Protesters rally for Mousavi in election dispute

Rally called for Tuesday
Mousavi said another rally was planned for Tuesday in north Tehran, the hub of his youth-driven campaign and now a nerve center for his opposition movement.

This is the type spreading unrest most feared by Iran's non-elected ruling clerics, who control all important decisions but are rarely drawn directly into political disputes. A long and bitter movement against Ahmadinejad could push the dissent past the presidency and target the theocracy itself.

It also has the potential to embolden some members of the ruling inner circle, such as the powerful former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who strongly opposed Ahmadinejad during the campaign.

"That sets you up for a tremendous split," said Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It could be tremendously destabilizing because if the office of (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is damaged, then the whole shape of leadership ... moves into flux."

There's widespread belief that Khamenei — the successor of the Islamic Revolution patriarch Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — will do what it takes to keep the system intact.

He welcomed Ahmadinejad's victory on Saturday. By Monday, however, he directed one of Iran's most influential bodies, the Guardian Council, to examine claims of election fraud. The move had no guarantee it would satisfy those challenging Ahmadinejad's re-election or quell their anger after the weekend unrest.

Guardian Council
The 12-member Guardian Council, made up of clerics and experts in Islamic law and closely allied to Khamenei, must certify ballot results and has the apparent authority to nullify an election. It would be an unprecedented step. Claims of voting irregularities went to the council after Ahmadinejad's upset victory in 2005, but there was no official word on the outcome of the inquiry, and the vote stood.

More likely, the intervention by Khamenei sought to lower the tensions and give some time for possible further talks with Mousavi, who was prime minister in the 1980s.

At the rally, Mousavi had strong words for those standing in his way for his demands to cancel elections, including the ruling clerics.

"I am ready to pay any price to carry the ideals of you, dear people," said Mousavi, who wore a gray striped shirt.

"We must regain our trampled rights and stop this lie and stand up to fraud and this astonishing charade," he said, looking out over the huge crowd and raising his arms in salute. "Otherwise, nothing will remain of people's trust in the government and the ruling system."

He also said he has little hope that the Guardian Council will annul the vote. The crowd roared back: "Long live Mousavi."

"This is not election. This is selection," read one English-language placard at the demonstration. Other marchers held signs proclaiming "We want our vote back!" and made a V-for-victory salute.

Rally ban wasn't enforced
Although any rallies were outlawed earlier, security forces were not ordered to move against the protesters, many waving the green banners and ribbons — the symbolic color of Mousavi's movement.

Authorities have blocked pro-Mousavi Web sites and text messaging, but word of the rally was passed by e-mails, phone calls and word of mouth.

At nightfall, Ahmadinejad opponents again shouted their denunciations from Tehran's rooftops. Cries of "Death to the dictator!" and "Allahu akbar!" — "God is great!" — echoed across the capital for a second night.

It's a deeply symbolic tactic that Mousavi borrowed from the Islamic Revolution and the idea that people power can challenge any system. The rooftop cries were how Khomeini asked Iran to show its unity against the Western-backed shah 30 years earlier.

Tehran police and hard-line militia stormed the campus at the city's biggest university early Monday, ransacking dormitories and arresting dozens of students angry over what they say was mass election fraud.

Protesters also gathered outside Iranian diplomatic offices in London, Ankara and other cities. In Dubai, home to about 200,000 Iranians, 150 demonstrators stood outside the consulate in the withering Gulf summer heat and chanted: "Where is my vote?"

Britain and Germany joined the calls of alarm over the rising confrontations in Iran. In Paris, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to discuss the allegations of vote-tampering and the violence.

In Moscow, the Iranian Embassy said Ahmadinejad has put off a visit to Russia on Monday. He had been expected to travel to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of a regional summit.

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