A suicide bomber blew himself up at the mausoleum of the father of Iran's revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, state media said Saturday, in an attack coinciding with more unrest over a disputed presidential vote. Two people were wounded in the incident in the northern wing of the shrine. Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi set on fire a building in southern Tehran used by backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a witness said. The witness also said police shot into the air to disperse rival supporters in Tehran's south Karegar street. Elsewhere in Tehran, riot police deployed in force, firing tear gas, batons and water cannons to disperse protesters defying a ban on demonstrations, state media said. Thousands of Iranians took to the streets Saturday in defiance of an ultimatum from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for an end to protests over last week's disputed presidential election. The demonstrators braved tear gas and water cannon to assemble in Enghelab Square in the heart of the capital, witnesses said, as foreign media were again barred from covering the opposition event. “The robocops beat us up badly,” one protester said. “Men and women were beaten up... My whole body is bruised... They confiscated my camera,” he said. Witnesses said 2,000 to 3,000 people had gathered, far fewer than the hundreds of thousands involved in earlier rallies. The reported attack on Khomeini's mausoleum seemed likely to stir outrage among Iranians who deeply revere the Shi'ite cleric who led the 1979 revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah. Iran's highest legislative body said it was ready to recount a random 10 percent of the votes cast in the June 12 poll to meet the complaints of Mousavi and two other candidates who lost to Ahmadinejad. Tear gas billowed up from Enghelab (Revolution) Square as riot police confronted demonstrators, a witness said. A police commander said earlier that his forces would deal firmly with any more street protests over the June 12 vote. The Etemad-e Melli party of losing candidate Mehdi Karoubi said plans for a rally had been scrapped for lack of a permit and an ally of Mousavi said the moderate politician had not summoned his followers back to the streets. The 12-man Guardian Council, which must certify the result of the election, announced plans for a partial recount. “Although the Guardian Council is not legally obliged ... we are ready to recount 10 percent of the (ballot) boxes randomly in the presence of representatives of the three (defeated) candidates,” a council spokesman said. The council had invited Mousavi, Karoubi and a third candidate, Mohsen Rezaie, to raise their complaints at a special session. But only Rezaie, a conservative who is a former Revolutionary Guard commander, attended. Witnesses said they had seen Basij Islamic militia deploying across Tehran and one resident saw at least three buses full of Basij heading for the capital from the nearby city of Karaj on Saturday, as well as four trucks full of the motorcycles used by Basij militiamen during previous demonstrations.
