Tuesday in Tehran: More protests to come, seven confirmed killed

Multiple media outlets have reported that seven to 12 people - protesters and students - have been killed during the past 24 hours. (Image: BBC)

The New York Times and others report tonight (as it nears noon in Iran) that at least seven protesters have been killed in the past 24 hours. Sources outside the American mainstream media say there have been more deaths.

From what we can glean, seven people were killed and likely more wounded during the protest in Azadi Square on Monday - where an enormous crowd assembled to greet opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi at his first post-election appearance.

According to Iran state radio, the seven were killed during an attack on a "military outpost" - probably during the burning of the baseej building we reported on earlier in the day. The BBC has video of what could be that very shooting:

Though most media are only reporting the seven dead confirmed by state radio, the UK Guardian-owned U.TV reports that the death toll has reached 12, and that violence has spread to other cities in Iran. U.TV also lists, for the first time, what might be the names of some of the dead in Iran.

According to U.TV, more people have been killed in Shiraz, and five students may have died during the overnight clash at Tehran University between Sunday and Monday. We posted pictures of a ransacked Tehran U. early this morning. Ali Larijani, a moderate and the speaker of Iran's parliament, has ordered an official investigation into the violence at Tehran U. Violence against students, not to mention possible murder, could add a new layer of energy to the protests.

And speaking of, posters on Twitter say Mousavi will hold another protest today at 5 p.m. Tehran time, or about 8:30 a.m. EST in America. Mousavi has urged his supporters to remain peaceful, but they have 10 days to wait before the Guardian Council, spurred into action by Khamenei's call for an investigation into the election, makes any decision.

What happens next depends on the masses themselves. As former BBC Tehran correspondent Jim Muir writes, this movement appears different from other protests in Iran that fizzled in 1999 and 2003. Fewer people took the streets then, and the protests died. Now, there are possibly millions in the streets, and they have unusually powerful influences to hitch themselves to: Mousavi, a former prime minister, Rafsanjani, a former president who resigned very powerful positions in government after the election, and Khatami, another former president.

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