Pro-Mousavi Rally in Tehran Sparks Riots: 7 Dead, Many Injured

Iranian state television said on Tuesday seven people had been killed near the site of a rally in Tehran.

Iran's English-language Press TV carried a breaking news headline citing radio as saying "Seven people killed near illegal Tehran rally."

It did not specify if the dead were opposition supporters or others.

It also said several people were wounded when "thugs" tried to attack a military post.

Hardline militiamen allied to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shot one protester dead this afternoon and wounded many more in what appeared to be the beginning of a toughened crackdown against demonstrators protesting against the Iranian President's disputed election victory.

The Basij militiamen used live bullets after their building was attacked by furious supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, an Iranian photographer at the scene who witnessed the shooting said.

Shots were also heard and a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky above a square in Tehran where hundreds of thousands of people had gathered to protest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

Police fired tear gas as dozens of protestors set several motorbikes ablaze fire, the correspondent said.

tehran is at standstill. all major routes jammed with people. #Iranelection

unconfirmed as yet - mousavi newspaper offices raided. #Iranelection

unconfirmed - Mashad is violent. #Iranelection

have spoken with Ahwaz. am told demos are not peaceful there.

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Monday ordered an investigation into fraud allegations surrounding the country's troubled election, state-run media report.

Reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi appeared before hundreds of thousands of people, a reporter for Iran's Press TV said.

Moussavi may be trying to get Tehran's Freedom Square to address the demonstrators, Moussavi supporters told CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

AFP news agency reported that defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared at the rally. He wants the election results annulled, alleging fraud.