Iranian TV in bid to discredit protesters

IRANIAN state TV showed people "confessing" yesterday, in a bid to stop protests over the disputed presidential elections.

"I think we were provoked by networks like the BBC and the VOA (Voice of America) to take such immoral actions," one young man said. His face was shown but his name not given.

A woman whose face was pixilated said she had carried a "war grenade" in her handbag.

"I was influenced by VOA Persian and the BBC because they were saying that security forces were behind most of the clashes.

"I saw that it was us protesting ... who were making riots. We set on fire public property, we threw stones ... we attacked people's cars and we broke windows of people's houses," she said.

The regime's efforts in discrediting those who oppose it was backed by a heavier threat from one of the country's senior judicial figures.

The official IRNA news agency quoted senior judiciary official Ebrahim Raisi as saying: "Those arrested in recent events will be dealt with in a way that will teach them a lesson."

He said a special court was studying the cases. "The rioters should be dealt with in an exemplary way and the judiciary will do that," Mr Raisi said.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi claims he was the true winner of the 12 June election, but the electoral commission declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by a landslide.

Mr Mousavi has been out of sight in recent days and there were no reports of violent clashes yesterday, possibly a measure of the effectiveness of the crackdown.

However, protesters came up with new techniques, such as turning on the lights in their cars at certain hours of the day and honking their horns or holding up posters.

"People are calmly protesting, more symbolically than with their voices," a Tehran resident said.

In recent days, members of the elite Revolutionary Guard, the Basij militia and other security forces in riot gear have been heavily deployed across Tehran, preventing any gatherings and ordering people to keep moving. A protest of some 200 people on Monday was quickly broken up with tear gas and shots in the air, while helicopters hovered overhead.

A short message posted on Mousavi's website asserted that "all the reports of violations in the elections will be published soon".

Another opposition figure, reformist presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, called for a day of mourning for the people killed in protests since the election who number at least 17.

Across the world, governments and diplomats were increasingly lining up on opposite sides in the Iranian showdown, the strongest challenge to the rule of Islamic clerics in 30 years.

In a boost for the embattled regime, Russia said yesterday that it respects the declared election result. But France summoned Iran's ambassador to express concern about what it called "brutal repression" of protesters in Tehran.

The US and many European countries have refrained from challenging the election outcome directly, but have issued increasingly stern warnings against continuing violence meted out to demonstrators.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has demanded an immediate end to "arrests, threats and use of force."

In Washington, President Barack Obama said the US and the rest of the world was "appalled and outraged" by Iran's violent efforts to crush dissent.

"I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not interfering in Iran's affairs," Mr Obama said.

"But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people."

IRNA reported the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected Mr Ban's remarks and accused the UN chief of meddling.