Iran Crisis
As many as fifteen people are reported to have been killed during clashes between security forces and reformist protesters in Iran.
The figure cannot be verified but running battles continued long into the night as people shouted from the rooftops calling for an end to the hardline Islamist regime.
The disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has plunged Iran into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 revolution exposing deep divisions within the ruling elite.
Among those believed shot dead is a nephew of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi. State TV said he was killed by “unknown assailants” but reformists say he was shot in the back when police opened fire on demonstrators.
Citing information from the Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council Iranian state TV said eight people had died. It also denied any police involvement in the killings.
Investigation are said to be “underway” and 300 protesters have been arrested and dozens of security personnel are reported to have been injured.
The White House has condemned what it called the “unjust suppression of civilians” by the Iranian government saying the United States is on the side of the protesters. 
Iranian authorities had warned the opposition against using the two-day Shi’ite Muslilm Tasoua and Ashura festival to revive protests against the clerical establishment.
Mousavi nephew’s body is seized
Martin Fletcher
Iran’s beleaguered regime struck back at the resurgent opposition today, arresting several leading activists and confiscating the corpse of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s nephew to prevent his funeral becoming another massive anti-government demonstration.
The regime moved to shore up its position the day after its security forces killed at least eight protestors and wounded scores more in the most violent clashes since the immediate aftermath of June’s disputed presidential election. The opposition claimed that 550 of its supporters were arrested, though the official figure was 300.
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This is BIG, really big. What is curious is that today, New Years eve, the story is buried beneath the failed terrorist bomb plot in Detroit. That’s big, yeah, but I think this is bigger.