Dueling Rallies Held In Tehran

Last Updated 2:30 p.m. ET

A pro-government rally in Tehran Tuesday was followed by thousands of people protesting in support of reformist opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to witnesses and video footage.

The amateur footage shows a large column of protesters walking peacefully along a central avenue in north Tehran. It was taken about the same time as thousands of people waving Iranian flags and pictures of the country's supreme leader gathered at a state-organized mid-afternoon rally nearby.

That rally was an apparent attempt to reclaim the streets hours after saying it would recount some disputed presidential ballots.

A witness tells The Associated Press that the pro-Mousavi rally stretched more than a mile along Vali Asr avenue, from Vanak Square to the headquarters of Iranian state TV. The witness says security forces did not interfere and the protest lasted from about 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Other witnesses tell the AP that about 100 people were still protesting in front of state TV around 9:45 p.m.

The government barred foreign media from covering rallies in Tehran — even the state-organized demonstration, where government officials urged the crowd not to let the election divide the nation and said the unrest would not threaten Iran's Islamic system.

The Press TV correspondent at the pro-reform rally told the anchor by telephone that a crowd she called "huge" and "massive" was carrying banners of Mousavi, wearing green headbands and covering their mouths in an apparent defense against tear gas. She said the crowd was marching farther north, toward Tajrish Square.

The clerical government appears to be trying to defuse popular anger and quash unrest by announcing the limited recount even as it cracks down on foreign media and shows its strength by calling supporters to the streets.

"This nation will protect and defend its revolution in any way," Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a prominent lawmaker and supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said as the crowd in Vali Asr Square pumped their fists in the air and cheered in support, images on state-run television showed.

Iranian state media said the government organized the rally to demand punishment for those who protested violently after a larger demonstration Monday by hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters. Mousavi has said he won Friday's balloting and has demanded the government annul Ahmadinejad's victory and conduct a new election.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday the government would conduct an investigation into the election. The move seemed intended to calm protester anger but was followed by a rally of hundreds of thousands of people that presented one of the greatest challenges to Iran's government since it took power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran's state radio said seven people were killed in clashes from Monday's protest — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the street battles following the disputed election.

Witnesses saw people firing from the roof of a building used by a state-backed militia after some Mousavi supporters set fire to the building and tried to storm it.

Mousavi supporters had called for demonstrations Tuesday but Mousavi said in a message in his Web site he would not be attending any rally and asked his supporters to "not fall in the trap of street riots" and "exercise self-restraint."

Ahmadinejad traveled to Russia Tuesday after delaying a trip for a day but did not mention the Iranian election or unrest. Instead, he focused on the traditional target of the Islamic Republic's ire, the United States.

"America is enveloped in economic and political crises, and there is no hope for their resolution," he said through an interpreter. "Allies of the United States are not capable of easing these crises."

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama said that he believes the ayatollah's decision to order an investigation "indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns."

He also expressed hope that the Iran's internal political friction could bring about change in the country.

"I do believe that something has happened in Iran," with Iranians more willing to question the government's "antagonistic postures" toward the world, Mr. Obama said.

But at the same time, Mr. Obama said it would not be helpful if the United States was seen by the world as "meddling" in the issue.

Foreign reporters in Iran to cover last week's elections began leaving the country Tuesday after Iranian officials said they would not extend their visas.

Authorities restricted other journalists, including Iranians working for foreign media from reporting on the streets, and said they could only work from their offices, conducting telephone interviews and monitoring official sources such as state TV.

At least 10 Iranian journalists have been arrested since the election, "and we are very worried about them, we don't know where they have been detained," Jean-Francois Julliard, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders told AP Television News in Paris. He added that some people who took pictures with cell phones also were arrested.

The rules prevent media outlets, including The Associated Press, from sending independent photos or video of street protests or rallies.

Khamenei ordered the Guardian Council, an unelected body composed of 12 clerics and experts in Islamic law closely allied to the supreme leader, to investigate the election results after he met with Mousavi on Sunday. Mousavi also sent a letter to the supreme leader outlining his allegations.

A spokesman for the Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was quoted on state TV as saying the recount would be limited to voting sites where candidates claim irregularities took place. He did not rule out the possibility of canceling the results, saying that is within the council's powers, although nullifying an election would be an unprecedented step.

But some observers are still skeptical of the Council's intetions.

"It's a little difficult to imagine that they're going to do a good job, because the Council of Guardians is the organization that basically disqualifies anybody they don't like from the election," Gary Sick, a former White House advisor on Iran who is still considered one of the world's foremost experts on the country, explained to CBS News. "They have a history of taking a partisan position, so it's difficult to see them doing a serious investigation."

Sick pointed out, however, that given the furor generated by these election results and the fierce opposition from within the country, "there are a lot of people looking over their shoulders, and it may be harder to run a cover-up than it had appeared on the surface."

More likely, the dramatic intervention by Khamenei and the Guardian Council could buy time in hopes of reducing the anti-Ahmadinejad anger. The prospect of spiraling protests and clashes is the ultimate nightmare for the Islamic establishment, which could be forced into back-and-forth confrontations and risks having the dissidents move past the elected officials and directly target the ruling theocracy.

Sick told CBS News that Iran's regime may be finding it harder to "cover up" the purported election fraud than they expected.

"They anticipated that there would be an outburst of opposition, they would crack down hard - which they have done - people would back away and be intimidated and that would end it in a day or so. It hasn't worked that way," added Sick.

Mousavi said Monday he was not hopeful that the council would address his charges because he believes its members are not neutral and have already indicated support for Ahmadinejad.

Unlike past student-led demonstrations against the Islamic establishment, Mousavi has the ability to press his case with the highest levels and could gain powerful allies. Some influential clerics have expressed concern about possible election irregularities and a fierce critic of Khamenei, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, is part of the ruling establishment.