Iran Warns of Crackdown Against Protests Marking 1999 Student Riots

Iran's security forces warn they will crack down hard on protests today, the 10th anniversary of student riots that, until the recent street demonstrations, were the worst unrest since the 1979 revolution.

Emails, leaflets and messages on Facebook called on supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated opposition presidential candidate, to come out in mass protests in Tehran and other major cities, apparently in an attempt to make it hard for security forces to focus their efforts.

But the governor of Tehran warned that security forces would not hesitate to crush any protests. "If some individuals ... listen ... to a call by counter-revolutionary networks, they will be smashed under the feet of our aware people," said Morteza Tamaddon.

Foreign media in Iran now operate under severe restrictions, but the Associated Press reported from the capital that there was no overt sign of increased security in the main squares, where activists were being urged to rally. Tamaddon said there had been no request for a permit to hold protests. Iranian authorities have repeatedly used the lack of a permit as a pretext for stifling dissent.

Other apparent counter-measures included a block on mobile phone text messaging for a third consecutive day, supposedly to prevent communication between protesters, and the closure of the universities. Tuesday and Wednesday were declared official holidays, ostensibly because Tehran was shrouded in a heavy cloud of dust and pollution.

Unprecedented mass protests erupted after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, was declared the winner of the 12 June vote. Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, another defeated reformist candidate, both insist the election was rigged. Demonstrations have faded away in the last 10 days after the authorities banned rallies and rounded up protesters, political activists and journalists.

Ahmadinejad has defended the election as "the most free held anywhere in the world".

At least 20 people were killed in clashes with the security forces and the pro-government basij militia. In all, more than 1,000 people were reportedly arrested. The prosecutor general said yesterday that 500 will be tried – possibly contradicting official claims that "most" had already been freed.

Tamaddon blamed the trouble on interference by foreign broadcasters. "The enemies of the Iranian nation are angry with the post-election calm in Iran and try to damage it through their TV channels," he said, according to Press TV, a state-run broadcaster.

The 1999 unrest erupted during the rule of the former reformist president, Mohammed Khatami, when the closure of a newspaper that supported him triggered protests that turned violent with an attack on a student dormitory at the University of Tehran by riot police and paramilitary forces. Khatami now backs Mousavi.