IRANIAN OPPOSITION leader Mir Hussein Mousavi has called for another mass demonstration on the streets of Tehran today to protest last week’s disputed presidential election and mourn for those who have died in the ensuing violence.
Mr Mousavi, who was incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s main rival in last Friday’s poll, issued a statement on his website repeating demands for the result to be annulled and another election held. According to official figures, Mr Ahmadinejad won by a huge margin despite a record turnout that was expected to favour Mr Mousavi. The defeated candidate and his supporters claim the vote was rigged. Iran’s powerful Guardian Council, an unelected body made up of 12 senior clerics, says it will carry out a recount of votes in districts where electoral fraud is alleged to have taken place, but it has ruled out annulling the election.
“We want a peaceful rally to protest the unhealthy trend of the election and realise our goal of annulling the results. There should be a new presidential election that will not repeat the shameful fraud from the previous election,” Mr Mousavi said.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the recount had begun. A re-tally of votes in the Kurdish province of Kermanshah showed that there had been “no irregularity”.
Mr Mousavi called for his supporters to wear or carry black today as a sign of mourning for those killed in recent days as security forces and pro-government militia moved on demonstrators. At least seven people have died and several others have been wounded, according to Iranian state media.
Mr Mousavi has also lobbied Iran’s clerical hierarchy for support. The country’s most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, said the manipulation of votes had undermined the legitimacy of the ruling system and “no sound mind” would accept the results.
Yesterday, tens of thousands of Iranians gathered on the streets of central Tehran in the fifth consecutive day of protests since Mr Ahmadinejad’s landslide victory was declared. Five Iranian soccer players, including the captain, were reported to have worn green wristbands in an apparent sign of support for Mr Mousavi during a World Cup qualifying match in South Korea.
Though the number of those protesting in Tehran and other cities has declined since Monday, supporters of Mr Mousavi continue to mobilise. The Revolutionary Guard warned yesterday that those posting material on Iranian websites or blogs must remove anything that “creates tension” or face prosecution. Officials also criticised foreign journalists in Tehran, saying some media outlets had become the “mouthpiece of the rioters’ movement”. There were reports of further arrests, including lawyers and human rights activists.
The provincial prosecutor in Esfahan, a city in central Iran where clashes have taken place, apparently warned demonstrators that they could be executed under Islamic law.