Iran: Election anger boils; Ahmadinejad defends results

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Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi reporting from Tehran.

Protesters angered by alleged vote count fraud erupted in street violence for a second day today, throwing rocks and setting fire to storefronts as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his reelection as ‘free and real’ in a press appearance before local and international journalists.

Vigorous and assertive, Ahmadinejad vowed to maintain his tough foreign policy posture in his second term. Afterward, he appeared before a massive rally in his support in Tehran’s Vali Asr Square, with thousands of supporters waving red, white and green Iranian flags and banners with religious slogans.

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

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Complete overage of the Iran election.