Timeline of the 2009 Iranian election protests in Tehran and across the country of Iran. This day was the Day of Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussain and is an important day on the Shiite calendar. Police fired upon protesters and used tear gas. State TV reported that 15 people died this day, yet official reports from the Iranian government put the death toll at 8, making this the deadliest day of the protests since June. Among those killed was Seyed Ali Mousavi, the nephew of Mir-Hossein Mousavi. At least 300 people were arrested. BBC called the protests "the worst violence since last June's contested
Mir-Hossein Mousavi as well as the conservative newspaper "Jomhouri-e Eslami", supported Mousavi's candidacy, he did not receive the official backing of any major conservative party. His candidacy made it harder for the conservatives to support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and large conservative parties, such as the Combatant Clergy Association, did not back the current President for a second term of office. Mousavi had on numerous occasions indicated his wish to change the constitution in order to remove the existing ban on the private ownership of television stations (currently all Iranian television stations are state-owned), as well as transfer the control of the law-enforcement forces