TEHRAN // Iranian authorities banned a planned protest rally by supporters of Mir Hussein Mousavi in Tehran today, but the defeated presidential candidate said he would attend anyway to calm the crowd.
Protests marking the sharpest display of discontent in the Islamic Republic in years have rocked the capital since the interior ministry announced on Saturday that the president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won Friday's election by a big margin.
The ministry and Mr Ahmadinejad have rejected charges of fraud levelled by losing candidates.
Mr Mousavi, who has appealed to the watchdog Guardian Council to annul the result, had asked supporters to rally today.
But the interior ministry declared any such gathering would be illegal and seditious, warning that it would hold the former prime minister responsible if the event went ahead.
"The consequences of such behaviour will be directed at Mousavi," its director general of political affairs, Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, said, the state IRNA news agency reported.
Mr Mousavi's website said the rally had been postponed, but added the moderate opposition leader would go to the venue to ensure any supporters who showed up remained calm.
The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has upheld the election result, met Mr Mousavi yesterday and told him to pursue his complaints "calmly and legally", state television said.
The election outcome has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter to curb nuclear work they suspect is for bomb-making, a charge Iran denies.
France, which has sharply criticised the election, said it backed Iranian opposition calls for an inquiry into the vote.
"I asked today that the investigations demanded by the opposition be carried out," the French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters after discussing the election with EU colleagues.
The European Union urged Iran not to use violence against protesters and to look into complaints of irregularities.
Britain voiced concern about the impact of events in Iran on any possible international engagement with its government.
"The implications are not yet clear," said the British foreign secretary David Miliband. "What we know is that there has been no Iranian response to the outreach that has been made by the international community, including the United States."
US leaders have reacted cautiously, in the hope of keeping alive president Barack Obama's strategy of engagement with Iran.
The Guardian Council, whose chairman, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, endorsed Mr Ahmadinejad before the vote, said it would rule within 10 days on two official complaints it had received from Mr Mousavi and another losing candidate, Mohsen Rezaie.
"Mousavi and Rezaie appealed yesterday. After the official announcement (of the appeal) the Guardian Council has seven to 10 days to see if it was a healthy election or not," ISNA news agency quoted council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai as saying.
The council vets election candidates and must formally approve results for the outcome to stand.
Mr Ahmadinejad delayed a visit to Russia today for a regional summit, an Iranian embassy source in Moscow said, giving no reason. The source said the president would arrive tomorrow.
About 400 pro-reform students, many wearing green face masks to conceal their identity, gathered at a mosque in Tehran University and demanded Mr Ahmadinejad's resignation.
"We will stage a sit-in inside the university from Tuesday until the vote results are cancelled," said one student.
Some said religious militia had attacked their dormitory. "They hit our friends and took away at least 100 students. We have no news about their whereabouts," said another student. University officials denied the reported incidents.
*Reuters
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Copa del Rey
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
ANDROID%20VERSION%20NAMES%2C%20IN%20ORDER
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed