In Iran, acts of defiance are growing : Via Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.

In new displays of defiance, Iran's opposition leader told supporters Wednesday that "it's not yet too late" to push for their rights and joined a reformist ex-president in condemning the regime for a post-election crackdown both said was tantamount to a coup.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said he considered Iran's cleric-led government illegitimate, and he demanded that it release all political prisoners and institute electoral reforms and press for freedoms.

Former President Mohammad Khatami, meanwhile, lashed out at what he termed "a poisonous security situation" in the wake of violent street protests.

In statements on their Web sites, Khatami accused Iran's leadership of a "velvet coup against the people and democracy," and Mousavi said the government's crackdown on demonstrators was "tantamount to a coup."

Khatami, an ally of Mousavi -- who contends the June 12 election was marred by widespread fraud and insists he was robbed of victory -- scorned the government for declaring incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner in a landslide.

The semiofficial Fars news agency, meanwhile, said the Basij -- supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's street enforcers -- sent the chief prosecutor a letter accusing Mousavi of taking part in nine offenses against the government, including "disturbing the nation's security," which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years of prison.

Tensions with West escalate

Iran's standoff with the West intensified, with the European Union considering pulling out all 27 of its ambassadors in retaliation for the recent detentions of several local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran, despite Iranian claims that all but one had been released.

Read Original Article:(Via Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.)