Iran’s supreme leader crushed the fading hopes of demonstrators yesterday with a declaration that the government would not yield to them.
The wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was defiant, saying protesters refused to buckle under a situation she compared to martial law.
Last night, protesters and police clashed in the streets around parliament as hundreds of people converged on a Tehran square in defiance of government orders banning demonstrations.
Mr Mousavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard said his followers had the right to protest – and the government should not deal with them “as if martial law has been imposed”.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered protests to end, leaving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s main rival Mr Mousavi with the choice of restraining followers or continuing to directly challenge the country’s ultimate authority.
“On the current situation, I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law. That means, we will not go one step beyond the law,” Mr Khamenei said on state TV.
“For sure, neither the system nor the people will yield to pressure at any price.”
He told opposition supporters once again to halt their protests and accused the US, Britain and other foreign powers of being behind days of unprecedented street protests over the vote.
Meanwhile a conservative candidate in the election said he was withdrawing his complaints about voting fraud for the sake of the country.
The move by Mohsen Rezaie, an ex-commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, moved the cleric-led government one step closer to a final declaration of victory for Mr Ahmadinejad.
State media have said that at least 17 people have been killed in post-election unrest, including 10 protesters shot during the largest demonstration on Saturday.
Another opposition figure, reformist presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, called for a day of mourning for those killed in protests since the election.
Also, a Mousavi aide confirmed that police had raided offices of a newspaper owned by the candidate and detained 25 editorial employees.
Last night, witnesses said riot police beat the protesters with batons and fired tear gas canisters and rounds of ammunition into the air in Tehran’s Baharestan Square near parliament.