Iranians, by hundreds of thousands, ask 'Where is my vote?'

Hundreds of thousands of mostly young Tehranis rallied Monday to protest the country's disputed presidential election in defiance of a government warning, with some on rooftops chanting "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is great." Unknown gunmen killed one person and wounded others in Azadi, or Freedom, Square, the Associated Press reported, citing a photographer who witnessed the shooting. Photos posted on the Internet showed that at least four people had been shot, and there were reports that violence was spreading across Tehran and raging in other cities. It was the third day of unrest after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's unexpected declaration of a landslide victory in what had been viewed as a closely contested election. In an apparent bid to defuse the growing pressure from backers of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that a governing body known as the Guardian Council will investigate Mousavi's complaints that the election was rigged. However, Khamenei's assurances seemed unlikely to reverse the election's lopsided outcome in favor of the hard-line Ahmadinejad. The size and persistence of the protests appear to have caught the regime off-guard, and it's vacillated between using force to put them down and trying to appease the mostly young protesters. Earlier Monday, Iran's Interior Ministry warned that the mass rally was illegal and would be dealt with severely. As thousands of Tehranis streamed down wide boulevards on foot and motorbike into Enghelab (Revolution) Square, however, riot police in helmets and shields stood immobile on the square's rim. It was later in the evening that the violence was reported. The masses of protesters flashed victory signs and honked car horns. Fashionably dressed women wore sandwich board-like signs that read, "Where is my vote?" Mousavi, in his first public appearance since he voted Friday, addressed the crowd from the edge of the square. The violence and unrest were the worst since student riots a decade ago during the tenure of former President Mohammed Khatami. Some observers are calling it the most serious disturbance since the 1979 Islamic revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed shah. It hasn't yet shaken the pillars of Iran's unelected theocratic regime, however. The students and other protesters are demanding that Mousavi be given the presidency–which they say is rightfully his–but they've stopped short of calling for overthrowing the government. The presidency is at best the No. 2 position in Iran, under Supreme Leader Khamenei. The crisis appears to be playing out on two levels, one on the streets and the other in intense meetings among members of Iran's political elite. Mousavi, who met Sunday with Khamenei, has demanded a review by the Guardian Council, whose 12 members vet election candidates and certify the results. Mousavi also has reached out for support to clerics in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom. Not all the clerics support the conservative Ahmadinejad. Khamenei urged Mousavi to pursue his complaints "legally and calmly," but it's unclear whether the crowds will do as Mousavi tells them. Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rhanavard, told a crowd at Tehran University on Sunday night that the Monday rally had been canceled, and Mousavi himself tried to get that message out Monday morning. "Mr. Mousavi does not want any violence," Saeed Laylaz, a top adviser involved in campaign strategy sessions, told McClatchy by telephone. Iran's Interior Ministry said that Ahmadinejad had received 24.6 million votes, compared with 13.3 million for Mousavi and fewer than a million each for the two other candidates. The province-by-province breakdown of votes was highly suspect, however, Ahmadinejad opponents said. For example, it showed the hard-line incumbent winning East Azerbaijan province, home to Mousavi and millions of his fellow ethnic Azeris.