14 June 2010 / REUTERS, TEHRAN
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned the opposition on Saturday, the first anniversary of a disputed presidential election, that they would crack down on any attempts to create a “security crisis.”
Authorities had banned an opposition rally planned for Saturday, and reformist leaders had told their supporters to stay home, fearing for people’s lives in any crackdown. “Any revival of street protests is unlikely. But if the sedition movement creates a security crisis, we will confront them with full force,” said senior Guards commander Reza Farzaneh, according to the Javan newspaper. Last year’s post-election street protests, the worst unrest since the Islamic republic was founded in 1979, were put down violently by the Guards. Mass detentions and trials followed. Two people were hanged and scores of detainees remain in jail. In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement citing the Iranian government’s “denial of the fundamental freedoms” to its citizens and calling for the release of jailed dissidents.
