The Associated Press reported on Monday that one of its photographers witnessed Iranian security forces firing at a crowd of protesters, killing one person and seriously wounding several others, after hundreds of thousands of chanting opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marched in central Tehran to support their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since disputed elections.

Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi flash victory signs as one of them holds his picture during a rally in support of Mousavi, in Tehran June 15, 2009. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

Defying an explicit government ban on rallies, hundreds of thousands of Iranians stretching for miles across downtown Tehran marched to support Mir Hossein Mousavi, the moderate presidential candidate who says he is the rightful winner over the incumbent Ahmadinejad.
Police reportedly raided student dormitories overnight Sunday at Tehran University, where some 3,000 students had earlier held an anti-Ahmadinejad rally. Rooms were damaged, computers smashed and hard drives taken. Students were beaten and arrested, according to the AP.

Politically and procedurally, options are very limited for the Mousavi camp to challenge Ahmadinejad’s declared 2-to-1 landslide victory in the Islamic Republic.

“They can’t change anything. It’s done,” said a political analyst in Tehran who requested anonymity, given the current situation.

A woman supporter of Iran’s moderate presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi shows stones used for throwing 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 Jadallah

In a bid to ease three days of street protests and violence in the capital and across the country, Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday ordered the powerful Guardian Council to “carefully probe” allegations of fraud listed in a letter from Mousavi that called for results to be annulled because of fraud.
Although some Mousavi supporters might see hope in that action, experts in Tehran are skeptical that Khamenei would adjust a result. On Saturday – just a day after the vote, instead of the customary three –he sanctioned Ahmadinejad’s victory, calling it a “divine assessment.”

The powerful Guardian Council includes six clerics appointed by Khamenei, known as the supreme leader, and six jurists selected by the judiciary chief and confirmed by the parliament. Its head is Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a hard-line cleric cut from the same arch conservative cloth as Ahmadinejad.

Supporters of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave Iranian and religious flags during a victory celebration in central Tehran June 14, 2009. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

There is “no chance, absolutely,” that the council will change the result, said the Tehran analyst. “I gather this is just something for saving face.”
Mousavi has no options except for rallies like the one held on Monday, or continuing protests and rioting in the face of an escalating use by the regime of riot police, ideological militias and vigilantes.

Monday’s illegal rally marked the first public appearance for the defeated candidate since Friday’s hotly contested election. Mousavi has vowed to fight for those who cast votes for him and were galvanized by their anti-Ahmadinejad views to make an unprecedented turnout of more than 80 percent.

“The vote of the people is more important than Mousavi or any other person,” Mousavi said.

Footage from the demonstration showed a crowd of hundreds of thousands that stretched for several miles in central Tehran – a counterpoint to the tens of thousands who turned out on Sunday to cheer Ahmadinejad at his victory rally.

– Christian Science Monitor News Service