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Violence at Iran's election protest

Updated on 15 June 2009

By Lindsey Hilsum

At least one person is killed and many are wounded as shots are fired during a huge election protest in Tehran.

Shots have been fired during a huge rally in support of the defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Witnesses say people ran from the scene in panic, as several armed men opened fire. And there are also reports of gunfire in three areas of northern Tehran.

Tens of thousands of people had gathered in central Tehran to back Mousavi's call for new elections after the hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was swept back to power.

Our international editor Lindsey Hilsum is on the ground in Tehran and reports on today's momentous events.


Exclusive video: shooting in Iran

Lindsey Hilsum reports with exclusive footage of Iranian paramilitaries shooting on protestors. Be warned, some viewers may find this footage disturbing.

Defiant protests

The election outcome has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world's fifth biggest oil exporter to curb nuclear work they suspect is for bomb-making, a charge Iran denies.

The protests have marked the sharpest display of discontent in the Islamic Republic in years.


State television reported that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has upheld the election result, urged the 12-member Guardian Council to "precisely consider" the complaints.

A spokesman for the council, which must formally approve election results for the outcome to stand, said they would meet Mr Mousavi on Tuesday. They are expected to decide on the complaints by next week.

Tweeting Iran

Iranian officials have reportedly blocked opponents of President Ahmadinejad from sending emails and accessing certain websites, but for now Twitter remains as a vehicle for protest.

Protesters are seemingly using Twitter to voice their opposition to last week’s official election results, which swept Ahmadinejad to victory over challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Twitter accounts are providing an insight into what’s happening on the ground in Iran as the civil dispute continues:

http://twitter.com/persiankiwi

http://twitter.com/Change_for_Iran

http://twitter.com/madyar

http://twitter.com/mousavi1388

http://twitter.com/lotfan

You can keep abreast of the Twitter chat that's being tagged to #iranelection here: #iranelection

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