Iran rallies planned amid clampdown

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Pro-Ahmadinejad supporters were out in force in Tehran on Tuesday [GALLO/GETTY] Anti-government protesters in Iran have announced they are to hold another rally in the capital to dispute the veracity of a presidential election. Supporters of candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called on Wednesday for a rally to go ahead at 5pm local time (13:30 GMT), despite the authorities imposing a ban on the opposition gatherings. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, was officially declared winner of Friday's election by a margin of two-to-one over Mir Hossein Mousavi. Hossein, a reformist candidate who was the nearest rival to Ahmadinejad, a conservative, has accused the authorities of rigging the vote. But Ahmadinejad has said that the result proved he has popular support. "The election result confirmed the work of the ninth government which was based on honesty and service to the people," he said on Wednesday in a statement to Iran's ISNA news agency. Mousavi has called on his supporters to hold peaceful demonstrations or gather in mosques on Thursday in solidarity with people killed or hurt in the post-election unrest. At least seven people have been killed in clashes between the authorities and the opposition movement, according to state media reports, while hundreds more are thought to have been injured. "In the course of the past days and as a consequence of illegal and violent encounters with [people protesting] against the outcome of the presidential election, a number of our countrymen were wounded or martyred," Mousavi said on his website. "I ask the people to express their solidarity with the families .... by coming together in mosques or taking part in peaceful demonstrations." Reformists detained The announcement of the rallies came as news emerged that two prominent reformists allied to Mousavi had been arrested by the Iranian authorities. Hamid Reza Jalaipour, a sociologist, was arrested at his home on Wednesday morning, Issa Saharkhiz, a colleague, told the AFP news agency. Saeed Laylaz, a political and economic analyst, was also arrested at his home by four officials, a family member said. Jalaipour and Laylaz are also prominent journalists. Iranian police have badly beaten some protesters at the opposition rallies [AFP] Several reformists have been arrested by the Iranian authorities since the protests against the presidential election results began. Foreign media reporters have been banned from covering rallies by those opposed to the result of the vote. With Iranians relying on social networking sites and YouTube to share information, the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military force, warned users on Wednesday that they would face legal action if their uploads "create tension". Alireza Ronaghi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, said the move against websites and blogging by the Guard was beyond their remit. "Their move to crack down on websites and blogs is against their constitutional rights, but they see it as things spreading out of hand, so they feel it necessary to intervene at this point," he said. "It is obvious that the Revolutionary Guard does not see itself as a pure military organisation. They been telling the media and activists that the Revolutionary Guard was founded as a political and military foundation of the Islamic Republic, so they see it as appropraite to enter politics whenever they deem fit. Police violence Tens of thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators held rival rallies in Tehran on Tuesday, despite calls by Mousaavi to exercise restraint for fear of provoking further clashes. Thousands of people gathered at a government-organised rally in Tehran's central Vali Asr square in support of Ahmadinejad while a similar-sized demonstration was held in the north of the city by those loyal to the opposition. Sadegh Zibakalam, an Iranian political analyst, said that the government had arranged its protest on Tuesday as a response to the opposition movement. "The government doesn't want to appear as being too soft - that's why they called this rally today and asked its supporters to come to the square where Mousavi's supporters had decided to gather," he told Al Jazeera. "By arranging these crowds, the government is making two points. It wants to demonstrate that it is firm in dealing with this crisis, [and] on the other hand they have been called [on] by the pro-government crowd to crack down." The rallies came just hours after the Guardian Council, Iran's most senior legislative body, said it could order a partial vote recount, provided it finds irregularities. The council ruled out annulling the disputed poll, the key demand of the opposition.