 | | | The Guardian Council said it will recount votes after mass protests |
TEHRAN (AlArabiya.net, Agencies) Supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi staged a mass rally in Tehran on Tuesday as Iran's top legislative body ruled out annulling a disputed presidential poll but said it was prepared for a partial recount
Iran's English Languaged Press TV correspondent Homa Lezgi was quoted on its website saying the rally being held at Vanak Square had turned into a "massive" one but did not give any estimate of the size of the crowd.
Earlier, state television showed massive crowds gathering at a rival rally called in support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinajad.
However journalists had diccifluty reaching the site of the demonstrations as Iran has banned journalists working for foreign media from covering "unauthorised" gatherings or those not organised with culture ministry permission.  | Ready to re-count Opposition supporters defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran to support Mousavi In what appeared to be the first concession by authorities to the protest movement, the 12-man Guardian Council said it was ready to re-count some votes and saidl said the recount may lead to changes in candidates' tally, according to Press TV.
"If the Guardians Council reaches the conclusion that such offences as buying votes or using fake identity cards have been committed... it will order a recount," council spokesman Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai told the official news agency IRNA.
Mahmoud Ahmadinajad was declared the runaway winner of Friday's elections -- with 63 percent compared with 34 percent for his nearest rival Mir Hossein Mousavi -- 12 hours after 39.2 million ballots were hand-tallied. | | Further protests planned Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai But the powerful Council rejected reformist calls to annul Friday's election, which set off political turmoil, riveting attention on the world's fifth biggest oil exporter that is locked in a nuclear dispute with the West.
Iranians outraged by Mousavi's defeat in what they viewed as a stolen election plan another rally on Tuesday, even though seven people were killed on Monday on the fringes of a huge march through the streets of Tehran. |
" If the Guardians Council reaches the conclusion that such offences as buying votes or using fake identity cards have been committed... it will order a recount " Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai Mousavi, however, urged his supporters not to attend the rally "to protect lives," saying it was cancelled, though supporters gathered in other parts of Tehran.
Ahmadinajad's supporters had called for a counter-rally at the same Tehran square, possibly setting the scene for more confrontation.
Further protests, especially if they are maintained on the same scale, would be a direct challenge to the authorities who have kept a tight grip on dissent since the 1979 overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah after months of demonstrations. | | More media bans Supporters of Mousavi take part in a rally at Azadi Square in Tehran Iran's culture ministry said it has banned the foreign press from reporting on "unauthorized" rallies, meaning those held by supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mousavi.
The ministry instructed the foreign media to "avoid participation or news coverage of gatherings which do not have the interior ministry permit," it said in a statement.
Iran has cracked down on the media blocking websites and jamming satellite signals and SMS messaging, shutting down Al Arabiya’s Tehran bureau and arresting several journalists. | | More arrests Earlier Tuesday, Iranian state television said the "main agents" in post-election unrest were arrested with explosives and guns.
Press TV reported the arrests in a breaking news headline, but gave no of how many people had been arrested or when. |
Mousavi said he had formally asked the legislative Guardian Council to cancel the election result But the Fars new agency, quoting Iran's Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, said security forces had arrested 26 "masterminds" suspected to be involved in post-election unrest sweeping Tehran, in addition to a wave of initial arrests of 170 people reported on Sunday.
Saeed Hajjarian and Mohammad Ali Abtahi, close aides of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, were also arrested at their homes before dawn, their aides said.
Several of those arrested are supporters of Mousavi, whose newspaper, Kalemeh Sabz, or the Green Word, reported on its website that more than 10 million votes were missing national identification, making the votes "untraceable." It did not say how it knew that information.
Iran's English-language Press TV said seven people were killed and several wounded at the end of Monday's rally -- a mainly peaceful gathering attended by many tens of thousands -- when "thugs" tried to attack a military post in central Tehran. | | Ahmadinejad in Russia Despite protests and upheaval in Iran, Ahmadinajad was in Russia for SCO talks on Tuesday on his first foreign trip since official results showed he secured a second four-year term.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which includes Russia and China, congratulated Ahmadinejad on his win.
Moscow -- a key ally which is helping Iran build a nuclear power plant --has described the election as an "internal" affair.
In his latest salvo at the West, Ahmadinajad said the "age of empires" was over, but made no mention of the post-poll violence in his country. |
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