Rioting rocks Iran for 2nd day

Los Angeles Times

TEHRAN, Iran — The nation’s capital erupted in street violence and civil disobedience for a second day Sunday, as protesters angered by allegations of rampant vote fraud in Friday’s critical presidential election contest hurled rocks, set fire to storefronts and shouted anti-government slogans.

While security forces fought off the demonstrators, an assertive President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his government-certified victory as the legitimate will of the people and derided the demonstrators as unimportant.

Speaking at a news conference, Ahmadinejad likened his detractors to angry soccer fans committing a traffic violation leaving the stadium after a match. “He’s going to be fined, but he’s still a citizen of this country,” he said.

Afterward, Ahmadinejad appeared before a massive rally of supporters in Tehran’s Vali Asr square, where thousands waved red-white-and-green Iranian flags and banners with religious slogans.

Iran is at odds with the West over its pursuit of sensitive nuclear technology that could potentially be used for weapons. Ahmadinejad suggested he would not change course on major foreign and domestic issues that have made him a lightning rod of criticism for the West. He repeated his willingness to “debate” U.S. President Barack Obama publicly at the United Nations and downplayed international concerns about Iran’s nuclear research program.

, which Western nations say is aimed at developing nuclear weapons and Iran says is for civilian purposes.

Ahmadinejad also rejected the possibility of U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Who dares to do such a thing today?” he said in a response to a question from a reporter. “Who dares to even think about it? No power can even threaten Iran.”The unrest Sunday drew to a close earlier at night than the previous day but appeared to spread further to some southern parts of the capital and draw in more people.

At 9 p.m., supporters of moderate candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi climbed on rooftops across the city and shouted into the darkness, “God is Great! Death to the dictator!” a dramatic gesture harking back to days before the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Fierce street clashes erupted between supporters of Mousavi and security forces at the square near the Ministry of Interior, where the election results were certified, and around the main downtown campus of Tehran University, a frequent scene of unrest in Iran’s political and cultural battles. Plainclothes security officials rattling truncheons against the university guard railing stormed the Mousavi supporters and dispersed the crowds.

Around midnight in western Tehran’s Ferdows neighborhood, residents took to the streets, chanting slogans against the president and setting trash bins ablaze. In the Villa district in downtown Tehran, residents marched, chanting, “We fight! We die! But we’ll get our votes back.”

Ahmadinejad was swiftly declared the winner over Mousavi after a hotly contested election race. But even before Friday’s voting ended, Mousavi and another candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, complained of massive vote-rigging.

When vote totals were announced showing Ahmadinejad with more than 63 percent of the vote, a night of rowdy riots and unrest ensued throughout the capital and in Isfahan, Tabriz, Orumieh, Rasht and Shiraz.

There were conflicting reports Sunday about whether Mousavi was under house arrest. Officials denied that he was, but Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a confidant, said both the candidate and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, were under house arrest and cut off from most communications.

Through a Web site, Mousavi called on supporters to refrain from violence and “harming themselves.”

He also announced plans to appeal the vote results formally through the Council of Guardians. But there seemed little likelihood that an appeal would succeed. The council is appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top political and religious leader, who made a weekend speech on state television strongly praising Friday’s vote.

A Mousavi campaign official said his office had requested permission to hold a rally in downtown Tehran on Monday. when he will try to make a speech to cool the passions of his supporters.

Another presidential contender, Mohsen Rezai, the sole conservative candidate running against Ahmadinejad, said he recognized the legitimacy of the election. “A person who has become president through legal procedures is the president of all Iranian people,” the former Revolutionary Guard commander said in a statement. Western leaders have voiced concern about the unrest and allegations of fraud and civil-liberties violations. But U.S. officials remained cautious, worried that their words could taint the opposition as stooges of the United States.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the administration would “wait and see” before drawing a conclusion about the election results and events unfolding in Iran. Still, he expressed skepticism about the vote count.

“It sure looks like the way they’re suppressing speech, the way they’re suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated that there’s some real doubt about that,” he said in an interview with NBC News.

The Obama administration has publicly welcomed talks with Iran as a way of ending 30 years of mutual hostility between Washington and Tehran and resolving an impasse over the country’s nuclear program. But the re-election of Ahmadinejad, who has created an international uproar by questioning the truth of the Holocaust and his calls for the destruction of Israel, and the weekend’s televised scenes of police beating demonstrators, could make such outreach less politically tenable.

There also were signs of unease about Ahmadinejad’s re-election among Iran’s neighbors. Unlike Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, some Arab countries have yet to congratulate Ahmadinejad. In Iraq, which has become a political battleground between the United States and Iran, some officials voiced doubt that either president could have made much of a difference, since Ayatollah Khamenei decides major foreign-policy issues.

“I don’t expect any change,” said Sami Askari, a Shiite lawmaker and confidant of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s. “Ahmadinejad staying as president (means) the same system, the same administration, the same government, the same attitude. (But) the system in Iran doesn’t give the president such (great) power. ... If you put anyone in the presidency liberal or secular or whoever, he can do nothing.”

State media quoted police officials saying they had detained nearly a dozen people who allegedly instigated protests and at least 160 demonstrators.

Staff writer Daragahi and special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran; staff writer Ned Parker in Baghdad contributed to this report.