Running battles between supporters of defeated presidency candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi, police and government militia, erupted in Tehran in Saturday, according to eyewitness reports, dpa reported. Reports of three-way clashes between security forces, supporters of Moussavi and supporters of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came via eyewitness reports received by the German Press Agency dpa, and social-networking sites despite an attempted government media blackout. Moussavi's supporters claim that the June 12 election was rigged. Several hundred Moussavi supporters took to the streets despite a Friday speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that called on all the protests to stop and clearly backed Ahmadinejad. Police used tear gas, batons, and according to some reports fired live rounds into the air to disperse demonstrators. Demonstrators had attempted to gather in western Tehran's Enqelab Square on Saturday afternoon, and had been met by a huge police, military-police and paramilitary presence, witnesses said. By evening, clashes had taken place in several locations through the city, with unverified footage on the internet showing use of tear-gas, apparent petrol-bomb explosions, and crowds running away from police lines. Reports of at least one person being killed came via Twitter, a social-networking site, but no official confirmation was available. Iranian official news agency Fars confirmed that an explosion, thought to be a suicide bomber, had taken place at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, the revered leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. It is also believed that a building belonging to the Basij militia, a government paramilitary force, had been set on fire, but no independent confirmation was available. Massive protests have taken place in Tehran since the announcement of the results, with some 10 people believed by Amnesty International to have been killed. In response to opposition claims, Iran's Guardian Council said Saturday that it had offered candidates a recount of 10 per cent of the votes, selected at random, to quell doubt about the veracity of the poll. The Guardian Council's offer and the unequivocal speech by Khamenei on Friday, appear to have angered opposition supporters, although the numbers involved in Saturday's protests were believed to be considerably fewer than in previous days. Earlier on Saturday, the chief of the Iranian security services Abbas Mohtaj warned opposition leader Moussavi over renewed unrest. Mohtaj said that in the case of further illegal protest demonstrations, the opposition leader would be held responsible for the consequences. Moussavi boycotted Saturday's session of the Guardian Council which had been convened to review alleged fraud in last week's election, the council disclosed. Moderate cleric Mehdi Karroubi also ignored the session and only conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaei attended the review, council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei told state television. Political observers interpreted the absence of Moussavi and Karroubi as continuing their insistence of their previous demand that the results of the June 12 election be annulled and that a new vote be held. So far on Saturday Moussavi has not made a public statement on the demonstrations. On previous days Moussavi had appealed to his supporters for calm, and some observers have said that the government is attempting to portray the opposition as violent, in order to discredit their protest. Rooftop protests, which had begun on Friday, were still going on 24 hours later, witnesses have reported, with people shouting "Allaho Akbar" (God is Great), although it was not clear whether they were in favour of the government or opposition side.
