Iranian officials today criticised the US for backing a series of pro-democracy demonstrations after thousands staged a fifth night of protests in Tehran last night.
Thousands of pro-reform demonstrators took to the streets of the Iranian capital Tehran for the fifth successive night. However, most stayed inside their cars, fearing a repeat of the attacks by right-wing vigilantes on the previous demonstrations.
There were reports of smaller demonstrations in at least two other cities, a sign that the momentum of the protests, which Washington have hailed as a cry for freedom, may be gathering pace.
Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of "flagrant interference in Iran's internal affairs" and said the significance of the protests was being deliberately overstated by US officials.
"The Americans ignore the presence of millions of people to welcome the Supreme Leader and President, but they call the protests of a few individuals the voice of the people," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement.
Sandwiched between Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran's clerical establishment is unnerved by mounting US pressure since the end of the war in Iraq. Washington accuses Iran of seeking nuclear arms, sponsoring terrorism and fomenting unrest in Iraq.