Dueling rallies in Iran as partial recount looms

MSNBC:

Dueling rallies in Iran as partial recount looms
Obama expresses 'deep concerns' over vote; independent media banned
updated 12:48 p.m. ET, Tues., June 16, 2009

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's Islamic leadership agreed to conduct a limited recount of votes following last week's disputed presidential election, a spokesman said Tuesday, as thousands of people took to Tehran's streets and authorities cracked down on independent media.

The announcement came after Iran's state radio reported that seven people were killed during clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles following the disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner.

In downtown Tehran, thousands of people attended a state-organized rally Tuesday aimed at showing support for the regime. State media said the pro-Ahmadinejad event was designed to demand punishment for "rioters" from clashes on Monday.

Earlier, violence erupted at another rally in central Tehran as plainclothes militia beat pro-reform protesters with sticks. According to eyewitnesses, the militia members circled the demonstrators on motorcycles before striking them. Some of the plainclothes officials chanted "Death to America."

The protesters claim Friday's vote was rigged to re-elect Ahmadinejad, the hard-line president.

The crowd at the anti-government protest swelled to about 100,000 people in about three hours, witnesses said. Banners carried by some at the rally described reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi as "Our True President."

Mousavi, in a message posted on his Web site, asked his supporters to "not fall in the trap of street riots" and to "exercise self-restraint."

After images were shown around the world of mass protests and violence following the disputed election, the government announced a crackdown on journalists Tuesday.

Authorities restricted journalists, including Iranians working for foreign media, from reporting on the streets, and said they could only work from their offices, conducting telephone interviews and monitoring official sources such as state television.

Iranian officials also said they will not extend the visas of foreign reporters who covered the election.

Speaking at the White House Tuesday, President Barack Obama reiterated his "deep concerns" about the election.

"When I see violence directed at peaceful protests, when I see peaceful dissent being suppressed ... it is of concern to me and to the American people," Obama said. "My hope is that the Iranian people will make the right steps in order to express their voices."

Limited recountA spokesman for Iran's powerful Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was quoted on state television as saying the recount would be limited to voting sites where candidates claim irregularities took place.

He did not rule out the possibility of canceling the results, saying that is within the council's powers, although nullifying an election would be an unprecedented step.

The 12-member Guardian Council includes clerics and experts in Islamic law. Its role includes certifying election results, and it is closely allied to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It serves as a constitutional watchdog and vets candidates running in elections.There was no immediate word from Mousavi on the announcement, but he said Monday he was not hopeful that the council would address his charges because he believes they are not neutral and have already indicated support for Ahmadinejad.

The results from last Friday's election showing a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad sparked Tehran's worst violence in 10 years — including seven reportedly killed Monday during clashes.

Supporters of Mousavi have taken to the streets over the past five days to protest the results.

Claims of voting irregularities went to the Guardian Council after Ahmadinejad's upset victory in 2005, but there was no official word on the outcome of the inquiry, and the vote stood.

'Unauthorized gathering'State radio also reported Tuesday that clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day left seven people dead during an "unauthorized gathering" at a mass rally over alleged election fraud — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles after disputed elections in last week.

The report said the deaths occurred after protesters "tried to attack a military location." It gave no further details, but it was a clear reference to crowds who came under gunfire Monday after trying to storm a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

The deaths Monday occurred on the edge of Tehran's Azadi Square after hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters defied an official ban and marched through the city. An Associated Press photographer saw gunmen, standing on a roof, opening fire on a group of demonstrators who tried to storm the militia compound.

Angry men showed their bloody palms after cradling the dead and wounded who had been part of a crowd that stretched more than five miles.

The deaths raise the prospect of further defiance and anger from crowds claiming that Mousavi was the rightful winner of the election.

The march also marked Mousavi's first public appearance since shortly after the election and said he was willing to "pay any price" in his demands to overturn the election results.

Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, arrived in Russia on Tuesday to attend a regional security summit, after having postponed the trip for one day.

A Web site run by Iran's former reformist vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, said he had been arrested by security officers, but provided no further details. Abtahi's Web site, popular among the youth, has reported extensively on the alleged vote fraud after Friday's election.

Speaking before Obama's comments Tuesday, Sen. John McCain said the president wasn't talking tough enough.

Appearing on NBC's TODAY, McCain said that Obama needs to speak out about Iran's "corrupt, flawed, sham of an election."

Obama's 2008 Republican opponent added that the U.S. needs to support the Iranian people in their struggle against "an oppressive, repressive regime."

But the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the Obama administration's arms-length stance.

"I think for the moment our position is to allow the Iranians to work out their situation," said Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. "When popular revolutions occur, they come right from the people."

Lugar said he did not think it would be wise for the United States "to become heavily involved in the election at this point."

The huge rally Monday — and smaller protests around the country — display the resolve of Mousavi's backers and have pushed Iran's Islamic establishment into attempts to cool the tensions after days of unrest.

The death toll reported Tuesday was the first in Tehran since the post-election turmoil gripped Iran and could be a further rallying point in a culture that venerates martyrs and often marks their death with memorials. One of Mousavi's Web sites said a student protester was killed early Monday in clashes with plainclothes hard-liners in Shiraz in southern Iran but there was no independent confirmation of the report.

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.