-
Demonstrators head towards Azadi (freedom) square - Source: Reuters -
Related
Here is a summary of the main developments since Iran's
June 12 presidential election, which took place against a
background of tension with the West over Tehran's nuclear
programme.
June 13 - Hard-line incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad officially wins
presidential election with nearly 63% of the vote compared with 34%
for reformist challenger Mirhossein Mousavi, authorities say.
Thousands of protesters clash with police. Mousavi calls result a
"dangerous charade".
June 14 - Mousavi says he has formally asked Iran's Guardian
Council to annul the election.
June 15 - Seven people are killed during a huge march by Mousavi
supporters in central Tehran, state media says. There are also
pro-Mousavi demonstrations in the cities of Rasht, Orumiyeh,
Zahedan and Tabriz.
June 16 - Leading Iranian reformist Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former
vice-president, is arrested, his office says.
- The Guardian Council says it is ready to carry out a partial
recount of ballots but rules out annulling the poll.
- Thousands of pro-Mousavi demonstrators march in northern Tehran.
Ahmadinejad's supporters mobilise thousands of demonstrators in
central Tehran.
- Authorities ban foreign journalists from leaving their offices to
cover street protests.
June 17 - Thousands march in central Tehran.
- Ahmadinejad defends the legitimacy of the vote, telling a cabinet
meeting it has "posed a great challenge to the West's democracy,"
Mehr news agency reports.
June 18 - Thousands of Mousavi's backers rally in Tehran to mourn
those killed in the mass protests.
- A spokesman for the Guardian Council says it has begun examining
646 complaints submitted after the June 12 vote.
- Iran's English-language state television has reported eight
people killed in five days of protests.
June 19 - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says protest
leaders will be responsible for any bloodshed if rallies continue
against the election, which he says Ahmadinejad won fairly by 11
million votes.
June 20 - The Guardian Council says it is ready to recount a tenth
of the votes in the disputed election.
- Riot police are deployed in force, firing teargas and using
batons and water cannon to disperse groups of several hundred
Iranians who had gathered across Tehran.
- A suicide bomber blows himself up near the shrine of Iran's
revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran's
semi-official Mehr news agency reports.
- State television says more than 450 people are detained during
clashes in Tehran in which at least 10 people are killed including
Neda Agha-Soltan who, according to her fiancé, had been
caught up accidentally in the protests. Graphic footage of the
young woman's death is seen around the world on the Internet.
June 21 - Mousavi urges supporters to continue protests, issuing an
oblique appeal to security forces to show restraint.
- Ahmadinejad accuses the United States and Britain of interfering
in Iran's affairs.
June 22 - Hardline Revolutionary Guards issue a statement saying
they will firmly confront in a revolutionary way rioters and those
who violate the law. Police break up a protest in Tehran hours
after the Guards issued their statement.
June 23 - Guardian Council again rules out annulment of the
election, saying there have been no major polling irregularities.
However, Khamenei accepts a request from the council for a five-day
extension to the deadline for candidates to make complaints over
the election.
- Riot police and Basij militia on Tehran's main squares ward off
mass protests.
- US President Barack Obama says the United States is appalled and
outraged by Iran's crackdown.
- Britain expels two Iranian diplomats after two of its diplomats
had been expelled from Iran.
June 24 - Iran pursues a security crackdown to suppress any more
unrest.
- Police in the south-eastern province of Kerman say they arrested
137 rioters on June 15 for involvement in post-election unrest,
state news agency IRNA reports.