http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094502.html
Last update - 08:20 21/06/2009 Report: At least 19 killed in Iran protests By Haaretz Service and News Agencies Tags: Israel News, Ahmadinejad At least 19 people were killed in Iran on Saturday, CNN quoted a Tehran hospital source as saying, as thousands of protesters marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons. CNN also cited unconfirmed reports as putting the death toll as 150 on the seventh day of post-election protests, which took place in defiance of the Islamic Republic's highest authority. Witnesses said 2,000 to 3,000 were on the streets, fewer than the hundreds of thousands earlier in the week, but a clear challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who used his sermon Friday to endorse disputed election results that gave hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory. Many of the protesters, wearing black, chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to dictatorship!" near Revolution Square in downtown Tehran, setting off fierce clashes with police. Iran's state television, meanwhile, reported Sunday that the Islamic Republic has arrested members of an exiled opposition group it accused of "terrorist activities" including setting buses on fire and destroying public property. The report, which did not directly mention the election or the unrest, said the arrested members of the Mujahideen Khalq Organisation had entered Iran after receiving training in neighbouring Iraq. It said they were guided by the group's "operation room" in Britain. "Leaders of this group had encouraged members to carry out terrorist activities such as setting buses and gas stations on fire and attacking Basijis [Islamic militiamen] and destroying public property," state television said. It did not say how many people were arrested or when. Report: Suicide bomber attacks Khomeini shrine In a separate incident, a state-run television channel reported that a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. The report could be not independently evaluated due to government restrictions on journalists. Also Saturday, Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi declared he is "ready for martyrdom," according to aides, as he called on his supporters to continue protesting despite warnings by Khamenei that violations of the law will result in bloodshed. On his Web site, Mousavi also called for a national strike if he is arrested. In a letter to Iran's Guardian Council, which is investigating voting-fraud allegations in the June 12 presidential election, he said some ballot boxes had been sealed before voting began. He also said thousands of his representatives had been expelled from polling stations and some mobile polling stations had boxes filled with fake ballots. The council, Iran's highest legislative body, said Saturday it was ready to recount a random 10 percent of the votes cast in the June 12 poll to meet the complaints of Mousavi and two other candidates who lost to Ahmadinejad. Related articles: a.. ANALYSIS / Mousavi testing how far he can take Iran protests a.. Zvi Bar'el / Which Iran would Israel bomb? a.. Obama urges Iran to halt violence against [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]