Iran's Mousavi hints at new opposition rally

Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi appeared to urge his supporters on Saturday to take part in rallies on Nov. 4 marking the 30th anniversary of the student seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.

If they gather in the streets on Wednesday, there may be clashes with police and government backers, as happened at annual demonstrations to support the Palestinians on Sept. 18.

In a statement posted on his website, Mousavi said he would press ahead with his efforts for political change in Iran following its disputed election in June, which he says was rigged in favour of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Apart from sporadic incidents, the streets of Tehran have returned to normal since the poll sparked Iran's worst street unrest since the Islamic revolution three decades ago.

Referring to the Iranian date of the takeover of the US embassy in 1979, Mousavi said: "The 13th of Aban is a ... rendezvous so we would remember anew that among us it is the people who are the leaders."

He said: "Our 'green path' is a rational one and a bearer of good news since it shows that we will stand firm on our demands." Green was the colour of Mousavi's election campaign.

"Sooner or later ... the people's opponents will be leaving the scene. But does it mean a devastated country will have to remain for the nation on that day?" he added.

Anti-Western rallies usually take place outside the old US embassy to mark the day in 1979 when radical students scaled its walls and took 52 Americans hostage, holding them for 444 days. Washington cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1980.

Iranian security officials have ordered the opposition not to hold demonstrations on that day.

'Peoples' opponent'

The elite Revolutionary Guards and an allied Islamic militia quelled the huge opposition protests that erupted in the days after the June 12 vote and thousands of people were arrested.

Most of the detainees have since been released, but more than 100 senior reformers, activists, journalists and others have been put on trial, accused of fomenting street unrest. The opposition has denounced the court sessions as "show trials."

The opposition says more than 70 people were killed in the post-election violence. Officials say the death toll was half that and members of the security forces were among the victims.