Iran: Election Aftermath Death Toll Could Be As High As 69

This is according to a close ally of Mousavi. He claims that 69 people died in the post election protests as opposed to the Iranian authority official death toll of 26.

Ali Behesthi says that a file containing the name of 69 people is in the hands of the Iranian parliament, and that the deaths are to be investigated. The document is also supposed to contain the names of 220 people arrested and detained after the elections.

Today, Iran’s Judiciary spokesman, Ali Jamshidi, admitted that about 4,000 people were originally arrested after the election, but he claims that 3,700 were only detained for a short time.

At least 110 people have been put on trial in Tehran, among them, French national Clotilde Reiss. French President Sarkozy has made the release of Reiss a top priority.

Sarkozy stated:”Clotilde Reiss is innocent, and has been the victim of a parody of a trial. We have demanded her release, and we will continue to demand her liberation.”

President Sarkozy’s pressure on Iran seems to be paying off today, as the Iranian authority offered to let Reiss live in the French embassy during the trial. The French government did not respond to the Iranian proposal yet. Sarkozy is likely to keep demanding the immediate release of Reiss without accepting any kind of condition from the Iranian authority.