Iran spars with U.S. and Britain over election

The United States and Britain reject accusations by Tehran of interference in this month's vote, which official results showed was won by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

His main challenger, moderate former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi, says the vote was rigged and that the election should be annulled.

The West is at odds with Iran over its nuclear programme, as well as its handling of the unrest.

"EVERYBODY DEPRESSED"

The streets of Tehran have sunk back into a sullen calm since riot police and religious Basij militia crushed huge demonstrations in which at least 20 people were killed.

"Everybody is depressed, everybody is afraid," said one Mousavi voter in his 20s in northern Tehran.

On Sunday, one witness said riot police armed with batons and members of the Basij militia scuffled with some of more than 1,000 pro-reform Iranians who gathered outside Tehran's Qoba mosque to mark the anniversary of a 1981 bombing that killed dozens of senior officials.

The report could not be independently confirmed because of reporting restrictions on foreign press but an ally of election runner-up Mousavi played down the incident, saying only a small group had gathered amid a strong police presence.

Video posted on the Internet with Sunday's date and supposedly shot outside the mosque showed a crowd chanting Mousavi's name. Another video posting showed a crowd purportedly walking down Shariati Avenue, near the mosque, chanting "Proud Iranians support us" and anti-government slogans.

A senior Western diplomat said Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and their allies had achieved a short-term victory and were determined to press their advantage over dissenters.