Iranian police again clashed today with people protesting in Tehran against the re-election of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said in a victory news conference that the vote had been clean.
Supporters of defeated moderate Mirhossein Mousavi, who has dismissed Mr Ahmadinejad's victory in Friday's election as a "dangerous charade," gathered in the city centre, chanted his name and threw stones at police.
Police on motorcycles drove through the crowd to disperse the protesters. At least one person, a woman, was injured. Police briefly detained journalists filming the violence.
Mr Mousavi's supporters handed out leaflets calling for a rally in Tehran tomorrow afternoon. After dusk some took to the rooftops across the city calling out "Allah Akbar" (God is great), an echo of tactics by protesters in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Mr Ahmadinejad consigned Iran's nuclear dispute to the past, signalling no nuclear policy change in his second term, and warned that any country that attacked his own would regret it.
"Who dares to attack Iran? Who even dares to think about it?" he said, in response to a question.
Iran's refusal to halt nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies, has sparked talk of possible US or Israeli strikes on its nuclear sites.
Mr Ahmadinejad described the election as "clean and healthy," dismissing complaints by defeated candidates as sour grapes.
"They may be upset by their failure," he said. "They spent lot of money to make propaganda (and) expected to win so it is natural they are disappointed and upset."
Mr Mousavi formally appealed against Iran's election result today and called on his supporters to keep up their peaceful protests.
Mr Mousavi said in a statement on his website he had lodged an appeal with the Guardian Council, the top legislative body in the Islamic Republic.
"Today, I have submitted my official formal request to the council to cancel the election result," Mr Mousavi said in the statement. "I urge you Iranian nation to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way."
His supporters would continue to use the green campaign colour as a "symbol of freedom, morality, religious wisdom and tolerance," he said.
A spokesman for Mr Mousavi said his newspaper,
Kalameh-ye Sabz, and its website had been shut down.
"Unfortunately there has been a wide effort to cut all ways that we can connect with people," Mr Mousavi said. "I am sure that you people are so innovative that you will find new ways to connect each other to get results."
Mobile telephone text services have also been interrupted in Tehran for several days, and the British Broadcasting Corporation said today that Iran was using "heavy electronic jamming" to interrupt its widely watched BBC Persian television service.
Mr Mousavi said many Iranians were concerned that the events of recent days were endangering the "achievement of the revolution", referring to the 1979 revolution which toppled the US-backed Shah.
"I am warning you that in this country, no one who supports the Islamic Republic will accept such a trend."
Interior ministry officials have rejected accusations of fraud and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Iranians to back their president.
Protests also broke out yesterday in the cities of Tabriz, Orumieh, Hamedan and Rasht, where crowds chanted for Mousavi.
In Isfahan, police intervened and made arrests after students at Sanati University set equipment and furniture on fire. In Tehran police beat protesters yesterday with batons as they spread out across the capital. Small fires burnt at roadsides.
Though the protests were small compared to the mass demonstrations that led to the 1979 Islamic revolution, they were the most widespread in the city since then.
Mr Ahmadinejad, in a televised address to the nation, said the election had been "free and healthy."
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the United States was monitoring the outcome of the election closely and hoped the result reflected the will of the Iranian people.
A senior State Department official insisted Obama's decision to engage Iran was not based on any particular electoral outcome and the path ahead would be hard no matter who won.
"There are a lot of different factions and mixed views on the idea of engaging the Great Satan (Washington)," said the official, speaking before the official results came out.
"We are going to engage the Iranian government whether it is led by one faction or the other," he added.
Reuters