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Police 'did not shoot' street protestors in Iran

Iran Materials 22 June 2009 12:05 (UTC +04:00)

Iranian security officials say they did not open fire on protestors during the post-election violence that killed over a dozen people in the country, Press TV reported.

Tehran Police Chief Azizallah Rajabzadeh said Monday that his department had no role in the shoot-out that has become the focus of most media outlets in the West.

"Policemen are not authorized to use weapons against people," said Rajabzadeh. "They are tained to only use anti-riot tools to keep the people out of harms way," said Rajabzadeh.

Saturday saw some of the worst violence since the election after, according to officilas, some 'terrorist elements' infiltrated the rallies.

The insurgents set fire to a mosque, two gas stations and a military post in Western Tehran, leaving13 people dead and 22 wounded.

Supporters of defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi have staged a torrent of rallies to protest the outcome of the June 12 elections -- which saw incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win by a landslide.

The rallies, which have been staged in defiance of a governmental warning, have provoked unprecedented mayhem in the country's capital over the past nine days.

Nevertheless, security officials managed to restore security in the main streets of Tehran, which had been a scene of heavy clashes.

Rajabzadeh said that Tehran was in peace on Sunday. "We received no reports of riots or any skirmishes today," said the Iranian Police Chief.

He added that at least 457 people have been identified and arrested for provoking civil unrest.

The arrests come only a day after security officials discovered that the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) had helped intensify the violence.

Founded in the 1960s, MKO is a Marxist guerilla group, which masterminded a slew of terrorist operations in Iran

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