Mousavi calls for mass rally over disputed poll

IRANIAN opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi issued a direct challenge to the country’s supreme leader and cleric-led system last night, calling for a mass rally today to protest disputed election results and violence against his followers.

A crackdown on dissent continued, with more arrests of opposition figures, and the country’s most powerful military force – the Revolutionary Guard – saying Iranian websites and bloggers must remove any materials that “create tension” or face legal action.

In one high-profile display of apparent opposition support, several Iranian soccer players wore green wrist bands – the colour of Mousavi’s campaign – during a World Cup qualifying match in South Korea that was televised in Iran.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told Mousavi to pursue his demands through the electoral system and called for Iranians to unite behind their Islamic government, an extraordinary appeal in response to tensions over the presidential vote. But Mousavi appears unwilling to back down, issuing on his website a call for a mass demonstration today.

“We want a peaceful rally to protest the unhealthy trend of the election and realise our goal of annulling the results,” Mousavi said.

He called for his followers to wear or carry black in mourning for the alleged election fraud and the deaths of protesters, and said there should be “a new presidential election that will not repeat the shameful fraud from the previous election”.

Up to 500,000 protesters gathered in a fifth day of protests accusing the government of rigging the June 12 election to declare hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the overwhelming winner.

Their street protests, paired with dissent from powerful clerical and political figures, have presented one of the gravest threats to Iran’s complex blend of democracy and religious authority since the system emerged from the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Election tensions appeared to be spreading further into the Iranian political and religious classes – and into the sports world.

Mousavi’s website said seven Iranian players wore the green bands on their wrists in the first half of the World Cup qualifier, although most were forced to take them off in the second half. Mehdi Mehdavi-Kia kept his green band on throughout the game. Iranian fans unfurled a banner in the stands reading “Go To Hell Dictator” and waved national flags emblazoned with “Free Iran”.

Blogs and websites such as Facebook and Twitter have been vital conduits for Iranians to inform the world about protests and violence.

The web became more essential after the government barred foreign media on Tuesday from leaving their offices to report on demonstrations on the streets.

Mousavi condemned the government for blocking websites, saying the government did not tolerate the voice of the opposition.

The violence has left at least seven people dead, according to Iran’s state media, although videos and photos posted by people inside Iran show scenes of violence that have not been reported through official channels.

The newly imposed media restrictions make it virtually impossible to verify much of the information, which includes dramatic images of street clashes and wounded demonstrators.

Much of the imagery has been posted anonymously. In other cases, those who have posted have declined to be identified due to fear of government retaliation, or cannot be reached due to restrictions on the internet and mobile phones.

The Revolutionary Guard, an elite military force answering to Khamenei, said through the state news service its investigators have taken action against “deviant news sites” that encouraged public disturbances. The Guard is a separate military with enormous domestic influence and control of Iran’s most important defence programmes. It is one of the key sources of power for the ruling establishment.

The statement alleged that dissident websites were backed by Canadian, US and British interests, a frequent charge levied by hard-liners against the opposition.