Iran in protest blackout

PROTESTORS took to the streets of Iran again yesterday, as the nation’s top legislative body stood by a disputed president poll that claimed incumbent premier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by a landslide.
 

But a ban on reporting from the streets of Iran, and arrests of protest ringleaders, meant any further clashes were kept off the world stage. 
 

US President Barack Obama, who has been pressing for a crackdown on Iran’s nuclear programme since his inauguration, said he was deeply “troubled” by the violence and that protesters who had taken to the streets had inspired the world.
 

French president Nicolas Sarkozy branded the election result a “fraud”  and said that people should have the right to protest against the result.
 

Seven people were killed in election riots on Monday, prompting authorities to announce a partial recount.