Iranian protestors come out at night

Despite the suppression of the civil unrest that erupted in the aftermath of the disputed re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, some Tehran residents are still managing to make their voices heard, particularly after the sun goes down.

Tuesday night saw dozens of people light candles outside the home Sohrab Aarabi (19), another martyr of Iran’s opposition movement who died of a gunshot wound to the heart during a protest that was held on June 15, three days after the elections.

Those on hand chanted "Allahu Akbar (God is great)" and "Death to the dictator". According to the reformist news website Norooz, the killed protestor's mother thanked the participants and threw flowers at them in gratitude.

Rally in Tehran (Archive photo: AFP)

Aarabi, whose body was returned to his family after nearly a month of searching by friends and relatives, was buried on Monday. Hundreds attended the funeral despite the regime's warning not to "politicize" the event.

Participants waved signs reading "My brother the shahid, we will continue in your path."

The nightly chants of "Allahu Akbar" can still be heard from the rooftops in Tehran despite threats by members of the Basij militia - a volunteer paramilitary force that takes orders from the Revolutionary Guard – to arrest those caught doing so.

The Iranian opposition is continuing to draw support from around the world. The online "Rooftop Project", for example, posts video recordings of the nighttime protests in Iran. Chas Danner, the 30-year-old New York resident who initiated the project, told Ynet that the project was "the least he could do".

Meanwhile, a top aide to Mir Hossein Mousavi said the Iranian opposition leader will create an umbrella group made up of reform-minded political parties.

Mousavi has said he will seek a "legal framework" for continuing his campaign against the government of President Ahmadinejad, which he and his supporters call illegitimate. But there's been no word on how he will do so.

His top aide Ali Reza Beheshti said Mousavi "has decided to set up a political front, made up of various reform-minded political groups."

"The front will be actually a network to coordinate efforts by groups that seek to promote democracy and challenge hard-liners who impose their will on the nation in the name of Islam and democracy," he said.

Associated Press contributed to the report