http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10324518.html
Iran Iran Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have planned a massive rally in Tehran later on Saturday. Iran warns opposition against staging street rally AP Published: June 20, 2009, 13:25 Tehran: Iran's opposition leader received another stern warning on Saturday not to encourage his supporters to take to the streets a day after the country's top leader sought to end the deepening election crisis by effectively declaring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner. Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have planned a massive rally in Tehran later on Saturday, but it was unclear if he would attend and how large the rally would be after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered opposition leaders on Friday to end street protests or be held responsible for any "bloodshed and chaos" to come. -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Iran's Interior Ministry reiterated the warning to Mousavi on Saturday, saying he would "be held responsible for the consequences of any illegal gatherings." The ministry also accused the 67-year-old former prime minister of supporting protests that "have lead to the disruption of security and public order," State Security Council secretary, Abbas Mohtaj, said in a statement on the ministry's website. The warnings place Mousavi at a pivotal moment. He can either back down or risk a crushing response from police and the forces at Khamenei's disposal - the powerful Revolutionary Guard and their volunteer citizen militia, the basij. There also are questions about Mousavi's ability to control his own followers, many who are waiting for a clear response to Khamenei's edict on Friday before Saturday's planned rally. Mousavi, who accuses the government of widespread voter fraud in the June 12 election, and the two other candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad were to meet with Iran's Guardian Council on Saturday. The council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts close to Khamenei, investigates voter fraud claims. The council has said it was prepared to conduct a limited recount of ballots at sites where candidates claim irregularities. It not clear, however, if they have initiated any investigations. It also was unclear if the planned rally on Saturday would take place, and if so, how many people would attend. Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters have flooded Tehran streets during several massive marches earlier this week that recall the scale of protests during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In a first sign of possible resistance to Khamenei's orders came shortly after nightfall in Tehran Friday. Cries of "Death to the dictator!" and "Allahu akbar" - "God is great" - rang from rooftops in what's become a nightly ritual of opposition unity. Since the June 12 election, Mousavi has become the figurehead for a broad collection of demonstrators - from the most liberal-leaning reformists to religious conservatives. Some could be prepared to take their protests to the limit, but many others have no interest in an all-out mutiny against the country's Islamic system. Khamenei was blunt Friday about what a wider fight would bring - warning those who "want to ignore the law or break the law" will face the consequences. Police clashed with protesters in running battles around Tehran immediately after the election and the basij militia had a reported role in attacks at the university. Gunfire from a basij compound in Tehran also left at least seven people dead on Monday. But the full force of the police and Revolutionary Guard has remained in check. And this was Khamenei's implicit message since the Guard and the vast volunteer militia force it controls is under direct command of the ruling clerics [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]