TEHRAN — Iran's Revolutionary Guard is threatening to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election and warns demonstrators to prepare for a "revolutionary confrontation" if they take to the streets again.
The country's most powerful military force ordered demonstrators to "end the sabotage and rioting activities" and said their resistance is a "conspiracy" against Iran.
A statement posted Monday on the Guard's Web site warned protesters to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces."
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and a popular reformist former president are boldly defying the country's supreme leader by supporting continued protests of a disputed presidential election, but it was unclear Monday whether protesters would dare to continue massive demonstrations after a bloody crackdown.
Mousavi's Web site on Monday called for supporters to turn on their car lights in the late afternoon as a sign of protest — a somewhat muted response compared with the recent enormous gatherings.
Also Monday, the Guardian Council, which agreed last week to investigate some voting complaints, said irregularities were found in 50 constituencies, but that this has no effect on Ahmadinejad's win.
Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei was quoted on the state TV Web site as saying that its probe showed more votes were cast in these constituencies than there were registered voters, but this "has no effect on the result of the elections."
The acknowledgment of the irregularities was unlikely to mollify the opposition, who allege massive and systematic fraud.
Khatami said "taking complaints to bodies that are required to protect people's rights, but are themselves subject to criticism, is not a solution" — effectively accusing the Council of collusion in vote fraud.