Iran’s protests are a major cause of unrest in the country

Iranian police looking into incident involving woman surrounded by officers in street, as the country’s media and opposition members called on authorities on Monday to prosecute the officers involved, who have been accused of beating the woman.

“This country will not be defeated. Iran has the capability to endure anything,” said Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, denouncing a police crackdown on protests in the capital on Monday. “Today we were arrested. Tomorrow, we will be free,” he added.

The Iranian government said it will “not let any country impose its laws and policies against it” and that such acts would be fully investigated.

More than 200 men, women and children in the southwestern town of Abarkuh were arrested overnight in a crackdown on the protests that have gripped the country since June. The opposition blames the crackdown on the government, with demonstrators chanting “death to the dictator!” and “The dictator will die!”

The protests have been part of the larger, nationwide unrest that was sparked by the death by heart attack of reformist politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani last year.

Rafsanjani’s successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was elected on the back of a huge mandate in last year’s disputed presidential election that was the most widely-accepted result by the Western-backed electoral commission.

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