Europe ups pressure on Iranian regime

BERLIN, June 16 (UPI) -- Europe's major powers are increasing the pressure on the Iranian regime to clarify the disputed election results and stop the violence against protesters.

"There must be no violence in response to peaceful protests," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday, after seven people were killed in demonstrations in Iran a day earlier. All over the Islamic Republic, people were getting ready for another day of protests Tuesday, following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets Monday to march against what they regard as rigged elections. Many people carried signs reading "Where is my vote?" in reference to their support of moderate former Premier Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's defeated challenger. Authorities reacted with violent crackdowns on protesters. European powers answered with diplomatic repercussions.

EU foreign ministers Monday called on Tehran to urge restraint in its handling of the protests and "address and investigate" its elections.

Germany and France summoned their Iranian ambassadors. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy spokesman, Thomas Steg, said the vote should be quickly examined.

"We are very much concerned about what we consider an over-reaction by the security forces in cracking down on protesters, people who have the right to express their opinions," he added.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the actions of the Iranian security forces "completely unacceptable."

For the past six years, Britain, France and Germany have been mediating between Tehran and Washington in negotiations over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Observers say the crackdown, if unaddressed by Tehran, may lead to a harsher negotiation course in the nuclear conflict.

"The way the regime responds to legitimate protests will have implications for Iran's relationships with the rest of the world in future," Brown warned Tehran in a speech to British parliamentarians.

Ahmadinejad on Tuesday traveled to Russia, one of Iran's key allies.

Meanwhile, several European correspondents experienced censorship or interference with their reporting.

The BBC said the satellites it is using to broadcast its service to Iran were being jammed. Iranian authorities temporarily revoked a German TV journalist's reporting permission, the Berliner Zeitung reports. Tehran said the move was necessary to protect the reporter. To back up their claim, authorities showed him a videotape of one of his Iranian coworkers being beaten up.

Another German TV reporter working for public broadcaster ARD said a group of six men armed with batons and Tasers entered his bureau and took one of his coworkers away. The man's whereabouts are unknown, the newspaper reports.