Iranian Opposition Calls for Rally

Recount Set as Iran Seethes

FARNAZ FASSIHI

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Protests in Tehran by supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi turned violent late Tuesday.

TEHRAN -- Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called for a mass rally Thursday to protest election results and violence against his followers a day after the country's religious leaders agreed to a partial recount of the disputed presidential vote.

The announcement, posted on Mr. Mousavi's Web site Wednesday, came shortly after the country's most powerful military force said Iranian Web sites and bloggers must remove any materials that "create tension" or face legal action.

On Tuesday, pro-government and opposition demonstrators poured into the streets of Iran's capital for a fourth day of sometimes-violent rallies, as the country's religious leaders agreed to a partial recount of Friday's disputed presidential vote.

Fourth Day of Protests

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Demonstrators rallied in support of Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Frankfurt Tuesday.

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Amid the unrest, and more shooting by government-backed militia, authorities arrested prominent opposition leaders and clamped down on media covering the crisis. The demonstrations came hours after state media reported the top religious oversight council would examine Friday's vote, which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad trounce Mr. Mousavi and two other challengers.

The plan by the Guardian Council for a targeted recount -- aimed at specific voting sites where fraud was alleged -- is the first direct action by authorities to address claims of irregularities by rivals of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on state matters, said Monday he asked the Guardian Council to look into those allegations.

Such a recount appears to be unprecedented, and it wasn't immediately clear when it would begin, or how many voting sites would be included.

Mr. Mousavi and the other two candidates announced the recount wouldn't be acceptable to them. Representatives of the three candidates had met with the spokesperson of the Guardian Council on Tuesday morning and asked that the results be annulled and new elections be held. Alternatively, they asked that an independent committee, made of up of clerics, lawmakers and experts, review the charges of vote rigging.

"After these elections the public no longer trusts the Interior Ministry or the Guardian Council, therefore they can't trust their vote recounts, either," said cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a spokesman for Mr. Mousavi's camp.

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Prof. Gary Sick of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs parses the aftermath of Iran's elections. He tells WSJ's Andy Jordan what the real question surrounding the protests is -- how far are Mousavi's followers willing to go? Plus, he discusses whether the U.S. should intervene.

Mr. Khamenei called for national unity, and was quoted on state television saying, "In the elections, voters had different tendencies, but they equally believe in the ruling system and support the Islamic Republic."

Tens of thousands of supporters of Mr. Mousavi marched peacefully along Vali Asr Street on Tuesday, holding up his picture, according to eyewitnesses. A few miles away, crowds loyal to Mr. Ahmadinejad celebrated his announced election victory, waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of Mr. Khamenei. Mr. Ahmadinejad, in his first foreign trip since the vote, arrived in Yekaterinburg, Russia, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit of emerging nations.

The rallies in Tehran were mostly calm, following Monday's protest that left seven people dead. On Sunday, five students at Tehran University were reported killed, though that figure hasn't been confirmed by state media.

On Tuesday, the two sides kept their distance from one another and the uniformed security forces stood at the sides of the rallies. Many opposition demonstrators said they had come out despite a government ban and warnings by Mr. Mousavi to avoid confrontation after Monday's bloody rally, to show they won't give in to pressure.

"Now that our movement has started, it must continue. If they kill us, we will get more resolved," said Mohamad Reza, a 24-year-old textile seller in Tehran's Grand Bazaar. He said many shops had shut down Tuesday in solidarity with the protesters, and others had closed early, allowing workers to come out to the streets.

"They just want Mousavi because he told them he will give them freedom," said one Ahmadinejad supporter.

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Thousands of pro-government demonstrators attended a rally organized by Iran's clerical regime in support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Late Tuesday, fresh violence erupted. As thousands gathered in and around Vanak Square, located in northern Tehran and the site of bloody rallies the previous nights, a group of plainclothes militia dressed in black and riding motorcycles approached the crowd.

They waved their batons in the air as protesters yelled for help and many people standing on the sidewalks began running away. Suddenly, the militia opened fire at the crowd and shot a young man in the neck.

Blood gushed out of his wound as he pressed his palms on his neck and color drained from his face. A young man and woman grabbed his arms and dragged him to a side street along with about a dozen young protesters. An apartment door was open and the fleeing crowd was forcing their way inside.

"He's been shot, he's been shot. Help. Help," screamed one man. The injured young man couldn't speak. His mouth kept opening but no words came out.

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A clinic on the first-floor of the building had only one nurse on hand. She grabbed some alcohol and laid the man down on one of the beds. Someone tried to call an ambulance but the cellphone lines were dead. The young man was bleeding heavily and the nurse warned if he wasn't taken to an emergency room within two hours, he would die. No one knew the young man's name. Several women sobbed quietly. One man held his face in his hands.

"Why? What did he do? What was his crime? Your life ends here, just like that," said one young man.

One man decided to brave the fighting and walk to a nearby hospital to get an ambulance. After the injured man was taken away in the ambulance, rage broke out on Vali Asr Avenue. The militia were surrounded by protesters and kicked off their bikes. The bikes were set ablaze. It wasn't clear what had happened to the militia.

The day of protests in Tehran coincided with a widening crackdown on opposition leaders and increased restrictions on foreign and local media. Two of the reform movement's leading faces were arrested, including Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president during the reform years of 1997 to 2005, who ran a daily blog that served as a key information source during this year's election and its aftermath. Saeed Hajjarian, a former journalist who is severely disabled after an assassination attempt for revealing a string of political murders, was also arrested.

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A man gestures from the back of a motorcycle near a group of Mousavi supporters in Tehran.

The Ministry of Information and Guidance faxed a statement to bureaus and representatives of foreign media in the capital informing them that their press credentials weren't valid for conducting interviews outside their offices, and banned covering any public gathering that didn't have a permit from the government. Foreign correspondents who were in Iran to cover the elections were informed earlier in the week that their visas wouldn't be renewed. Ten Iranian journalists have been arrested this week, according to the Associated Press.

Iran's state media and news Web sites affiliated with Mr. Ahmadinejad, along with Mr. Ahmadinejad himself, have blamed foreign media for the recent unrest. As the public uprising has intensified, so has the government's attempt to control the flow of information. Internet speed is reduced, cellphone service is interrupted every evening and text messaging is blocked.

—Associated Press and Roshanak Taghavi contributed to this article.