Election protests set to continue in Iran

Supporters of Iran’s defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi plan to keep up the pressure on the authorities with new protests throughout today.
It will be the fifth day of demonstrations since last Friday’s poll in which hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was officially declared the winner.

After the deaths of seven people in a protest in central Tehran on Monday, Mousavi’s supporters heeded his calls for calm and marched peacefully through the capital on Tuesday. In an apparent bid to head off the opposition rally, Ahmedinejad’s supporters also mobilised thousands of demonstrators.

Representatives of the three Presidential candidates held a meeting with Iran’s Guardian Council on Tuesday. A representative of Mousavi told reporters that they had called for a re-run of the vote. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday the government would conduct an investigation into the election.

And, in what appeared to be the first concession by the authorities to the growing protests, Iran’s top legislative body said it was prepared to hold a partial recount, but ruled out annulling the poll.

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tags: Demonstration, Elections, Iran