Conflict in Iran, Tehran, killed at least 15 civilians

Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in Iran, Tehran, killing at least 15 people including included a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Witneses said that this is one of the bloodiest confrontations in months. Some accounts of the violence in Tehran were vivid and detailed, but they could not be independently confirmed because of government restrictions on media coverage. Police, who denied using firearms, said dozens of officers were injured and more than 300 protesters were arrested.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, expressed concern about the “increased repression” in Iran. “A regime secure in its own legitimacy has no reason to fear individuals’ rights to express their opinions freely and peacefully,” he wrote on his blog Sunday (December 27).