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Ahmadinejad challenger calls off Tehran rally to avert further bloodshed
Times Online .. June 16, 2009


Mir Hossein Mousavi salutes yesterday's mass rally in Tehran. He urged supporters to stay away today
Philippe Naughton, and Tony Halpin in Yekaterinburg

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main political rival today attempted to call off a mass protest in central Tehran in
the face of government threats and a counter-demonstration that looked set to produce another day of violence.

At least seven people were killed yesterday in Iran's biggest street protests since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the prospect of two conflicting protests in Vali Asr Square prompted Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated challenger, to warn his supporters off.

Four days after Mr Ahmadinejad claimed a huge re-election win, the powerful Guardian Council offered a partial recount of disputed ballot boxes in response to complaints of massive electoral fraud.

The move by the country's highest legislative body appeared to be the first concession to the opposition after hundreds of thousands joined anti-government protests.

But many saw it as a ploy by the mullahs to buy time before their formal endorsement of Mr Ahmadinejad's victory. Mr Mousavi had asked the council of clerics to annul the election and re-run it, but they rejected that demand as impossible.

At least seven civilians were killed when members of the Basiji militia, a force of young Islamic hardliners, started shooting when their post came under attack during yesterday's mass rally.

State radio said that the building came under attack at the end of what it called an "illegal" demonstration.

"Some thugs in an organised and coordinated action, attacked and vandalised a number of public and government buildings," it reported. "A military post was attacked with the intention of looting its weapons. Unfortunately, seven of our citizens were killed and a number of them injured."

The death toll may actually have been higher. A nurse at western Tehran’s Rasoul Akram hospital said that 28 people with "bullet wounds" had been brought in last night, of whom eight had died.

Mr Ahmadinejad showed his contempt for the protests by visiting the Russian city of Yekaterinburg for a regional summit where his re-election was effectively endorsed not just by his hosts but other nations attending including China, India and Pakistan.

"It’s quite symbolic that the Iranian president arrived in Russia on his first foreign visit since re-election," Sergei Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister, told reporters in a briefing at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, at which Iran has observer status.

"We welcome the fact that the elections have taken place, and we welcome the newly re-elected Iranian president on the Russian soil."
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Mr Ahmadinejad had originally been scheduled to arrive at the conference yesterday and was forced to call off bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Taking the floor at one of the summit meetings, Mr Ahmadinejad made no reference to the crisis at home, instead baiting the United States for its economic woes.

Yesterday's demonstrations saw hundreds of thousands on the streets and the pro-Mousavi protest on Vali Asr Square had been due to start at 5pm (1230 GMT).

The Islamic Propagation Council, one of the regime’s organs, issued a statement calling for a pre-emptive demonstration at the same square just an hour earlier.

"The ill-wishers of the Islamic revolution who cannot see a developed Iran are misusing the gatherings of some candidates, vandalising public property and attacking military centres, the police and the Basij with weapons," it said.
Expert View
Martin Fletcher
Opening quote Mousavi has become the great hope for those who yearn for freedom. He is, however, an unlikely vessel for that ambition Closing quote
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"It is time for the alert Iranian people to separate from the path of those who belong to deviant and violent currents and to foil their plots."

Faced with the possible violence, Mr Mousavi urged his supporters to avoid the square. "The moderates’ rally has been cancelled," his spokesman said.

According to the official figures, Mr Ahmadinejad won a massive 24.5 million votes in Friday's election against 13.2 million for Mr Mousavi. Mohsen Rezai, the former head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, came third with 678,240 votes or 1.73 per cent, while the reformist Mehbi Karroubi, a former parliamentary speaker, trailed with 333,635 votes or 0.85 percent.

It is not just Mr Ahmadinejad's margin of victory that has cast doubt on the result, however, but the speed with which 39.1 million votes were counted – and the fact that the incumbent enjoyed a consistent two-to-one lead even in his opponents' political strongholds.

In his first public comments on the election, President Obama said last night that he was "deeply troubled" by the
violence in Iran, but said that it was up to the Iranians to "make a decision about who Iran's leaders will be".

"I think that the democratic process, free speech, the ability for folks to peacefully
dissent, all those are universal values and need to be respected," Mr Obama said.

"Whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting,
and whenever the American people see that, I think they’re rightfully troubled."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6510663.ece