Iran's opposition vows to go on challenging poll

OPPOSITION LEADERS UNBOWED

Opposition leaders remained undaunted, even though they appeared to have lost the weapon of public protest.

Reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi, who came last in the election, called the new government "illegitimate" and the wife of Mirhossein Mousavi, who says he won the poll, said it was a "duty to continue legal protests to preserve Iranian rights."

Mousavi is backed by influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatist who favours a less combative foreign policy and who heads a council of clerics which, in theory at least, has the power to depose Khamenei.

Mousavi supporters said they would release thousands of balloons on Friday imprinted with the message "Neda you will always remain in our hearts" -- a reference to a young woman killed last week who has become an icon of the protests.

Mousavi says the election should be annulled but Iran's top legislative body, the Guardian Council, has ruled this out.

A spokesman for the council, which must approve the poll, said it had looked into all complaints but found no major fraud or irregularities, state Press TV reported on Thursday.

The spokesman said the vote was "among the healthiest elections ever held in the country" since the revolution.

Press TV said eight of those killed in the post-election unrest were pro-government militia members.

The United States withdrew invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend U.S. Independence Day celebrations on July 4.