Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in Tehran

Iran's supreme leader has slammed international criticism of the presidential election as he addressed a massive crowd in Tehran. In his first address to the nation since the biggest street protests in the Islamic Republic's 30-year history broke out, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded demonstrations to end amid anger over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's win. And he denied accusations of election fraud, saying: "Iran's laws do not allow vote-rigging, especially at the level of 11 million," referring to Mr Ahmadinejad's victory margin. Addressing the tens of thousands of Iranians at Tehran University who chanted "death to the UK, the US and Israel", he warned the defeated candidates and their supporters: "I am urging them to end street protests, otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos. "The result of the election comes out of the ballot boxes, not on the street. Today the Iranian nation needs calm," he added, saying political leaders who engaged in extremist behaviour were responsible for any post-election bloodshed. He also attacked what he called interference by foreign powers which had questioned the result of the election, saying: "American officials' remarks about human rights and limitations on people are not acceptable because they have no idea about human rights after what they have done in Afghanistan and Iraq and other parts of the world. We do not need advice on human rights from them." In Britain, the Government summoned Tehran's ambassador to London, Rasoul Movahedian, to complain about the Ayatollah's remarks. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said he will meet Mark Lyall Grant, political director at the Foreign Office. She said Mr Lyall Grant will complain over the Ayatollah's comments about foreign "interference". He will also have to explain his ruler's reasons for calling the British "sinister". Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have so far ignored the Ayatollah's call for the protests to end, with almost a week of mass rallies held in defiance of an official ban. On Thursday, tens of thousands of black-clad marchers bore candles to mourn eight people killed in earlier demos. Scores of reformists have been arrested since the election result was published on June 13, and authorities have cracked down on both foreign and domestic media. Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said about 500 people had been arrested in the last week, and called for their unconditional release. She said Iran should hold new elections under the supervision of the United Nations.

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ITN | June 19, 2009

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