Several western nations on Monday voiced concerns over the ongoing crackdown on opposition activists in Iran, following the recent nation-wide clashes between opposition protesters and security forces. The opposition protests began after the death of a prominent dissident cleric a week ago.
A day earlier, Iranian security forces had launched a massive crackdown on opposition supporters in Tehran after violent clashes between protesters and riot police left at least eight people killed in the capital city. Several opposition leaders, along with dozens of supporters, were reportedly arrested in the clamp down on Sunday's renewed opposition protests, which coincided with the climax of the Shiite festival of Ashura.
Sweden, the current holder of European Union's rotating presidency, issued a statement on Monday, denouncing Iran's use of violence against citizens "seeking to exercise their freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly." The EU statement also urged Tehran to respect the rights of Iranian people.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband described Sunday's deaths in the crackdown as "yet another reminder of how the Iranian regime deals with protest." He praised the "great courage" of the opposition protesters, but added that it was "particularly disturbing to hear accounts of the lack of restraint by the security forces" on a day of religious commemoration and reflection.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also joined in the widespread condemnation of the Iranian government's brutal suppression of opposition protests. In a statement released Monday, she denounced the "unacceptable actions of the security forces" and urged Tehran to respect civil rights of the demonstrators.
The French Foreign Ministry in a statement condemned Sunday's crackdown, describing the opposition demonstrators as "simple protesters." The ministry urged the Iranian government to find a political solution to the ongoing unrest.
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Monday said Moscow was concerned by the recent clashes between demonstrators and security in Tehran. The statement called for restraint and conciliation, and urged the Iranian government to "seek a compromise on the basis of the law, and also to take political efforts to prevent a further escalation of the confrontation."
The United States had condemned the crackdown on Sunday itself. A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council said in a statement that the White House strongly condemned "the violent and unjust suppression" of Iranian civilians, indicating that "it is telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people."
On Sunday, Iranian security forces had launched a massive crackdown on opposition supporters after clashes with riot police in Tehran. Witnesses said that police used tear gas shells and fired shots into the air to disperse agitated protesters.
Though initial reports suggested that at least 15 people were killed in Sunday's clashes, Iran's official news agencies reported later said that only eight people were killed in the violence. Witnesses claimed that dozens more were injured in the violence, including opposition activists and police officers.
The nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was among those killed in the clashes. Seyed Ali Mousavi was reportedly shot in the back when security forces fired on protestors.
Among those arrested in the crackdown were key opposition leader and former foreign minister Ebrahim Yazdi. Yazdi reportedly has no direct links to the current opposition leaders or the protests, although he supported the anti-Ahmadinejad wing.
Yazdi has served as foreign minister at the start of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and is currently the secretary-general of the outlawed Iran Freedom Movement. He was taken from his home to an undisclosed location early Monday morning, according to an Opposition website.
The latest wave of clashes between opposition activists and the security forces across Iran is said to be the worst violence to hit the country since protests first broke out in June, following the disputed presidential elections. The renewed protests broke out after the death of prominent dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri on 19th December.
Montazeri died of natural causes at the age of 87 late Saturday in Qom, a holy shrine city located some 90 miles south of Teheran. Before his death, Montazeri had openly criticized the conduct of the June presidential elections that returned Ahmadinejad to office, and described the current Iranian regime as neither Islamic or republic.
After Montazeri's death, thousands of Iranian opposition supporters wearing their customary green had taken part in the funeral procession of the cleric in the city of Qom last Monday, turning it into a massive protest march against the current Iranian government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was their largest protest march against the Iranian government in recent months.
Two days later, clashes erupted between Iranian security forces and opposition activists in the city of Isfahan during a memorial service for Montazeri. Opposition websites said clashes broke out after security forces used batons and teargas shells in an effort to disperse disperse thousands of opposition supporters gathered at the memorial service.
Following the unrest, Iran banned all memorial services for Montazeri last Thursday, except for those held in the city of Qom and the deceased cleric's home town of Najafabad. However, clashes broke out in the northwestern city of Zanjan on the same day after security forces blocked opposition supporters from participating in a memorial service.
Witnesses and opposition websites claim that Iranian security forces have arrested hundreds of opposition supporters across Iran after the renewed protests began. Such accounts, however, cannot be independently verified as Iranian authorities have enforced strict media restrictions in the Islamic country ever since the disputed June elections.
Earlier in June, thousands of opposition supporters had held a series of protest marches and demonstrations in Tehran after incumbent President Ahmadinejad was declared winner in the disputed presidential elections, which they believed were rigged. The Iranian authorities, however, came down hard and arrested hundreds of opposition activists. Official figures show about 30 people were killed in the ensuing clashes, but the opposition claim some 69 people were killed in the violence.
Iran is also facing a threat of UN sanctions over its refusal to accept a UN-proposed nuclear deal aimed at easing international concerns over Teheran's nuclear program. Following its refusal to accept the deal, Western nations have threatened to impose further sanctions over its continued defiance.
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