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Mousavi seeks to overturn Iran poll result

* Defeated presidential candidate formally appeals against election result
* Ahmadinejad calls vote clean, signals no change in nuclear policy
* Pro-Mousavi protesters taunt police at Tehran University
* France tells Iran ‘brutality’ will lead nowhere
* Karzai congratulates Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN: Defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi demanded on Sunday that Iran’s presidential vote be annulled and urged more protests, while tens of thousands of people hailed the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mousavi’s supporters again took to the streets after violence on Saturday, clashing with police in protests that have underscored harsh political divisions exposed by Friday’s disputed election.

Appeal: In a statement on his website, Mousavi said he had formally asked the Guardian Council, a legislative body, to cancel the election result. “I urge you, Iranian nation, to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way,” he added. The unrest that has rocked Tehran and other cities since results were declared on Saturday is the sharpest expression of discontent against the Islamic Republic’s leadership for years.

The election result has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world’s fifth biggest oil exporter to curb its nuclear programme. US President Barack Obama had urged Iran’s leadership “to unclench its fist” for a new start in ties. Ahmadinejad waved and smiled at the flag-waving partisans thronging the capital’s Vali-e-Asr square to applaud the victory he won by a surprising 63 percent of the vote.

Protests: About 2,000 students at Tehran University, some carrying Mousavi posters, others covering their faces with bandanas, chanted anti-government slogans and taunted riot police across the road outside. Some threw stones at police when they chased protesters who had tried to gather outside the university gates.

Abdul Reza, 26, standing behind the gates and watching as police charged the crowd outside, said: “Mousavi is the real president of Iran. Ahmadinejad did not win the election.” Mousavi supporters earlier chanted his name in central Tehran and threw stones at police, a Reuters witness said. Police on motorcycles drove through the crowd to disperse the protesters. At least one person, a woman, was injured. Police briefly detained journalists filming the violence.

Clean vote: Ahmadinejad described the election as “clean and healthy”, dismissing complaints by defeated candidates as sour grapes. “They may be upset by their failure,” he told a news conference. “They spent a lot of money to make propaganda (and) expected to win, so it is natural they are disappointed.” He consigned Iran’s nuclear dispute to the past, signalling no nuclear policy change in his second term, and warned that any country that attacked his own would regret it. “Who dares to attack Iran? Who even dares to think about it?” he asked.

France: France signalled its concern over events in Iran in the strongest public comments yet from a major Western power. “What is happening in Iran is clearly not good news for anyone, neither for the Iranians nor for peace and stability in the world,” Henri Guaino, one of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest advisers, told France’s Europe 1 radio. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said repression of opponents was closing off dialogue. “Brutality and never-ending military development will not bring any solutions,” he said.

Police have detained more than 100 reformers, including the brother of former president Muhammad Khatami, a leading reformer said on Sunday. A police official confirmed some detentions. Interior Ministry officials have rejected accusations of election fraud and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top authority, has called on Iranians to back their president.

Karzai: Separately, Afghan President Hamid Karzai telephoned Ahmadinejad on Sunday and congratulated him on his victory, a statement from Karzai’s office said. While world powers and key backers of the Kabul administration like Britain and the United States have reacted cautiously, Karzai labelled Ahmadinejad’s win “a suitable selection”. “President Hamid Karzai congratulated Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the phone on his re-election as the president of Iran,” the statement said. agencies

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