Iran begins round up of usual suspects

Telegraph:

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, appeared on state television to urge "unity" and calm. But another demonstration against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election filled central Tehran on the fifth day of protests, with a river of people stretching through the city to Vali Asr Square.

Earlier, the security forces carried out a series of arrests, detaining Mohammed Atrianfar, a leading reformist politician and a close ally of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who remains one the regime's most powerful figures. Saeed Laylaz, an economist who gives frequent interviews to Western journalists and had predicted bloodshed in the wake of the election, was also arrested.

Reformists fear the regime is trying to weaken protests by silencing their leading voices and Mr Atrianfar's arrest signals that people with powerful connections are not immune. The intelligence ministry said 26 alleged "masterminds" of the post-election unrest had been detained yesterday alone.

Members of the pro-regime Basij militia have also conducted overnight raids on university dormitories, with several students reported to have been killed.

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So far the intimidation tactics have not worked any better than the attempts to shut down communications among the protesters. At this point the general uprising is still overwhelming the governments attempts to suppress it.