Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday told all Iranians to respect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in a presidential election that his closest challenger described as a "dangerous charade", Reuters reported.
Khamenei, Iran's top authority, told defeated candidates and their supporters to avoid "provocative behaviour" as police with batons moved in to disperse stone-throwing Mousavi supporters, from Vanak Square in the capital. Some protesters were arrested and two men were carried away from the scene.
"The chosen and respected president is the president of all the Iranian nation and everyone, including yesterday's competitors, must unanimously support and help him," Khamenei said in a statement read on state television.