Defiant Iran opposition stages huge rally in Tehran amid world outcry

"God willing, we will take back our rights," Mousavi was quoted by AFP as shouting from the roof of a car amid a vast sea of Iranians, young and old, who packed into central Tehran to protest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election.

Iranian opposition supporters staged a defiant rally in the capital and elsewhere since Saturday against Ahmadinejad’s re-election in the vote that has triggered the worst unrest in a decade.

In defiance of an interior ministry ban, a massive crowd of protestors poured into central Tehran shouting "Mousavi we support you! We will die but retrieve our votes!"

"Between 1.5 million to two million people have gathered," one policeman involved in the security operation for Monday's protest told AFP.

Iran was facing a growing diplomatic backlash over its crackdown on opposition protests as world powers questioned the validity of the election that gave the combative Ahmadinejad another four years in power.

Mousavi has appealed to the Islamic Republic's top legislative body to annul the result because of what he alleges were irregularities, a charge the Interior Ministry and Ahmadinejad have dismissed.

Iran’s supreme leader has ordered the country’s top election supervisory body to look into the complaints raised by former premier Mousavi.

"The Guardians Council has been advised to precisely examine the letter," state television quoted Khamenei as telling Mousavi during a meeting on Sunday, AFP reported.

Khamenei also told Mousavi to pursue his complaints over Friday's election through legal means and settle the issue calmly, the broadcaster said.

Former president Mohammad Khatami, a key Mousavi backer who was succeeded by Ahmadinejad, also wants the results of the vote cancelled and a new election held, his brother said.

EU CONCERNED

EU foreign ministers expressed "serious concern" at Tehran’s crackdown on opposition protesters and called for a probe into the conduct of the presidential election, AFP reported.

In a statement the ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, "noted the results announced by the Iranian Electoral Commission and also the concerns regarding the conduct of the elections expressed by several candidates."

"This is a matter that the Iranian authorities must address and investigate," the ministers said.

They also "expressed serious concern about the violence on the streets and the use of force against peaceful demonstrators."

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday there was "an awful lot of doubt" about the vote, but nevertheless reiterated Washington’s willingness to engage in talks after three decades of severed ties.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose country Ahmadinejad has said should be wiped off the map, said during a visit to France that his return to power was "bad news."

Ahmadinejad delayed attending a regional summit in Russia on Monday after protests against his contested win in the election.

He had been due to arrive in Russia for separate meetings with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, where Iran has observer status.

Photo: AFP