IRAN'S reformist opposition leader declared yesterday he was "ready for martyrdom" as his supporters fought bloody battles with police on the streets of the capital, Tehran.
Thousands confronted riot police and militiamen who fired live bullets, tear gas and water cannon in a vain attempt to quell the most serious challenge to the regime since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Twenty-four hours after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, warned that further protests could lead to bloodshed, at least three demonstrators died and scores were beaten and injured.
The protesters were strengthened in their resolve when Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated candidate in the country's presidential election, issued his most forthright challenge so far to the outcome.
In a letter to Khamenei, he claimed that the