Forced confession of protester, where he states that he was protesting the coup government, but now laments that he had not done his due diligence on his news sources. The court is utilizing protest footage to accuse protesters.

Iran will soon try 16 people arrested in connection with anti-government protests that turned violent last month, an Iranian news agency reported on Friday.

The semi-official Fars News Agency, which did not identify the detainees who are to be put on trial, said one was accused of “moharebeh” — an Islamic term meaning waging war against God — which carries the death sentence.

The others were accused of gathering with the intention of disrupting national security and propaganda activities against the Islamic establishment, Fars said. Go to Washington Post.

A must see video.  Protesters fight back on Ashura.  We hope the regime’s supporters watch this video and see what future awaits them if the continue to use violence against the people.  Be smart and switch sides before it’s too late.    At close to the end, one of the protesters can be heard saying: “Kill the mother F*****.”  Scenes like this would make it much, much more difficult for the regime to recruit mercenaries to go out and beat people up.

On Ashura– a young female protester killed after being run over by a Police car.

NY Times: Among the most remarkable new images to appear on Monday is the scene captured in this clip, apparently shot on Sunday in Tehran, of a confrontation between stone-throwing protesters and the security forces that appeared to end with the shooting of a demonstrator whose bloody face is shown in a graphic close up near the end.

IND:  This absolutely must see video appears to be the beginning of our previous posting Riot Guards Beg for Forgiveness and the pictures of same.  Another interesting video of anti-riot forces in the hands of the protesters here.

Clashes between the Iranian authorities and the reformist movement continued today following yesterday’s crackdown which that left at least nine dead, including the nephew of the main opposition leader.

Police fired teargas on crowds mourning Ali Mousavi, a nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, and arrested a further seven reformist activists, including Ali Riza Beheshti, the opposition leader’s closest aide, and Ebrahim Yazdi, a former foreign minister, according to Iranian opposition websites.

Early reports put the death toll from yesterday’s riots at five, but the state-controlled Press TV website reported that the number of dead had risen to eight while another report put the number of dead as high as 15. The real figure is likely to be much higher as the authorities have previously seized the bodies of protesters and hidden them. People have also taken the injured home rather than to hospital, which could also conceal the true extent of the casualties.

By using lethal force on a day meant to honour one of Shia Islam’s holiest figures, Imam Hossein – seen as a martyr in the fight against oppression – the regime may have undermined its claim to uphold Iran’s religious traditions. The violent response of the protesters to the security forces was also unprecedented and suggested that many are becoming fearless in the face of state repression. While many demonstrators in the post-election protests covered their faces, footage from videos shown yesterday on YouTube showed most people with their faces exposed.

There were unconfirmed reports that four people died in protests in Tabriz in north-west Iran, the Rah-e-Sabz website said. Clashes were also reported in several other cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Arak, Mashhad, Babol and Najafabad. Go to Guardian.

At least fifteen anti-government protesters, including a nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran’s opposition leader, were shot dead yesterday as the smouldering confrontation between the regime and the so-called Green Movement finally erupted.

Early reports put the number of dead at five, but as clashes continued late into the night, Iranian state television reported that the number of dead had risen to 15. The Ministry of Intelligence said more than 10 were members of “anti-revolutionary terrorist” groups.

Foreign journalists have been banned from Iran but Western newsrooms were inundated with mobile telephone footage of astonishing scenes: jubilant demonstrators attacking riot police and Basij militiamen, protesters gleefully setting light to a police station, Basiji building and motorbikes being captured from the security forces, detained protesters being freed from a police van while colleagues are carried away with blood pouring from gunshot wounds. Dozens were injured and more than 300 arrested.

Opposition websites said that demonstrators broke through cordons, blocked streets to thwart squads of baton-wielding motorbike police, hurled stones, stripped captured police officers of their uniforms and weapons, and burnt state-owned banks. Mobile telephone footage showed them holding aloft captured Basiji crash helmets as onlookers cheered. “People no longer fear,” one activist told The Times. Go to Times UK.

Iranian security forces today rounded up at least seven prominent activists amid reports that the body of the opposition leader’s nephew, killed on Sunday as hundreds of thousands took to the streets, had gone missing.

Clashes had been expected at a funeral ceremony for Seyed Ali Mousavi, whose uncle Mir Hossein Mousavi was defeated in hotly disputed elections earlier this year.

Instead police fired teargas to disperse Mousavi supporters who had gathered outside the hospital that his body had been taken to, an Iranian opposition website said.

