The Iranian government on July 1 prevented the publishing of the opposition Etemad-e-Melli newspaper in its latest move to quash anti-government reporting in the country. International journalists in the country have also been ordered to stay indoors. The newspaper is linked to opposition candidate Mehdi Karroubi. Both he and candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have continued to criticize the government for both alleged election fraud and its harsh treatment of protesters and the press following the announcement that incumbent candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the highly-disputed election. In reaction to Mousavi's increasing criticism of the government, some in the government and its Basij security forces have called for his arrest, calling him a threat to national security. (Jurist, July 2)

Iran's Basij militia has asked prosecutors to investigate the role of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the protests that rocked the Islamic Republic after last month's contested elections. The government-backed militia that enforced much of the crackdown against protesters accused Mousavi of several crimes including undermining national security—which could see him imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Iran's Guardian Council June 29 confirmed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the disputed June 12 election as police and Basij militiamen wielding batons and cables prevented more than a thousand demonstrators from gathering to protest the results at various points around Tehran. "The Guardian Council, after studying the issues in numerous sessions, dismisses all the complaints received and approves the accuracy of the 10th presidential election," the chairman, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, was quoted as saying. A Council spokesman added: "The dossier of the...election has been closed today."

Iran's electoral authorities insisted June 26 the disputed presidential vote was the cleanest ever, as the G8 urged Tehran to halt repression—but without questioning the poll results. "After 10 days of examination, we did not see any major irregularities," Guardians Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai told the IRNA news agency. "We have had no fraud in any presidential election and this one was the cleanest election we have had. I can say with certainty that there was no fraud in this election."

Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said June 25 that threats and pressure would not stop him from pursuing his campaign to scrap the results of the disputed election. Meanwhile, officials stepped up efforts to crush remaining protests. "I won't refrain from securing the rights of the Iranian people... because of personal interests and the fear of threats," he said in a statement on his newspaper website, Kalemeh.

Having already weighed in for Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the disputed elections, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said June 24 he is "completely sure" Ahmadinejad fairly won re-election, and that the protests in Tehran follow a pattern seen in other countries, where "behind it is the CIA and the imperial hand of European countries and the United States." (AP) In response, Venezuela's Revolutionary Marxist Current has issued a statement expressing solidarity with the Iranian protesters.

Bloody clashes were reported from Tehran June 24 as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would not yield to pressure over the disputed election. The renewed confrontation took place in Baharestan Square, near parliament, where hundreds of protesters faced off against several thousand riot police and other security personnel.

While the fate of dozens of recently detained students remains in limbo, students at several universities across Iran continue daily sit-ins and protests against what they are calling the "electoral coup" of June 12. Student sources say no information is available on the fate of 50 students who have been "kidnapped" from Tehran University. Meanwhile, Nasser Aminnejad, an engineering PhD candidate who was killed during the attack of plain-clothed forces on the Tehran University dormitories was buried in the city of Yasooj. A group of 57 law professors and attorneys issued a statement calling for punishment of "aggressors to the holy vicinity of university campuses and dormitories in cities across the nation, especially the Tehran University dormitories, and forces responsible for the beating of students." (Rooz Online, June 23)