Rally 'Attack' on I.R. Iran Opposition

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has come under attack in Tehran during an annual rally in support of Palestinians, reports say. Mr Mousavi was forced to leave the rally for Quds Day after an attack on his car, official news agency Irna reported. In a separate incident ex-President Mohammad Khatami was knocked to the ground, a reformist website reported. Thousands have taken to the streets of Tehran for the rally. Iranian authorities had warned the opposition not to stage anti-government protests during Quds (Jerusalem) Day. The rallies are held nationwide every year on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Protesters shouted slogans in support of Mr Mousavi, a key opponent of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during the rally. Mr Mousavi was defeated by the president in June's disputed presidential election. Although it is an officially sponsored occasion, opposition leaders who have continued to reject the re-election of Mr Ahmadinejad had called on their followers to turn out. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said it would deal "decisively" with any effort to stage an opposition protest.

There have been mounting calls in hard-line circles for opposition leaders to be prosecuted, and predictions from reformists that they could be arrested soon, says the BBC's former Tehran correspondent Jim Muir. The day began peacefully with thousands of Mr Ahmadinejad's supporters marching along roads in central Tehran. Police and security troops were present. According to Reuters news agency there were clashes between Iranian police and protesters as the march progressed, with some arrests. Reformist website Parlemennews.ir reported that Mr Khatami was pushed to the ground, and his turban knocked off, before police intervened. Mr Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at Tehran University in which he criticised the creation of Israel, and reiterated his claims that the Holocaust was a "myth". For the past 30 years, the sermon on Jerusalem Day has been given by the former President, Hashemi Rafsanjani. Our correspondent says Mr Rafsanjani is normally regarded as a pillar of the Islamic power system, but he quietly sympathises with the opposition. This year he has been stood down in favour of a hard-line preacher. In the aftermath of the election, there was a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, with a number of deaths and hundreds of people arrested.