Khamenei Calls for Inquiry as Demonstrators Defy Ban

Khamenei Calls for Inquiry as Demonstrators Defy Ban
By ROBERT F. WORTH and NAZILA FATHI
Published: June 15, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/world/middleeast/16iran.html?_r=1&ref=global-home


TEHRAN — Hundreds of thousands of people marched in silence through central Tehran Monday to protest Iran’s disputed presidential election, in an extraordinary but peaceful show of defiance that appeared to be the largest demonstration in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

The march began hours after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered a probe of opposition claims that the election was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The order — announced every 15 minutes on Iranian state radio throughout the day — was the first sign that Iran’s top leadership might be rethinking its position on the election. Mr. Khamenei announced on Saturday that the election results showing Mr. Ahmadinejad won in a landslide were fair, but on Sunday he met with Mir Hussein Moussavi, the former prime minister and moderate who was the main opposition candidate, to listen to his concerns.

The silent march was a deliberate and striking contrast with the chaos of the past few days, when riot police sprayed tear gas and wielded clubs to disperse scattered bands of angry and frightened young people. Mr. Ahmadinejad dismissed the protestors on Sunday as soccer hooligans who had lost a match, and many said they could not let the insult pass.

A broad river of people — young and old, dressed in traditional Islamic gowns and the latest Western fashions — marched slowly from Revolution Square to Freedom Square for more than three hours, many of them wearing the signature bright green ribbons of Mr. Moussavi’s campaign, and holding up their hands in victory signs. When the occasional shout or chant went up, the crowd quickly hushed them, and some held up signs bearing the word “silence.”

“These people are not seeking a revolution,” said Ali Reza, a young actor in a brown T-shirt who stood for a moment watching on the rally’s sidelines. “We don’t want this regime to fall. We want our votes to be counted, because we want reforms, we want kindness, we want friendship with the world.”

Mr. Moussavi attended the rally, addressing a sea of supporters from the roof of a car in his first public appearance since the disputed vote. “The vote of the people is more important than Moussavi or any other person,” the Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying. “God willing, we will get back our rights.”

The protestors said they would continue, with another major rally planned for Tuesday. But it was too soon to tell whether Mr. Khamenei’s decision to launch a probe, or the government’s decision to let the silent rally proceed unmolested, would change the election results. Many in the crowd said they believed the government was simply buying time, and hoping the protests would dissipate — as smaller protest movements have in 1999 and 2003.

Earlier, Reuters said stick-wielding supporters of Mr. Ahmadinejad clashed with marching backers of Mr. Moussavi. Other reports said some of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s followers paraded outside the British and French Embassies in Tehran following remarks by political leaders in London and Paris casting doubt on the Iranian leadership’s conduct.

Opposition Web sites reported that security forces raided a dormitory at Tehran University and 15 people were injured. Between 150 and 200 students were arrested overnight, by these accounts, but there was no immediate confirmation of the incident from the authorities. There were also reports of official action against students in the cities of Esfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz.

In Moscow, meanwhile, an official at the Iranian Embassy said that Mr. Ahmadinejad had delayed a visit to Russia that was to have started Monday. The meeting, in Yekaterinburg, is of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that includes Russia, China and four Central Asian countries. He now plans to travel on Tuesday, the official said.

As concern about the vote spread among Western governments, the European Union’s 27 member states planned to issue a joint call on Iran to clarify the election outcome, Reuters reported. The French government summoned the Iranian ambassador to register concern about the fairness of the vote, and Germany planned to follow suit.

The Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, told reporters in Luxembourg, “There is a need to clarify the situation and to express our concern that a sector of the population are having difficulties in expressing its opinion.” In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany called for a “transparent examination” of reports of irregularities.

The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he had been “closely following the situation” and welcomed the announcement that there would be some manner of investigation. “The genuine will of the Iranian people should be fully respected,” he said.

The developments followed a weekend of growing tension. On Sunday, word spread that more than 100 prominent opposition members had been detained; riots erupted in Tehran and other cities; and the triumphant incumbent hinted that his top challenger risks punishment for questioning the result.

Reporting was contributed by Clifford J. Levy from Moscow, Alan Cowell from Paris, Sharon Otterman from New York, Victor Homola from Berlin, and Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations.