THE UNREST that has gripped Iran since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in a disputed ballot last week took yet another dramatic turn last night as reports swept the country that a man had been killed at an opposition rally.
Eyewitnesses claimed that pro-government militia members fired shots at supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi, killing one man and wounding several others, following a massive rally in central Tehran held in defiance of a ban imposed by Iran’s interior ministry. There have been several unconfirmed reports since Saturday of shots being fired in Tehran and other cities as protests against the election result grew in size and intensity.
Hundreds of thousands marched throughout central Tehran yesterday evening in support of Mr Mousavi, who has requested that the result of Friday’s election be annulled amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud. Observers said the gathering was the largest demonstration in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
Mr Mousavi, last week considered Mr Ahmadinejad’s strongest challenger in one of the most fiercely contested presidential races Iran has ever seen, attended yesterday’s rally, addressing a swirling mass of supporters from the roof of a car in his first public appearance since the disputed election.
“The vote of the people is more important than Mousavi or any other person,” he told the crowd, many of whom were draped in the green that became a trademark of his election campaign. “God willing, we will get back our rights.”
Mr Mousavi repeated calls for his supporters to continue with peaceful protests. The disturbances, which first erupted on Saturday, have not been confined to Tehran. There have been reports of clashes between security forces and protesters in the cities of Esfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz.
“Today they used tear gas and beat the young people who were out on the streets to protest,” one man in Esfahan told The Irish Times last night.
Yesterday it appeared the surge of public feeling – and fears that the unrest could escalate even further — had prompted Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to announce an inquiry into claims that the election had been rigged.
Mr Khamenei had previously declared the election to be a fair one, and welcomed Mr Ahmadinejad’s victory as a “divine intervention”.
On Sunday, Mr Mousavi and another defeated candidate asked the Guardian Council, a legislative body made up of 12 senior clerics, to cancel Friday’s vote and hold a rerun. The council says it will rule within 10 days on the complaints of irregularities.
Most Iranians are doubtful that another election will be held, and some suspect the government is buying time in the hope that the protests will eventually fizzle out.
On bustling Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, Ibrahim, a fruit seller from western Iran who voted for Mr Mousavi last week, echoed the views of many when he described his shock at the events of recent days. “I thought Mousavi had a good chance but when I heard that Ahmadinejad won with more than 60 per cent of the vote, I was suspicious,” he said. “The whole thing is a lie.” His colleague, Ismail, agreed. “The world and God knows that most of the votes were for Mousavi and not Ahmadinejad.”
Ibrahim claimed to have proof of vote-rigging in Zanjan, a province northwest of Tehran. “If nothing is done about this, I will never vote in this country again,” he added.