Defiant protestors rally in silence ahead of day of mourning
Pro-Mousavi protestors take to streets in Iran for fifth day running
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Wednesday, 17, Jun 2009 11:38
By Matthew Champion.
Anti-government protestors in Tehran have marched in silence after Mir Hossein Mousavi, the man they claim to be the rightfully-elected president of Iran, called for peaceful demonstrations.
Reformist Mr Mousavi, who wants the election results annulled, has called on his supporters to hold further demos or gather in mosques on Thursday in mourning for the eight people killed in protests earlier this week.
Iran's interior ministry, which announced a 62.63 per cent share of the vote for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last weekend, has deemed all opposition rallies illegal and banned foreign media from attending and reporting on them.
But hundreds of thousands of Iranians have defied the government to continue to rally, demanding the country's senior executive body the guardian council upgrade its promise of a partial recount to a full recount.
It is difficult to judge how many people attended today's silent rallies due to the ban on foreign media, but reports filtering through social networking sites such as Twitter claim that up to 500,000 people took to the streets.
Eight people died on Monday when hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Tehran over the presidential election results, which saw Mr Mousavi awarded just 33.75 per cent, and pro-government militia opened fire on sections of the crowd.
The protests are the biggest challenge to the government since the Islamic revolution of 1979 and have led to criticism from the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Some people are against the unity of the Iranian nation and the solidarity of the Islamic system," he said on state television.
"Such acts and vandalism and some crimes that were committed are not related to the candidates' supporters, but to disturbers of peace, and all should stand against them."
International reaction to the disputed results has been measured, but leaders have condemned the post-election violence.
President Barack Obama has also urged caution on picking sides in the dispute, claiming there may not be too much difference between the policies of Mr Ahmadinejad and Mr Mousavi.
On Wednesday Mr Mousavi's campaign gained the support of members of the country's national football team, with at least six players wearing green arm and wristbands during a World Cup qualifier with South Korea; with green being the campaign colour of Mr Mousavi.
The arm and wristbands had disappeared after halftime, however.