Middle East News

Number of Iran protestors gradually decreasing, police chief says

Aug 4, 2009, 8:59 GMT

Tehran - The number of Iranians participating in street demonstrations against alleged fraud in June's presidential election is gradually decreasing, the country's police chief said Tuesday. Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying the decrease was also witnessed at Monday's demonstrations in Tehran against the supreme leader's endorsement of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. According to witnesses, thousands attended the protests Monday in central Tehran after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave Ahmadinejad his seal of approval, but state media said there were 100 demonstrators. 'The calls [for the demonstrations] come from anti-revolutionary groups, and we, therefore, recommend the people to stay away from such gatherings, otherwise the price would be heavy as police do not tolerate any such illegal gatherings,' the police chief said. Although protests against Ahmadinejad's re-election have continued despite harsh police intervention and mass arrests, the number of the protestors has decreased to thousands in the past three weeks. In the first phases of the demonstrations, as many as 1 million people took to the streets.

Middle East News

Number of Iran protestors gradually decreasing, police chief says

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