Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his first public appearance in a live TV broadcast after Iran’s presidential elections on Sunday, while many maintained their protest over alleged election fraud.
“Fortunately, the people of Iran have chosen the path of the future, the path of glory and grandeur, the path of vigilance and life, and this is a great victory,” Ahmadinejad said.
According to official election results, the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won over 60 percent of the votes, while the reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has received just over 30 percent of the total votes. The other two candidates, liberal cleric Mehdi Karoubi and former Revolutionary Guard leader Mohsen Rezai, received only a small fraction of the votes.
Moderate candidates Mousavi and Karoubi both allege violations in the voting process and vote counting. Mousavi has claimed himself the winner of the election and has vowed to follow up to publicize the violations.
Mousavi says millions of eligible voters have been denied the chance to vote at some polling stations that closed early and in some others that did not have enough ballot papers. He says his aids overseeing the voting process were also forced out of some of the stations.
The fact that Mousavi and Karoubi even lost in their stronghold areas and the unusual high speed of vote count have also raised suspicion of irregularities.
On Saturday, thousands of Mousavi supporters took to the streets to protest what they consider to be the denial of their vote, shouting slogans such as “Mousavi, take my vote back!”
In some cases, protestors clashed with the security forces and set objects on fire. Security forces beat the protestors with batons and fired tear gas.
According to The Epoch Times reporter on site, there are still protests happening in Tehran’s Fatemieh district on Sunday afternoon, and there will be more people joining the protests in the evening.
Cell phone communication and many websites are blocked off, but people are still using instant messaging to communicate plans of protest.
While calling his supporters’ concern over the alleged voting violations legitimate, Mousavi has asked people to keep their calm and avoid violence. He has also called on the security forces to be understanding of people’s feelings under the circumstances.
“We will pursue our protest about the voting process and the unhealthy course that was witnessed with full force and will notify the public of the results,” he said in a statement.
Mousavi has been criticized by some state officials for “instigating” unrest with his remarks.
While denying earlier reports of Mousavi and Karoubi being under house arrest, the deputy commander of Iran’s security forces Ahmad Reza Radan said that so far 160 rioters have been arrested.
Up to 100 prominent reformist figures, including the brother of Iran’s former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, have also been arrested.
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