Guards warn: We will crush Iran protests

The country's most powerful military force today ordered demonstrators to "end the sabotage and rioting activities" and said their resistance is a "conspiracy" against Iran.

The Revolutionary Guard is threatening to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election.

A statement posted on its website warned protesters to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij (a militia) and other security forces and disciplinary forces."

It comes as supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi said they would be holding a sit-down vigil in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran this afternoon in remembrance of those killed in the violence. At least 10 died over the weekend.

The country's rulers have also stepped up their attempts to crush dissent by rounding up opposition figures and expelling a BBC correspondent.

Among those arrested was the daughter of a moderate former president.

The move underlines the pressure hardliners feel under as bloody protests continued in Tehran. In the clearest sign yet of a splintering among the ayatollahs, state media announced the arrests on Saturday of relatives of former president Hashemi Rafsanjani including his daughter Faezeh, a 46-year-old reformist politician vilified by hardliners for her open support of Mr Mousavi.

She was taken into custody at a demonstration against the election result, which had given a second term to hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The relatives were released after a few hours.

Mr Rafsanjani heads the cleric-run Assembly of Experts, which can remove the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He also chairs the Expediency Council, a body that arbitrates on disputes between parliament and the unelected Guardian Council.

Mr Rafsanjani and his family have been accused of corruption by Mr Ahmadinejad. The 75-year-old ayatollah was conspicuously absent on Friday from an address by the supreme leader calling for national unity and siding with the president.

That fuelled speculation that Mr Rafsanjani, who has made no public comment since the election, may be favouring Mr Mousavi.

Mr Ahmadinejad appeared to be courting his own clerical support. State television showed him meeting with mullahs at the presidential palace.

Iran also stepped up the pressure by accusing the West and its media of playing a role in fomenting unrest. A  BBC correspondent, Jon Leyne, was expelled yesterday, two American journalists were arrested and the Dubai based al-Arabiya network suspended.