2115 GMT: We're closing off our coverage for the night with news that Mousavi has called for the release of protesters arrested in the past days' rallies. That news comes via CNN, who also have more on the Iranian football team's green wrist bands.
1700 GMT: Al Jazeera says state-run media in Iran briefly showed this afternoon's rally. SkyNews and CNN (albeit briefly) also are now showing images.
One of the banners from the Iran-South Korea World Cup football qualifier: "Go to Hell Dictator".
Re-reading our coverage from three years ago today, I was surprised. The following months of conflict and repression had eroded any memory of the moment when --- perhaps unsettled by the mass march of the previous day demanding a fair election, perhaps playing for time --- the regime had offered a glimmer of compromise.
At least eight protesters had been slain the previous evening, several students at Tehran University were dead after raids by security forces, and hundreds of people were detained, but the Supreme Leader was ordering the Guardian Council to consider a re-count of the Presidential ballots and was meetings with representatives of all four candidates, asking them to pursue "national unity".
There are other surprises as well. On 16 June 2009, I was on Al Jazeera's Inside Story with Professor Anoush Ehteshami and Tehran University's Seyed Mohammad Marandi --- whom I had known for almost a decade --- to discuss the mass protests of the previous day and the Supreme Leader's moves for a possible recount.
Marandi is now known as one of the most strident defenders, in English-language media, of the regime's legitimacy and its crackdown on opposition. Yet in this episode, he has yet to adopt the position that Presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have pursued "sedition" by calling out riotous supporters on the streets. Instead, he notes without criticism the presence of "both sides" --- the Green Movement and Ahmadinejad's supporters --- in making their cases over the election.
And my own position? I don't think I would change a single word of this, three years later: "I don't think we'll ever know if there was fraud committed last Friday....I think the issue is transparency....And I think there's also a power struggle going on within the political and clerical elites."
1608 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Back to our opening entry, with President Ahmadinejad hugging the optimistic portion of the regime line (see 0510 GMT), "We are ready on a voluntary basis to make a positive step if the other party makes a similar step. We hope that we will make progress in Moscow."
Jane Kinninmont of Chatham House and I spoke at length with Monocle 24 last night about developments in Bahrain and the general political and legal situation, from the specific case of medics sentenced to prison terms to the spectres of Iran and "sectarianism" to the wider prospects over "reform", protest, and the US position on the Kingdom.
Al Jazeera English's Inside Story, broadcast on 16 June 2009, with Tehran University's Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor Anoush Ehteshami of Durham University, and EA's Scott Lucas:
Ahmadinejad’s lead would almost certainly be cut, and the election would appear much more competitive, but he would still win outright. This would still ask some tough questions as to why the President’s majority was initially so huge and would probably still require some scapegoats.
This result would obviously not convince many core opposition supporters. Their reaction, however, could swing in one of two different directions. They could feel that, even with a re-confirmed Ahmadinejad victory, this unprecedented enquiry means the establishment can be pushed further. On the other hand, they could feel that they have reached the limits of what they can achieve. Meanwhile, the political establishment could see this gesture as their final offer and then crack down hard on any further opposition.
Wounded Protester, 15 June 20092220 GMT: Politically, the evening highlight appears to be the Supreme Leader's meeting with representatives of the four Presidential campaigns, calling for them to join together for "national unity". The move seems to be more of an attempt to buy some more political time while the Guardian Council tries to sort out its options --- all candidates will have been told of the necessity to keep demonstrations non-violent and non-threatening to the regime.
Elsewhere, chatter about gatherings has died down (it is, after all, 3 a.m. in Iran), so the hope is that there will be none of the violence that was feared earlier today.
I am in London today for media work, including an interview looking back on Iran 2009 and the current situation in the country.
James Miller will be here this afternoon to take you through latest developments in Syria and in Egypt and Beyond. Updates from Iran may be slower today.
We hope you enjoy our latest feature on Israel and Iran and our Remember Iran Special. And we thank you in advance for bringing in news and ideas in our Comments sections.
Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife, activist and academic Zahra Rahnavard, address the crowds marching in Tehran
We were taken by surprise by the pace of the news from Iran on 15 June 2009. We did not take in the significance of reports that security forces had raided dormitories at Tehran University --- later, we would learn that several students were killed --- and we were cautious that a rally challenging the election would materialise. At lunchtime, we were reporting that the march had been cancelled by the headquarters of Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Then we saw the images of the crowds on Tehran's main avenues. Not 1000s or 10,000s, but many 100,000s. By late afternoon, they had gathered in Azadi Square to protest and to celebrate their unexpected display of defiance.
Still, the evening closed with the worrying news that several demonstrators had been killed by Basij militia. The regime appeared to be preparing to declare that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election was beyond challenge, despite an announcement that the Guardian Council had agreed to a recount of votes. Could the protests alter that course?
Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 7:55