Security forces also stormed a foundation run by reformist former President Mohammad Khatami and arrested two people, a foundation official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears of police reprisal. The Baran Foundation works to promote dialogue between civilizations.

In another move, former Foreign Minister Ebrahim Yazdi and human rights activist Emad Baghi were arrested, according to the Rah-e-Sabz Web site. Yazdi, who served as foreign minister after the 1979 Islamic revolution, is now leader of the banned but tolerated Freedom Movement of Iran.

Analysts have heralded the start of what could be a bloody endgame after hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters poured on to the streets of Tehran and other cities on Sunday and fought running battles with the security forces. Opposition websites claimed that some policemen had refused to fire on demonstrators.

“The gloves are off. There is no question about that,” said one analyst. Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews, said: “No one can now doubt that change is coming.”

A leading opposition activist claimed: “The regime is on borrowed time. The entire country is beginning to rise.” Go to Times UK.

Police officers in Iran opened fire into crowds of protesters on Sunday, killing at least 10 people, witnesses and opposition Web sites said, in a day of chaotic street battles that threatened to deepen the country’s civil unrest. Hundreds of people were reported wounded in cities across the country, and the Tehran police said they had made 300 arrests.

Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition leader who was among the losing candidates in the June election, was quoted Monday as saying on a Web site that the government’s actions in suppressing the protests on Sunday were even more brutal than the regime that was overthrown in the revolution, news agencies reported.

Unlike the other protesters reported killed on Sunday, Ali Moussavi appears to have been assassinated in a political gesture aimed at his uncle, according to Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an opposition figure based in Paris with close ties to the Moussavi family.

Mr. Moussavi was first run over by a sport utility vehicle outside his home, Mr. Makhmalbaf wrote on his Web site. Five men then emerged from the car, and one of them shot Mr. Moussavi. Government officials took the body late Sunday and warned the family not to hold a funeral, Mr. Makhmalbaf wrote.

There were scattered reports of police officers surrendering, or refusing to fight. Several videos posted on the Internet show officers holding up their helmets and walking away from the melee, as protesters pat them on the back in appreciation. In one photograph, a police officer can be seen holding his arms up and wearing a bright green headband, the signature color of the opposition movement.

But a doctor working at Najmieh Hospital in Tehran said Sunday night that the hospital had performed 17 operations on people with gunshot wounds. They were treating 60 people with serious head injuries, including 3 who were in critical condition, said the doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. Go to NY Times.

The site also reported the morning round-up of top Mousavi aides, including his chief of staff, a top advisor, his presidential campaign chief and the head of Mr. Mousavi’s Web site.

On Monday, two opposition Web sites, citing the brother of the deceased Seyed Ali Mousavi, reported the nephew’s body was missing. Reza Mousavi, Ali Mousavi’s brother, said the body had been taken from the hospital where it was brought Sunday, according to the Web site Parleman News.

In a posting on RaheSabz, the cleric, who [Karroubi] has lashed out at the regime in increasingly harsh language, said even the former, ousted government of the Shah respected the holy day of Ashura, a culmination of a 10-day Shiite commemoration. The violence Sunday broke Shiite Muslim strictures against violence on the day.

“What has really happened? They (the ruling system) spilled the blood of people on the day of Ashura,” according to a translation of the statement by the AP. Go to WSJ.

A nephew of an Iranian opposition leader is said to be among eight people killed Sunday in a confrontation between protesters and Iranian security forces in Tehran. Opposition Web sites describe one of the most violent confrontations in months. Because of government restrictions on media coverage, some of the accounts can’t be confirmed. Borzou Daragahi, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, talks to Steve Inskeep about the outbreak of violence in Iran. Go to NPR.

Cracks appeared in the Islamic regime’s control of Iran on Sunday as security forces failed to quell protests across the country.

Demonstrators set fire to banks and government buildings, including local headquarters of the feared basij militia, and there were reports that some police officers were refusing orders to shoot into the crowds.

Opposition groups said at least nine people were killed as the basij and other regime forces used gunfire and tear gas in an unsuccessful attempt to clear away crowds of people chanting slogans.

Attempts to beat back demonstrators shouting “Death to the dictator” and “Khamenei will be toppled” with tear gas failed.

Baton charges and shots fired into the air had similarly little effect, leading to the order to shoot directly into the crowds, according to opposition websites.

Three people died in the first volley, and one on a nearby street. There were also dozens of injuries, with victims reportedly leaving hospital as soon as they were treated to prevent identification by the authorities.

Protesters then began erecting barricades and burning them. One incursion by basij militiamen was beaten off, with their cars and motorbikes overturned and set on fire. Go to Telegraph.