UK pulls diplomat families from Iran as police unleash violence at rally

RIOT police attacked hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas and fired live bullets in the air to disperse a rally in central Tehran yesterday, carrying out a threat by the Revolutionary Guard to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election.

Britain, accused by Iran of fomenting post-election unrest, said it was evacuating the families of diplomats and other officials based in Iran – the first country to do so as Iran's worst internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution escalated.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said: "The ongoing violence has had a significant impact on the families of our staff, who have been unable to carry on their lives as normal. As a result, we are withdrawing dependants of embassy staff until the situation improves."

Witnesses said helicopters hovered overhead as up to 1,000 protesters gathered at Haft-e-Tir Square yesterday. But hundreds of anti-riot police quickly put an end to the demonstration and prevented any gathering, even small groups, at the scene.

At the underground station at Haft-e-Tir, witnesses said police did not allow anyone to stand still, asking them to keep on walking and separating people who were walking together.

Iran says at least 17 protesters have been killed so far in a week of unrest after the electoral council declared hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winner of the 12 June election. His main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, says the election was a fraud and insists he is the true winner. His followers have been staging near-daily rallies, at least one of them drawing hundreds of thousands of people.

The country's highest electoral authority, the Guardian Council, acknowledged yesterday that there were voting irregularities in 50 electoral districts, the most serious official admission so far of problems in the election. But the council insisted the problems did not affect the outcome of the vote.

Earlier yesterday, the elite Revolutionary Guard issued its sternest warning so far in the post-election crisis. It warned protesters to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces" if they continue their rallies.

The Basij, a plainclothes militia under the command of the Revolutionary Guard, has been used to quell street protests that erupted after the election result was announced.

The statement ordered demonstrators to "end the sabotage and rioting activities" and said their resistance is a "conspiracy" against Iran.

But in a defiant statement, Mr Mousavi said: "The country belongs to you. Protesting lies and fraud is your right."

Mr Mousavi's website called for supporters to turn on their car lights in the late afternoon as a sign of protest.

His latest statements also warned of danger ahead, but promised that he would stand by the protesters "at all times".

However, he said he would "never allow anybody's life to be endangered because of my actions" and called for pursuing fraud claims through an independent board.

The former prime minister, a loyalist of the Islamic government, also called the Basij and military "our brothers" and "protectors of our revolution and regime."

He may be trying to constrain his followers' demands before they pose a mortal threat to Iran's system of limited democracy constrained by Shiite clerics, who have ultimate authority.

Former president Mohammad Khatami, a Mousavi ally, said in a statement that "protest in a civil manner and avoiding disturbances is the definite right of the people and all must respect that".

Iranians on social networking sites yesterday called for mourning for "Neda", a young woman shot dead on Saturday. Footage of her death has been watched by thousands on the internet and her image has become an icon of the protests.

But witnesses said security officials prevented her funeral from going ahead, blocking roads leading to a central Tehran mosque where the ceremony was to have taken place.

Iran's foreign ministry lashed out at foreign media and western governments. Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi accused them of having "a racial mentality that Iranians belong to the Third World".

"Meddling by western powers and international media is unacceptable," he said at a news conference shown on state TV, taking particular aim at French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

"How can a western president, like the French president, ask for nullification of Iranian election results?" Mr Qashqavi said. "I regret such comments."

The Czech EU presidency summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires to reject claims by Iran that the European Union had been interfering in its internal affairs.

In Rome, the Italian foreign ministry said Italy was prepared to open its embassy in Tehran to injured protesters in co-ordination with other European nations.

The move follows a Swedish initiative to look into whether European nations could put together a plan to take in and provide aid to demonstrators at their embassies in Iran, the ministry said.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met Mr Ahmadinejad, parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani and judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi yesterday to discuss post-election developments, the ILNA news agency said. It did not elaborate.

Evoking the prospects of legal action against Mr Mousavi, Ali Shahrokhi, head of parliament's judiciary committee, said his call for "illegal protests and issuing provocative statements" had been a source of unrest.

"Such criminal acts should be confronted firmly," he said, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. "The ground is paved to pursue Mousavi legally."