TEHRAN, Iran — Protesters battled police and shouted their opposition from the rooftops Sunday, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the unrest as little more than "passions after a soccer match” and brought huge crowds to a rally to defend his landslide re-election.
The scenes summed up the showdown over Friday’s disputed elections: a confident Ahmadinejad exerted control, while his rival Mir Hossein Mousavi showed no sign of backing down. With his wide network of young and middle-class backers, Mousavi could emerge as a leader for Iran’s liberal ranks and bring internal pressure on Ahmadinejad to take less confrontational policies toward the West.
In a news conference Sunday, Ahmadinejad called the level of violence "not important from my point of view” and likened it to the intensity after a soccer game.
"The election was a real and free one,” he said.
by the associated press
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