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TEHRAN, Iran - As police beat and fired tear gas at protesters in Tehran who defied a ban and the country's supreme leader, the nation's police chief said Saturday that his response would only get tougher if anti-government protests continue.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Iran to halt the "violent and unjust" crackdown, his bluntest language yet on the crisis. "Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away," Obama said in a written statement.
Opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi did not appear at the main clashes near Revolution Square on Saturday, but a supporter said he did make a public address in southwest Tehran, urging backers to stage a national strike if he is arrested.
"Mousavi said he was ready for martyrdom and that he would continue his path," the ally, who asked not to be named, told Reuters by telephone.
And the semi-official Fars news agency later reported that Mousavi had issued a statement to supporters that he was not challenging the Islamic state. But, he reportedly added, by not allowing legal rallies, the Islamic state could face "dangerous consequences."
In central Tehran earlier Saturday, eyewitnesses described fierce clashes near Revolution Square after some 3,000 protesters chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to dictatorship!"
Police responded with tear gas, water cannons and guns but it was not immediately clear if they were firing live ammunition.
No fatalities were reported and the head of Iran's police said his men had been ordered to act with restraint — this time.
"We acted with leniency but I think from today on, we should resume law and confront more seriously," Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said on state television. "The events have become exhausting, bothersome and intolerable. I want them to take the police cautions seriously because we will definitely show a serious confrontation against those who violate rules."
Blockade around Freedom Street:
Police and militia did try to bar people from entering Freedom Street, which runs from Freedom Square to Revolution Square, to prevent a mass gathering, witnesses said.
NBC News Iran bureau chief Ali Arouzi said he had never ever seen so many police on the streets at once.
Witnesses said between 50 and 60 protesters were seriously beaten by police and pro-government militia and taken to a hospital. People could be seen dragging away comrades bloodied by baton strikes.
Some protesters fought back, setting fire to militia members' motorcycles, witnesses said.
Helicopters hovered overhead, as ambulance sirens echoed through the streets and black smoke rose over the city.
Tehran University was cordoned off by police and militia while students inside the university chanted "Death to the dictator," witnesses said.
In the south of the city, supporters of Mousavi set on fire a building used by backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a witness said, and police there then fired into the air to disperse them and Ahmadinejad supporters.
Mousavi late Saturday repeated his demand for the election to be annulled.
In a letter to Iran's Guardian Council, which investigates voting fraud allegations, Mousavi listed violations that he says are proof that the June 12 vote should be annulled. He said some ballot boxes had been sealed before voting began, thousands of his representatives had been expelled from polling stations and some mobile polling stations had ballot boxes filled with fake ballots.
"The Iranian nation will not believe this unjust and illegal" act, Mousavi said in the letter published on one of his official Web sites.
Suicide bombing reported:
Also Saturday, a suicide bomber died and three people were wounded at the entrance to the shrine of Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, state television said.
It was not clear if the bombing was related to the election protests.
On Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition leaders to end street protests or be held responsible for any "bloodshed and chaos" to come.
The statement effectively closed the door to Mousavi's demand for a new election, ratcheting up the possibility of a bloody confrontation.
Continued protests could spark a bloody crackdown on Mousavi's supporters, or greatly weaken the government by forcing it back away from its threat of violence.
A report on Press TV listed the fallout from the unrest, including 700 buildings and 300 banks damaged and 400 police hurt. It gave no similar list for the protesters. At least seven people have died, according to the official Iranian count, but the total could be more.
It was not clear if Mousavi has the power to halt street demonstrations even if he orders his supporters to stay inside.
Iran's Interior Ministry raised the possibility of directly punishing the 67-year-old former prime minister, saying he would "be held responsible for the consequences of any illegal gatherings." The ministry accused him of supporting protests that "have lead to the disruption of security and public order," State Security Council secretary, Abbas Mohtaj, said in a statement on the ministry's Web site.
Guardian Council:
Mousavi and another presidential candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, did not attend a meeting with Iran's Guardian Council on Saturday, state TV said. The council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts close to Khamenei, investigates voter fraud claims.
A conservative candidate, former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei, did attend, state TV said.
The state's English-language channel said the Guardian Council had agreed to a recount of 10 percent of the votes, without providing details.
State TV also said the Association of Combatant Clerics, a group linked to former President Mohammad Khatami, a Mousavi ally, had told supporters to stay off the streets. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Since the June 12 election, Mousavi has become the figurehead for a broad collection of demonstrators — from the most liberal-leaning reformists to religious conservatives. Some could be prepared to take their protests to the limit, but many others have no interest in an all-out mutiny against the country's Islamic system.
Mousavi's speaking curbed:
A spokesman for Mousavi said Friday the opposition leader was not under arrest but was not allowed to speak to journalists or stand at a microphone at rallies. Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf told the AP from Paris it's even becoming difficult to reach people close to Mousavi. He said he has not heard from Mousavi's camp since Khamenei's address Friday morning.
Iranian authorities have interfered with the Internet and mobile phone networks and placed strict limits on the ability of foreign media to cover recent events, banning reporting from the street and allowing only phone interviews and information from officials sources such as state TV.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other European Union leaders have expressed dismay over the threat of a crackdown and both houses of the U.S. Congress approved a resolution Friday condemning "the ongoing violence" by the Iranian government and its suppression of the Internet and cell phones.
In an interview taped Friday with CBS, President Barack Obama said he is very concerned by the "tenor and tone" of Khamenei's comments. He also said that how Iran's leaders "approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard" will signal "what Iran is and is not."
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