas stations on fire and attacked a military post in clashes Saturday. They quoted the deputy police chief claiming officers did not use live ammunition to dispel the crowds.

Iran has also acknowledged the deaths of seven protesters in clashes on Monday.

On Saturday, state media also reported a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. Another state channel broadcast images of broken glass, but no other damage or casualties, and showed a witness saying three people had been wounded. But there was no independent verification of the shrine attack or the deaths.

State TV quoted an unidentified witness as saying a man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up at the mausoleum's main gate.

Iran has imposed strict controls on foreign media covering the unrest, saying correspondents cannot go out into the streets to report.

Mottaki criticized Britain, France and Germany for raising questions about Ahmadinejad's victory.

Mottaki accused France of taking "treacherous and unjust approaches." But he saved his most pointed criticism for Britain, raising a litany of historical grievances and accusing the country of flying intelligence agents into Iran before the election to interfere with the vote. The election, he insisted, was a "very transparent competition."

In Washington on Saturday, President Barack Obama urged Iranian authorities to halt "all violent and unjust actions against its own people." He said the United States "stands by all who seek to exercise" the universal rights to assembly and free speech.

Obama has offered to open talks with Iran to ease a nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze, but the upheaval could complicate any attempts at outreach.

The New-York based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said Sunday that scores of injured protesters who had sought medical treatment after Saturday's clashes were arrested by security forces at hospitals in the capital.

It said doctors had been ordered to report protest-related injuries to the authorities, and that some seriously injured protesters had sought refuge at foreign embassies in a bid to evade arrest.

"The arrest of citizens seeking care for wounds suffered at the hands of security forces when they attempted to exercise rights guaranteed under their own constitution and international law is deplorable," said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the campaign, denouncing the alleged arrests as "a sign of profound disrespect by the state for the well-being of its own people."

"The government of Iran should be ashamed of itself. Right now, in front of the whole world, it is showing its violent actions," he said.

Saturday's unrest came a day after Khamenei sternly warned Mousavi and his backers to all off demonstrations or risk being held responsible for "bloodshed, violence and rioting." Delivering a sermon at Friday prayers attended by tens of thousands, Khamenei sided firmly with Ahmadinejad, calling the result "an absolute victory" that reflected popular will and ordering opposition leaders to end their street protests.

Mousavi did not directly reply to the ultimatum.

A police commander sharpened the message Saturday. Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said more than a week of unrest and marches had become "exhausting, bothersome and intolerable." He threatened a more "serious confrontation" if protesters return.

Late Saturday, Ahmadinejad thanked Khamenei for his support, telling the supreme leader: "Without a doubt, you strongly raised the flag of dignity and awareness of the Iranian nation against the arrogant."

The government has blocked Web sites such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites used by Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence. Text messaging has not been working in Iran since last week, and cell phone service in Tehran is frequently down.

But that won't stifle the opposition networks, said Sami Al Faraj, president of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies.

"They can resort to whispering ... they can do it the old-fashioned way," he said.

Karimi reported from Tehran and Kole from Cairo. Associated Press Writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sebastian Abbot in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Rocket attack at Afghan base kills two US troops, injures six others

Reporting from Kabul -- Two American troops were killed and six other Americans – four service members and two civilians – were wounded in an early morning rocket attack at sprawling Bagram Air Field Sunday.

Military authorities said at least three rockets slammed inside the base perimeter at about 2 a.m., in a rare instance of an insurgent attack inflicting casualties inside the heavily fortified compound. It was only the third rocket or mortar attack to penetrate the base since January.
he wounded were treated at a medical facility on the Bagram base, which is the size of a small city. Located along the fertile Shamali plain about 25 miles north of Kabul, the base and airfield are surrounded by farmland, desert and towering mountains.

The rockets hit in separate areas of the base, while another exploded outside the security barrier, according to a military spokesman. A police official in Bagram district, which surrounds the base, said he had heard no reports of Afghan civilian deaths or injuries.

`We offer our condolences and sympathy to the families of our two brave service members," said Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force-82 at Bagram. ``Their sacrifice in the name of security and a better way of life for the Afghan people will not be forgotten.''

The attack brought the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan this year to at least 81, according to icasualties.org, a private website that tracks combat deaths.

At that pace, this year's total would eclipse the 155 U.S. deaths last year, the highest annual total in the seven-and-a-half year conflict. The previous record high was in 2007, when 117 American troops died.

At least 94 U.S. troops have died in combat in Iraq so far this year, according to the website.

The attack came just hours after military spokesmen on Saturday announced three U.S. combat deaths – two National Guard soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar Friday and a U.S. soldier killed by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan Saturday.

The Soviet-era Bagram base, which includes an airfield with several runways, is busy 24 hours a day. Day and night, thousands of U.S. and NATO soldiers – along with thousands more civilian contractors from several nations – can be seen walking the streets, shopping, eating at fast food outlets or sipping coffee at an all-night coffee shop.

The Afghan residential areas around the base are relatively secure, and rocket or mortar attacks inside the vast Bagram compound are rare.

In February 2007, 23 people were killed by a suicide bomb attack outside the Bagram base while then-Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting inside. The bomber did not penetrate a series of U.S.-manned security checkpoints leading into the main base.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack, and for the rocket attack Sunday.

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