Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the United States and Britain on Sunday to stop interfering in the Islamic Republic’s internal affairs.
“Definitely by hasty remarks you will not be placed in the circle of friendship with the Iranian nation. Therefore I advise you to correct your interfering stances,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a meeting with clerics and scholars.
Many Western countries have criticised the election, which was won by Ahmadinejad according to official figures, and its aftermath.
On Sunday, an eery calm settled over the streets of Tehran as state media reported at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities arrested the daughter and four other relatives of ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran’s most powerful men.
The reports brought the official death toll for a week of confrontations to at least 19.
State television inside Iran said 10 were killed and 100 injured in clashes on Saturday between demonstrators contesting the result of the June 12 election and black-clad police wielding truncheons, tear gas and water cannons.
Iran also warned BBC of more stern action if it continues to “interfere” in the affairs of the Islamic republic, the Mehr news agency reported, after the BBC correspondent was ordered expelled.
In another development country’s senior most dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri called for three days of mourning for those killed in protests over the presidential vote, a statement on his website said.
{{/usCountry}}In another development country’s senior most dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri called for three days of mourning for those killed in protests over the presidential vote, a statement on his website said.
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