Iran's Disputed Election

Iran's Disputed Election Following up from last Friday's entry about Iran's Presidential Election, Tehran and other cities have seen the largest street protests and rioting since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Supporters of reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, upset at their announced loss and suspicions of voter fraud, took to the streets both peacefully and, in some cases, violently to vent their frustrations. Iranian security forces and hardline volunteer militia members responded with force and arrests, attempting to stamp out the protests - meanwhile, thousands of Iranians who were happy with the election outcome staged their own victory demonstrations. Mousavi himself has been encouraging peaceful demonstrations, and called for calm at a large demonstration today (held in defiance of an official ban), as Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has just called for an official inquiry into accusations of election irregularities. (Update: several photos of injuries from gunshots at today's rally added below) (38 photos total (plus 3)) A supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi shouts slogans during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner by a landslide in Iran's hotly-disputed presidential vote, triggering riots by opposition supporters and furious complaints of cheating from his defeated rivals. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) 2 Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi march through Valiasr Street during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 3 Protestors set fires in a main street in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country's most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP Photo) # 4 Young men run past a burning bus during a riot in Tehran on June 13, 2009. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 5 A riot-police officer strikes a man with a baton near Tehran University on June 14, 2009. Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said on Sunday he has asked the powerful Guardians Council to cancel the result of the presidential poll, while urging his supporters to continue peaceful protests. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) # 6 A man is detained by Iranian riot-police in front of Tehran University during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 7 Iranian students, supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, try to keep clear of tear gas being lobbed back and forth at the main entrance of Tehran University during riots on Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 8 Students, supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate at the main entrance of Tehran University during riots on Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 9 Iranian supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi gather on the streets protesting the results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (AP photo) # 10 Members of the Iranian hardline volunteer Basij militia begin to enter Tehran University where supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi were protesting against the latest election's results at Tehran's University on June 14, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images) # 11 Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and members of the Basij militia hurl stones towards supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi who are inside Tehran University on Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 12 Backers of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are beaten by government security men during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 13 Riot policemen deploy in Tehran's Enghelab square to disperse protesters demonstrating against the election results in Tehran on June 14, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images) # 14 Hard-line supporters armed with batons try to break into a house where protesters found shelter in central Tehran June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer) # 15 A motorcycle burns in a street of Tehran, Iran on Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP photo/Vahid Salemi) # 16 An injured backer of Mir Hossein Mousavi covers his bloodied face during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 17 A supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mousavi is beaten by government security men as fellow supporters come to his aid during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 18 A man with a cane gestures towards a woman on the ground during protests in central Tehran June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer) # 19 Supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are followed by Iranian riot-police with batons in front of Tehran University during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo) # 20 Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave Iranian and religious flags during a victory celebration in central Tehran June 14, 2009.. (REUTERS/Damir Sagolj) # 21 Thousands of supporters of Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave national and other coloured flags during a massive rally to celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Tehran's Valiasr square on June 14, 2009. Ahmadinejad defended his June 12 re-election but his defeated rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, demanded the result be scrapped, setting the stage for further tense confrontations after the authorities cracked down on opposition protests. (ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) # 22 Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks on during his first news conference after the presidential elections in Tehran June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Damir Sagolj) # 23 Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave Iranian and religious flags during a victory celebration in central Tehran June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Damir Sagolj) # 24 Iranians armed with sticks and batons ride on motorcycles during protests in central Tehran June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer) # 25 Iranian riot policemen kick a man in Zartusht street close to the Interior Ministry, as supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi started to gather on the streets protesting the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (AP photo/STR) # 26 A riot policeman hits a motorcyclist with a baton during a protest against the election results in Tehran June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer) # 27 A riot-police officer sprays tear-gas at a supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is attacking him with a police stick during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 28 Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi try to calm down fellow demonstrators as they rescue a bloodied riot policeman (center) who was beaten during a protest in Valiasr Street in Tehran on June 13, 2009. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) # 29 A backer of Mir Hossein Mousavi helps evacuate an injured riot-police officer during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 30 Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) # 31 A protester holds a stone during clashes with police in Tehran June 13, 2009. Thousands of people clashed with police on Saturday after the disputed election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked the biggest protests in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. (REUTERS/Ahmed Jadalla) # 32 Armed with handguns, members of the Iranian security force, in civlian clothes, fire warning shots to disperse supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi in central Tehran on June 14, 2009. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 33 A poster of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen on the broken-down door of a room in Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. Overnight, police and militia stormed the campus at the city's biggest university, ransacking dormitories and arresting dozens of students angry over what they claim was election fraud. (AP photo) # 34 An image of Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen (lower left), fixed to a desk with a smashed computer monitor in a room in a Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP photo) # 35 A man paints over campaign slogans near the headquarters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Mousavi's name is written in green while Ahmadinejad' s name is written on top of it (left) in black. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/ AFP/Getty Images) # 36 On Monday, June 15, 2009, Iranian opposition demonstrators protest in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, in Tehran. Opposition supporters defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran in protest at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad' s landslide election win, as Iran faced a growing international backlash over the validity of the election and the subsequent crackdown on opposition protests. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) # 37 Defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi (center) raises his arms as he appears at an opposition demonstration in Tehran on June 15, 2009, appearing in public for the first time since an election that has divided the nation. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) # 38 Defying an official ban, hundreds of thousands of Iranian supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate in Tehran on Monday, June 15, 2009. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) # Update, 2:30pm Eastern time - several photos of injured and one dead from gunshots at today's rally. Warning: This image contains graphic or objectionable content click here to view it. 39 A man lies on the back of a taxi, after being seriously injured by gunfire in an area where pro-government militia were firing shots near a rally supporting leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP Photo) # Warning: This image contains graphic or objectionable content click here to view it. 40 A man lies the back of a truck after being seriously injured by gunfire in an area where militia were firing shots at a rally supporting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad' s top opponent on Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP Photo) # Warning: This image contains graphic or objectionable content click here to view it. You should click on some of the pictures to see. Be prepared for that: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html Please send it to all your friends, Iranian and non-Iranian. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html http://www.landofpersia.com/article.php?id=38539 41 Onlookers observe the body of a man allegedly shot by pro-government militia near a rally supporting leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)