In Tehran, hundreds of thousands of supporters of leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi turn out to protest the result of the election at a mass rally in Azadi (Freedom) square Monday. Mr. Mousavi claims there was voting fraud in Friday's election.
TEHRAN -- The largest demonstration here since the Iranian revolution ended in gunfire Monday, after hundreds of thousands of protesters thronged a central square and Iran's ruling cleric ordered an investigation into allegations of fraud in the presidential election.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's call hedged his strong backing of the result of Friday's vote. It appeared to be in response to two days and nights of violent protests here, and suggested growing unease among the clerics who sit atop Iran's complex power structure.
In the past few days, a number of senior clerics have met with Mr. Khamenei or written to him, urging him to intervene, according to a series of public letters from the clerics. One grand ayatollah, one of the highest-ranking clerics, issued a religious order demanding his followers not cooperate with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.
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