TENS OF thousands of Iranians gathered in Tehran yesterday to hear President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad address a victory rally following his re-election, as his main challenger demanded that the result be annulled amid continuing violence following protests by those who allege the vote was rigged.
In a statement on his website, defeated candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi said he had formally asked the Guardian Council, a legislative body made up of senior clerics, to cancel the election result which gave Ahmadinejad a three-to-one victory.
“Those who have announced unbelievable results for the presidential election are now trying to prove them and start a new era in our history,” he said, urging supporters to continue protests in a “peaceful and legal” way.
A re-run of Friday’s vote is unlikely. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who as Supreme Leader wields the most power in Iran, issued a statement on Saturday that was unequivocal. “More than 20 million votes for the president-elect is a real cause for celebration,” he said.
Turnout was a record 85 per cent, according to the Guardian Council.
High turnout was expected to favour Mr Mousavi, a reformist candidate whose promises of greater social freedoms, better economic management, and a less hostile approach to the West galvanised many young Iranians in the weeks leading up to the election.
Mr Ahmadinejad described the election as “clean and healthy”, airily dismissing complaints by Mr Mousavi and other unsuccessful candidates as sour grapes.
“They may be upset by their failure,” he told a press conference. “They spent a lot of money to make propaganda expected to win, so it is natural they are disappointed.” Mr Ahmadinejad also appeared to brush off the two days of violence that followed the results, saying it was “not important from my point of view” and likening it to the “passions after a football match”.
“Some believed they would win, and then they got angry,” he said. “It has no legal credibility . . . The margin between my votes and the others is too much and no one can question it.”
He was bullish on the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme, saying it was no longer up for question, and warned that any country that attacked Iran would regret it. “Who dares to attack Iran? Who even dares to think about it?” he asked.
Later, Mr Ahmadinejad addressed a massive victory rally in Vali Asr Square in central Tehran.
“They say the vote is disrupted, there has been a fraud. Where are the irregularities in the election?” he told a cheering crowd dotted with hundreds of Iranian flags as helicopters circled overhead.
Azadeh Mirabedini, who carried an Iranian flag, a poster of Mr Ahmadinejad and a red rose, attended the rally with her brother. “We are here to show that Tehran is with Ahmadinejad,” she said.
“He is a just and honest man. He has worked hard for the people.”
She was critical of Mousavi supporters who had clashed with police during protests over the weekend. “These are bad people. They are not normal. Why can’t they accept the result?”
At one stage the crowd shouted insults against Mousavi. “Liar, Mousavi! Liar! Liar!” they chanted.
Ali Mohammed travelled from southern Tehran by motorbike with his wife and young son for the rally. “We came here to express our happiness at the victory of our great president,” he said. His chador-clad wife Akram added: “We wanted to show our love for the president. He really cares about people like us.”
In other parts of Tehran, police fired tear gas and beat back protesters in a second day of disturbances. The unrest is the most serious Iran has experienced in years and last night it showed few signs of abating.
There were reports that about 100 reformist leaders had been arrested over the weekend.