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Iran accuses US of meddling after disputed vote
Ali Akbar Dareini - The Associated Press
Issue date: 6/17/09 Section: News
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The Iranian government summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, to complain about American interference, state-run Press TV reported.
The English-language channel quoted the government as calling Western interference "intolerable."
President Barack Obama has reacted cautiously to developments in Iran, saying he shared the world's "deep concerns about the election" but adding that it was "not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling."
The two countries broke off diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A crackdown on dissent continued, with more arrests of opposition figures reported, and the country's most powerful military force - the Revolutionary Guard - saying that Iranian Web sites and bloggers must remove any materials that "create tension" or face legal action.
Amateur video showed thousands of people marching on an overpass in Tehran in support of pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. He has accused the government of rigging the election in favor of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Marchers flashed the victory sign or carried placards, and some were dressed in green - the color of Mousavi's campaign.
It was the third day in a row that Mousavi supporters have taken to the streets, and he called for another demonstrations on Thursday - a direct challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the cleric-led system.
Khamenei has told Mousavi to pursue his demands through the electoral system and called for Iranians to unite behind their Islamic government, an extraordinary appeal in response to tensions over the vote. But Mousavi appears unwilling to back down, issuing on his Web site a call for a mass demonstration Thursday.
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