Iran threatens harsh crackdown against opposition - Yahoo! News: Via AP on Yahoo.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's government threatened harsh action Saturday if opposition supporters take to the streets again to demand a new election in open defiance of the country's supreme leader.

Web sites run by supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called for street protests at 4 p.m. (7:30 a.m. EDT, 1130 GMT) but the candidate himself issued no public statement.

Mousavi did not attend a meeting of the country's top election authority but one of his sites said he planned to issue a statement "soon." It did not elaborate.

The decision to rally or stay off the streets will be crucial for the opposition movement and the unprecented threat it poses to Iran's cleric-led government. Rallying could spark a bloody crackdown on Mousavi's supporters, or greatly weaken the government by forcing it back away from its threat of violence.

If the opposition heeds the official warnings and cancels, it could give the government the opening it needs to suppress its greatest internal challenge since the 1979 Islamic Revoultion.

It was not clear if Mousavi has the power to halt street demonstrations even if he orders his supporters to stay inside. The government appeared to be preparing for a confrontation.

Police and members of the pro-government Basij militia were out in force on the streets on Tehran, particularly in central commercial districts.

Tehran Province Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan said "police forces will crack down on any gathering or protest rally which are being planned by some people."

English-language state TV said the country's highest national security body had ordered security forces to deal with the situation. It did not elaborate.

The government statements were the most explicit warnings yet of force against protesters who gathered in massive rallies last week to demand the government cancel and rerun elections that ended with a declaration of overwhelming victory for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi says he won but Ahmadinejad stole the election through widespread fraud.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sided firmly with Ahmadinejad Friday, saying the result reflected popular will and ordering opposition leadersto 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 confrontation.

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