TEHRAN: Gunfire from a compound used by pro-government militia killed one demonstrator yesterday after hundreds of thousands of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad massed in central Tehran to cheer their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since elections that he alleges were marred by fraud.
A group of demonstrators with fuel canisters attempted to set fire to the compound of a volunteer militia linked to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards as the crowd dispersed from Azadi Square after dark. As some attempted to storm the building, people inside could be seen firing directly at the demonstrators at the northern edge of the square, away from the heart of the demonstration.
An Associated Press photographer saw one person fatally shot and several others who appeared to be seriously wounded.
The chanting demonstrators had defied an Interior Ministry ban and streamed into central Tehran — an outpouring for reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi that swelled with time.
The massive show of protest followed a decision by Iran’s most powerful figure for an investigation into the vote-rigging allegations. The chanting crowd — many wearing the trademark green color of Mousavi’s campaign — was more than 9 km long, and based on previous demonstrations in the square and surrounding streets, its size was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.
Security forces watched quietly, with shields and batons at their sides.
Mousavi, in a gray striped shirt and talking through a portable loudspeaker, had paused on the edge of the square, where Ahmadinejad made his first post-election speech, to address the throng. They 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!” and raised their fingers in a V-for-victory salute.
“We want our president, not the one who was forced on us,” said 28-year-old Sara, who gave only her first name because she feared reprisal from authorities. The demonstration lasted several hours before the crowd began to disperse and violence erupted.
Hours earlier, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directed one of Iran’s most influential bodies, the Guardian Council, to examine the claims. But the move by Khamenei, who had earlier welcomed the election results, had no guarantee it would satisfy those challenging Ahmadinejad’s re-election or quell days of rioting after Friday’s election that left parts of Tehran scarred by flames and shattered store fronts.
The 12-member Guardian Council, made up of preachers and experts in Islamic law and closely allied to Khamenei, must certify election results and has the apparent authority to nullify an election. But it would be an unprecedented step. Claims of voting irregularities went before the council after Ahmadinejad’s upset victory in 2005, but there was no official word on the outcome of the investigation and the vote stood.
In Washington, US pollsters said a survey they had taken three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a 2:1 ratio, greater than the declared election results. The poll showed his victory might reflect the will of the people and not widespread fraud, pollsters Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty said in a column in the Washington Post.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the will of the Iranian people should be fully respected and he was closely following the situation.
