Moussavi meets Iranian clergy over killings of protestors

September 13th, 2009 TEHRAN - The office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sued a senior religious leader, or Ayatollah, over "insulting remarks" against the president, Fars news agency reported Sunday. An informed source told Fars that after "insulting remarks" by Ayatollah Youssef Sanei against the president, the legal department of the presidential office has filed a complaint at the special clergy court.

July 26th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian ex-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani Sunday defied criticism from the country's leading clergy, continuing to insist on the release of all political prisoners. "My standpoint is the same as I mentioned in the Friday prayers (July 17)," Rafsanjani said in a meeting with university professors in Tehran.

June 28th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi Saturday refused to support a panel set up by the electoral watchdog Guardian Council to conduct a partial recount of votes in the disputed presidential election, a media report said. Refusing to be cowed by attacks on his party offices, Moussavi again demanded for fresh polls.

June 25th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian authorities arrested 70 academics after they met opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the defeated presidential candidate's website said Thursday. The report did not clarify where the university professors, who are all members of the Islamic Associations of their universities, were brought after Wednesday's arrests.

June 21st, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi called on his supporters Sunday to continue their protests against alleged election fraud, but cautioned them to show restraint against any violence. "Protesting against lies and fraud is your legitimate right but you should constantly show restraint," Moussavi said in a statement carried on his website.

June 20th, 2009 TEHRAN/BERLIN - Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the presidential candidate defeated in last week's contested poll, has written a letter to Iran's Guardian Council Saturday, saying that he believes the election was rigged in advance. In the seven-page letter, made public as clashes were going on between police and protestors in Tehran, Moussavi said "I will continue my efforts to clarify the truth on the basis of the constitution and current laws, although the violations and planning of this disgusting move had been planned in advance." The Guardian Council had offered to recount 10 percent of votes randomly to prove the veracity of the poll.

June 20th, 2009 TEHRAN/BERLIN - Eyewitness reports said Saturday that Iranian police have fired gunshots in the air at a demonstration in Tehran to disperse protestors. Witnesses said supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi clashed with supporters of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

June 18th, 2009 TEHRAN - Protests in favour of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi and against alleged electoral fraud were scheduled to continue Thursday in Tehran for the sixth consecutive day. The pro-Moussavi network coordinating the demonstrations said that protestors would first gather in front of the UN office and then move to a square in downtown Tehran.

June 17th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi indicated Wednesday that his supporters would continue their protests until new presidential elections were held. "We peacefully protest against election fraud and all we want is the annulment of the election and the holding of a new election without cheating," the opposition leader said while calling on his supporters to stay calm and peaceful.

June 16th, 2009 TEHRAN - At least seven people were killed when security forces opened fire during a protest rally organised by the supporters of defeated Iranian leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi in the June 12 presidential elections, TV reports said Tuesday. The protestors tried to attack a security check post near Tehran's Azadi Square Monday when the security forces opened fire.

June 15th, 2009 TEHRAN - Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched towards Tehran University and the Iranian capital's Enqelab (Revolution) Square Monday despite the interior ministry's ban on the gathering, eyewitnesses said. "We had warned you, if you cheat, we make hell in this city," the protestors who support opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi shouted.

June 14th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi called on Iran's Guardian Council Sunday to nullify the results of the presidential election. Moussavi said in a statement on his website that he had forwarded an official request to the Guardian Council asking it to nullify the results.

June 13th, 2009 TEHRAN - An influential Iranian clergy group Saturday protested against alleged fraud in the presidential election counting process and called for the nullification of the election. The Islamic Combatant Clergy Association (ICCA), which is close to former president Mohammad Khatami and supported Mir-Hossiein Moussavi in Friday's election, said on its website that the election should be nullified and held again in a calmer, more logical and more just atmosphere.

March 17th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami has withdrawn from the country's presidential election, Iranian media reports said Monday. According to Mehr news agency, the reformist leader has endorsed former Iranian prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi to run for the presidency elections to which are to be held in June.

March 17th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian former president Mohammad Khatami quit the presidential race Monday night to support former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi in the June 12 election. The two candidates had similar platforms, and observers believed they could split the moderate vote to the advantage of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose ultra-conservative faction has named him as its sole candidate.