Reuters also quoted him as rejecting the Government’s crackdown. “I insist on the nation’s constitutional right to protest against the election result and its aftermath,” he said, complaining about the closure in recent days of an opposition newspaper and the arrest of those who worked here. “The illegal confrontation with the media opens the way for foreign interference,” he said.

As the authorities have moved against Moussavi’s followers, there have been mounting fears that Moussavi is himself in danger of being detained. The reported arrests of more of Moussavi’s supporters followed efforts by Iranian officials to finally crush all resistance to the presidential vote on June 12. On Wednesday, security forces overwhelmed a small group of protesters with brutal beatings, tear gas and gunshots in the air.

Security agents continued to fan out across the country, detaining former Government officials, journalists, activists, young people and old. An eyewitness told The New York Times by telephone that a woman had been shot in the neck during the crackdown.

The Government also stepped up its efforts to block independent news coverage of events all across the country. The Government has banned foreign news media members from leaving their offices, suspended all press credentials for the foreign press, arrested a freelance writer for The Washington Times, continued to hold a reporter for Newsweek and forced other foreign journalists to leave the country.

That made it difficult to ascertain exactly what happened when several hundred protesters tried to gather outside the Parliament building Wednesday afternoon.