Tehran Protesters Defy Khamenei’s Ultimatum, While Suicide Bomber Targets Khomeini’s Mausoleum

James Phillips / June 20, 2009

Iran’s clerical dictatorship cracked down on opposition protests today and is sure to mount an even more forceful response to the reported bombing of the mausoleum of the founder of Iran’s Islamist revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini. A suicide bomber apparently blew himself up inside the shrine, wounding two people. It is unclear from initial reports if a group is responsible or if the man acted alone. But the regime is likely to exploit the bombing, which will enrage Khomeini’s many admirers in Iran, and use it as a pretext for a reign of terror.

Tehran police today clamped down on opposition rallies, using water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds that had gathered in defiance of Ayatollah Khamenei’s order to stop their popular protests against the regime. Police occupied the sites of several planned rallies, including Revolutionary Square, and prevented crowds from gathering. Despite their efforts, demonstrators held smaller impromptu rallies and tension is building. Both sides are digging in for a confrontation that could soon erupt in extended violence.

Khamenei gave a rare televised speech at Friday prayers at Tehran University in which he denied that the elections had been rigged, again proclaimed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner, and called for a halt in the huge popular demonstrations against the election results, which increasingly have morphed into protests against the ruling regime. (more…)