Mousavi calls for day of mourning

Further mass demonstrations are expected in Tehran today after the defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi urged his supporters to observe a day of mourning for the eight people killed during Monday's rally. Mousavi has asked marchers today to wear black and attend mosques.

Yesterday, up to half a million people turned out on the streets for the fifth day to protest last Friday's election result, which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected with 63 per cent of the vote. Mousavi's supporters claim the result could only have been achieved by electoral fraud.

Iran's Guardian Council - the body of 12 senior clerics which ran the election - has, under pressure from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, agreed to a partial recount. But the demand from Mousavi for the election to be held again has been ruled out and most observers believe it is highly unlikely a partial recount will have any effect on the election result.

The crackdown on foreign media continues, with many reporters either expelled or kept to their hotels. But Iranians are using Twitter and other blogs to post photographs, video and reports of detentions.

Among those believed to have been detained on Wednesday are two well-known Iranian journalists, Saeed Laylaz and Hamid Reza Jalaipour, and the leader of the Freedom Movement of Iran, Ebrahim Yazdi. He was allegedly picked up by the authorities while undergoing tests at a Tehran hospital.

There have been also been reports of continued beatings and harassment of students by the basiji militiamen loyal to President Ahmadinejad and thought to be responsible for the eight deaths on Monday.

Western leaders, including US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, remain cautious about "meddling" in Iran's affairs, especially given western intelligence reports that Ahmadinejad may have won the election fairly.