By ALI AKBAR DAREINI and NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writers Ali Akbar Dareini And Nasser Karimi, Associated Press Writers

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3 mins ago

TEHRAN, Iran – Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi rallied in the streets of Tehran again Thursday over the disputed presidential election, answering the opposition leader’s call to turn out dressed in black to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes, a witness said.

The protest by opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in open defiance of the country’s supreme leader, who has urged the nation to unite behind the Islamic state. It came a day after tens of thousands marched silently down a main street of the capital, brandishing posters of Mousavi and waving V-for-victory signs, amateur video showed. Some covered their mouths with masks.

International news organizations have been banned from covering the protests over last Friday’s election, which the government declared hard-line Ahmadinejad won by a landslide. Mousavi and his supporters claim the election was rigged and he was the true winner.

The regime has also blocked communication channels, such as Web sites and mobile phone networks, to make it more difficult for Mousavi supporters to organize protests. The mobile phone network in Tehran appeared to go down at the start of Thursday’s demonstration, as it has intermittently since shortly after the election results were announced. Text messaging has been blocked almost constantly since Friday.

On Monday, hundreds of thousands turned out in a huge procession that recalled the scale of protests during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Seven demonstrators were shot and killed that day by pro-regime militia in the first confirmed deaths during the unrest.

Mousavi’s Web site said he may join the rally Thursday but it was not immediate clear if he attended. The rally began late in the afternoon in downtown Tehran, according to the witness who spoke on condition of anonymity out of safety concerns.

The protest was the fourth straight day of major marches in the capital — rallies that recalled the unrest three decades ago that brought down Western-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and propelled the Islamic clergy to power.

The street protests have presented one of the gravest threats to Iran’s complex blend of democracy and religious authority since the system emerged out of the Islamic revolution. But the chances of bringing down the Islamic system appear remote. The ruling clerics still command deep public support and are defended by Iran’s most powerful military force — the Revolutionary Guard — as well as a vast network of militias.

But Mousavi’s opposition movement has forced the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, into the center of the escalating crisis, questioning his role as the final authority on all critical issues.

Iran’s main electoral authority has said it was prepared to conduct a limited recount of ballots at sites where candidates claim irregularities. The re-count would be overseen by the Guardian Council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts close to Khamenei.

Mousavi alleges the Guardian Council is not neutral and has already indicated it supports Ahmadinejad. He wants an independent investigation.

The Council’s spokesman, Abbasali Khadkhodaei, said Thursday they received a total of 646 complaints from the three candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad in the June 12 vote.

On Thursday, state radio reported that the council has invited Mousavi and two other candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad to a meeting early next week. It did not say exactly when or where the meeting would take place.

Another pivotal figure in the escalating drama is former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts — a cleric-run body that is empowered to dismiss the supreme leader.

Rafsanjani was a fierce critic of Ahmadinejad during the election, but has not publicly backed Mousavi. Iranian TV showed pictures of Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, speaking to hundreds of Mousavi supporters on Wednesday.

A group of hard-line students rallied outside the Tehran prosecutor’s office Thursday, accusing Rafsanjani’s daughter and his son, Mahdi, of treason, state radio reported. They said Rafsanjani supports these actions and shouted: “Shame on you, children of Hashemi.”

For the moment, protesters have focused on the results of the balloting rather than challenging the Islamic system of government. But a shift in anger toward Iran’s non-elected theocracy would sharply change the stakes. Instead of a clash over the June 12 election results, it would become a showdown over the foundation of Iran’s system of rule — the almost unlimited authority of the clerics at the top.

On Thursday, Mousavi’s Web site said that both Mousavi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami sent a joint letter to Iran’s head of judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, asking him to take measures to stop violence against protesters by police and help to release detained demonstrators.

The Iranian government has directly accused the United States of meddling in the deepening crisis. A statement by state-run Press TV blamed Washington for “intolerable” interference. The report, on Press TV, cited no evidence.

“Despite wide coverage of unrest, foreign media have not been able to provide any evidence on a single violation in the election process,” state radio said Thursday.

President Barack Obama said he shared the world’s “deep concerns” but it was “not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling.”

The two countries severed diplomatic relations after militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Shah.

A crackdown on dissent continued, with more arrests of opposition figures reported. The country’s most powerful military force — the Revolutionary Guard — said Iranian Web sites and bloggers must remove materials that “create tension” or face legal action.

The government has blocked certain Web sites, such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites that are vital conduits for Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence. Many other sites, including Gmail and Yahoo, were unusually slow and rarely connect.

Mousavi has condemned the blocking of Web sites, saying the government did not tolerate the voice of the opposition.

In a statement, Google Inc.’s video sharing site, YouTube, said this week it would allow clips depicting violence in Iran because of their journalistic merit.

“In general, we do not allow graphic or gratuitous violence on YouTube,” the company said. “However, we make exceptions for videos that have educational, documentary, or scientific value. The limitations being placed on mainstream media reporting from within Iran make it even more important that citizens in Iran be able to use YouTube to capture their experiences for the world to see.”

Iranian Press TV said Khamenei would lead the weekly prayers ceremony on Friday. There was no immediate word whether Ahmadinejad would attend, but attends the service whenever Khamenei gives it.