Iranian protests lead to vote recount
BBC News Iran’s powerful Guardian Council says it is ready to recount disputed votes from Friday’s presidential poll.
Moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has contested President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, alleging widespread fraud.
The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Tehran says the council’s announcement is a complete U-turn. The official results sparked three days of huge protests.
Iranian radio says seven people were killed during demonstrations on Monday.
The Guardian Council – Iran’s supreme legislative body – said votes would be recounted in areas contested by the losing candidates.
Our correspondent says it is not clear whether the offer will be accepted by Mr Ahmadinejad’s rivals, who want the election annulled
The opposition says millions of ballots may have gone astray.
The council, which is considering an appeal by Mr Mousavi and another defeated candidate, had earlier said the results were only provisional.
New demonstrations have been called by supporters of both President Ahmadinejad and Mr Mousavi and are due to take place in Vali Asr Square in central Tehran.
Monday’s protest involved hundreds of thousands of people and was one of the largest since the Iranian revolution 30 years ago.
The radio report said the attack occurred at the end of the “illegal” rally as people were heading home “peacefully”.
“Several thugs wanted to attack a military post and vandalise public property in the vicinity of Azadi Square,” the radio said referring to the site of the protest.
“Unfortunately seven people were killed and several others wounded in the incident.”
Dozens of opposition activists have been arrested since the protests began.
Those detained also include supporters of reform, including Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a close aide of ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
Mr Abtahi’s wife told the BBC he had been picked up at his home in Tehran early on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television said the “main agents” behind the unrest had been detained, and guns and explosives seized.
There are reports of fresh demonstrations at Tehran University – one of the main centres of tension in recent days. About 120 university lecturers have resigned.
The powerful Speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, has condemned an attack by police and militia on a student dormitory.
Iranian media quoted him as saying: “The interior minister is responsible in this regard.”
Unrest has been reported in other parts of Iran. One of Mr Mousavi’s websites said a student had died on Monday in clashes with hardliners in the southern city of Shiraz.
Foreign concern
Our correspondent says the authorities appear to be weakening in their support for President Ahmadinejad.
The country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered an inquiry into the allegations of vote-rigging.
The authorities’ handling of the protests has drawn international criticism.
EU foreign ministers expressed “serious concern” and called for an inquiry into the conduct of the election.
US President Barack Obama said he was “deeply troubled” by the violence in Iran.
Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad arrived in Russia on Tuesday.
He told a regional summit that the “age of empires” had ended, but made no mention of the protests.
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