I.R. Iran cancels ceremony where reformer due to speak

Reuters

An annual religious ceremony which could have become a rallying point for Iran's pro-reform opposition has been canceled, Iranian media said on Saturday. A reformist website also published the names of 72 people it said had been killed in unrest following the disputed June presidential election. Some 30 died from gunshot wounds, others from baton blows, one had his throat slit, one was thrown from the third floor of a building and one woman was burned beyond recognition, it said.

The cancellation of next week's ceremony may reflect authorities' concern it could have become the scene of renewed opposition protests against hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his re-election. The poll results sparked huge opposition demonstrations, plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and further strained ties with the West.

The Mardomsalari newspaper cited "pressure" on the family of late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to call off the speeches traditionally held at his shrine near Tehran to mark the seventh century death of Imam Ali, Shi'ite Islam's most revered figure after the Prophet Mohammad. "This is the first year in which the mourning is not held at the Imam's (Khomeini's) shrine," Mardomsalari said. "The official communique says the Imam's shrine is unable to hold the mourning period in view of the problems it is facing." (Read more...)