Results tagged “ayatollahkhamenei”

In spite of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's warning that opposition leaders would pay for any "bloodshed and chaos" from protests over the Iranian presidential elections, thousands of protesters, supporting opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi who disputes his loss to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, took to the streets in Teheran. (Khamenei has endorsed Ahmadinejad as winner of the election, with 63% of the vote.) Witnesses tell the AP that militia used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters. The NY Times reports, that so far, "the Obama administration has fended off pressure from both parties to respond more forcefully... But if Iranian authorities carry out their latest threat of a more sweeping crackdown, the White House would reconsider its carefully calibrated tone." Today, there is a gathering to protest the elections today at 2 p.m. outside the U.N.