A campaign gathering for Iranian presidential hopeful Hassan Rohani was interrupted by security forces, which led to the arrest of some of the candidate’s supporters.
The Kaleme website reports that Saeedollah Bedashti, the head of Rohani’s young supporters, was arrested at the event together with a number of other activists.
The news of arrests at the Rohani campaign gathering was also reported by other websites, and Mehr News Agency added that participants in the event had chanted slogans in support of MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the reformist candidates of 2009 who are currently under house arrest.
The report indicates that the slogans called for the release of the opposition leaders from house arrest.
Rohani was quoted as saying: “2013 will not be like 2009, If they do not shoo you away from ballot boxes, we will all participate in the election and attain victory.”
The reformist candidates of 2009 made allegations that the vote was rigged in favour of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, triggering protests that led to the widespread arrest and persecution of protesters.
