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Mousavi hinted on Monday that he may move away from the tactic of protests and create a political party to work in what he called "a legal framework." But it is not clear how much margin the opposition will have for political action. Many of the top reform figures
-- including Khatami's former vice president and one-time members of his Cabinet
-- are in detention and could face charges of fomenting riots. Earlier this week, the head of the Revolutionary Guards warned that the elite force would take a major role in defending the country's system of clerical rule. Despite the regime's rhetoric, a number of top clerics have continued to question the election
-- a rare defiance of the supreme leader from the ranks of the religious establishment. Six U.N. human rights experts on Tuesday issued a statement expressing "grave concern about reports of killings, ongoing arrests, use of excessive police force and the ill-treatment of detainees." They questioned the legality of the arrests of journalists and demonstrators, saying they face "arbitrary detentions." Ten Nobel Peace Prize winners including Archbishop Desmond Tutu sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday asking him to send a special envoy to Iran to investigate allegations of human rights abuses. "We deplore the violence and crackdown on peaceful protesters, the increasing restrictions on civil liberties and the imprisonment of ... civic leaders," the letter said.
[Associated
Press;
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