The Iranian authorities have said that, more than 100 individuals have been detained in connection to the protests and demonstrations that were carried out on November 4th, a day that is marked as the the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy. In the year 1979,a group of Islamist students and radical fighters stormed and seized the U.S Embassy in Tehran and culminated a hostage drama that dragged on for 444 days. The Iranian authorities had to resort to force this Wednesday, when the supporters of the defeated opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi were carrying out a demonstration and the event turned violent.

Azizollah Rajabzadeh, who is the current chief of police for Tehran said in a statement, “Police arrested 109 people who created disorder and disturbed public order and security on the sideline of the rally on Wednesday. Some 62 of the detainees were jailed and the rest were released.”

Despite repeated warnings from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the dreaded Basij militia to the supporters of the opposition, not to turn the anniversary day rally into their own political demonstrations, the supporters defied the warnings and carried on through with their protests. During the arrests made by the Tehran police, three foreign nationals were also detained, who were later released.

An Iranian journalist who worked for the Agence France Presse (AFP) and a Danish student were also arrested and later released by the authorities. Since the post election violence in Iran, the government has enforced a complete media blackout on public gatherings and demonstrations. According to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi (General Prosecutor, Tehran),

“We have asked the relevant authorities to provide us with documents explaining the purposes of the Danish student’s presence and his mission in Iran.”

Via Reuters.