Reports indicate that one person has been killed and several others have been injured in shootings that broke out following a pro-Mousavi rally in Tehran. Supporters of former premier Mir-Hossein Moussavi, who according to interior ministry figures suffered a crushing defeat in Friday’s presidential election, gathered in central Tehran on Monday to voice their protest against what they called ‘vote-rigging’.
Press TV’s correspondent, who was at the scene of the mass rally, said that as protesters were beginning to disperse at sundown unidentified gunmen fired shots into the crowd, disrupting what was a peaceful rally up until the moment.
Following the rally some media reports claimed that one person was killed and a number of others sustained injuries. Press TV could not independently confirm the reports.
The pro-Moussavi supporters were disappointed with the official election results that Iran’s interior ministry released in the early hours of Saturday.
According to the official figures, incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won the vote with 63 percent of the ballots cast in his favor. Iran’s last prime minister has only managed to win about 33 percent of the vote, the official figures showed.
The Monday rally, which went ahead despite an Interior Ministry decision to deny the Moussavi camp a legal permit for the demonstration, was the largest among a series of sporadic protests since Saturday.
Moussavi, who has not admitted defeat, was present at the rally, urging his supporters to remain calm. Fellow defeated candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who has also questioned the outcome of the vote, also attended the demonstration.
Reformist figure and former president, Mohammad Khatami was also present at the rally.
Moussavi has filed a complaint with the election supervising body, the Guardian Council, calling for the results to be annulled. By law the Guardian Council is required to address the complaints within a week to ten days.
Filed under: Iran, Islamic countries, Middle East, presidential election
