The protest heralded this morning in Tehran went off without major violence, according to the New York Times this afternoon. Tens of thousands of silent marchers held photographs of opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi lifted in the air with green (Mousavi’s party color) ribbons tied around their wrists, or held up victory signals with their hands. Iranian authorities, in turn, blamed American “interventionist” statements, and continued forcing foreign reporters to stay indoors (not all obeyed). At least one senior official has warned that demonstrators could be executed under Islamic law, reported Reuters. Meanwhile, the AP says Revolutionary Guards warned that bloggers and other website operators could be prosecuted for posting content that could “create tension.” Another protest, this one planned nationwide at local mosques, is set to take place tomorrow. Mousavi told supporters to pray for the reported seven protesters so far killed in the demonstrations. This is seen as a direct challenge to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ordered Mousavi to restrict his complaints about the election results to the official electoral system.
