IRAN: Demonstrators rally against Ahmadinejad at Tehran mosque

Amateur videotape has just surfaced purporting to show a raucous demonstration outside a mosque in northeastern Tehran today. The rally was in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who lost a June 12 vote to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an election marred by allegations of vote fraud.

The footage shows that people are gathering at the Ghoba mosque to protest the elections despite dire threats by some Iranian officials. Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, as well as the Revolutionary Guard have ordered Iranians off the street.

Supporters of Mousavi gathered at the mosque for a commemoration of the deaths of 72 Iranian politicians in a bombing 28 years ago.  

According to one demonstrator, numerous opposition figures attended the rally, including presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, Mousavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard, and both the daughter and wife of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Security forces reportedly fired tear gas and beat demonstrators in an effort to disperse the crowd.

-- Times staff

Video: Demonstrations in front of the Ghoba mosque in northeastern Tehran.