Iran opposition absent at cermony

Leaders of Iran's opposition movement were absent from today's official endorsement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejab by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The prominent former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami were absent from the formal endorsement as were former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

In the ceremony, broadcast on state media, Ayatollah Khamenei endorsed Mr Ahmadinejad for presidency before Wednesday's presidential inauguration. The Ayatollah said Ahmadinejad had received over 60% of the votes in the 12 June election and declared the incumbent president as the poll's winner.

Ayatollah Khamenei said "The nation voted for the dignified and blessed discourse of the Islamic Revolution, courageous resistance against international colonialists and for a fight against arrogance,". He added "The nation voted for a fight against poverty, corruption, discrimination and aristocracy, modest life, proximity to people, sympathizing with the poor and indefatigable work."

Reports say that several hundred were in attendance at the ceremony including some foreign diplomats.

Meanwhile, opposition supporters took to the streets of Tehran, continuing the seven week long protests. Reports from the city say that 1000 demonstrators marched on Valiasr Street, South of Vanak. Protestors carried signs, chanted 'Allah-o-ahkbar' and honked horns. Reports also say that there were some clashes between security forces and demonstrators and some say teargas was used. The turnout today was "bigger than expected" with large numbers on the streets.

Twitter users report intermittent internet connections making uploading videos extremely difficult. One user said that the connection in Tehran was disrupted every 10 minutes.