Iran election: Rivals rally in Tehran

Tension mounted in Tehran this afternoon as tens of thousands of supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the reformist candidate defeated in last Friday's presidential election, attended a mass rally in the north of the city, despite Mousavi urging them to stay away for their own safety.

At the same time, thousands of Iranians loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - many of them government workers bussed in for the occasion - attended their own rally in the centre of the city (pictured above in a screengrab from Iranian government-funded Press TV). The stage appeared set for more violent confrontations between pro-Mousavi protestors and Ahmadinejad's riot police, aided and abetted by the notorious basiji militiamen, as the death toll from Monday's clashes reached eight.

There have been two key developments today: a crackdown on foreign journalists reporting from Tehran, and confirmation from the country's Guardian Council that it is prepared to authorise a recount of the disputed poll in areas of the country where opposition parties have claimed electoral fraud.

However, the council - 12 senior clerics who have overseen the election - would not give any details of the recount or when and how it might be carried out. Most observers believe it is a ploy to buy time until the heat goes out of the protests.

The crackdown on the media involved the majority of foreign journalists in Tehran on temporary visas being ordered to leave the country.

Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad is attending a summit meeting in Russia, where he made no mention of the rising tension at home.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYINGJohn Leyne, reporting from Tehran for the BBC: "The more I see this announcement about being willing to recount ballots, the more I think it is just a political ruse to try and wrong-foot the opposition. They have offered a recount, but they have not said who is going to carry it out... In any case, the opposition says there were so many other irregularities, that a recount alone would not satisfy them."

Robert Fisk, the Independent: "Government is not about good guys and bad guys. It is about power, state and political power ­ they are not the same ­ and unless those wanly smiling riot police move across to the opposition, the weapons of the Islamic Republic remain in the hands of Ahmadinejad's administration and his spiritual protectors. As, no doubt, we shall soon see."

Ali M Ansari, director of the Institute for Iranian Studies, University of St Andrews, in the Times: "Few believed that the Supreme Leader, who had somewhat prematurely congratulated the President-elect on Saturday, would shift his position so quickly [by instructing the Guardian Council to investigate possible vote-rigging]. Yet it is testament to the tremendous pressures on the political system that have resulted from the outpouring of anger across the country, and the widespread belief that the political order is experiencing a serious crisis of authority."

Neil MacFarquhar, the New York Times: "Few suggest yet that Ayatollah Khamenei’s hold on power is at risk. But analysts say he has opened a serious fissure in the face of Islamic rule and one that may prove impossible to patch over, particularly given the fierce dispute over the election that has erupted amid the elite veterans of the 1979 revolution. Even his strong links to the powerful Revolutionary Guards - long his insurance policy - may not be decisive as the confrontation in Iran unfolds." ·