Iran says planned pro-Mousavi rally illegal

Tehran: Iran's Interior Ministry has declared as illegal a rally which supporters of defeated moderate presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi plan to hold in Tehran later on Monday, state radio said.

"The Interior Ministry issued a statement and said no permission had been issued for a rally...The holding of such a gathering would be illegal," said the radio.

"Some seditious elements had planned to hold a rally and by fabrication said they had permission from the Interior Ministry. Any disrupter of public security would be dealt with according to the law," it said.

Unrest has rocked Tehran and other cities since the Interior Ministry released results on Saturday that showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had defeated Mousavi by a landslide in Friday's presidential election.

Mousavi has appealed to the Islamic Republic's top legislative body to annul the result because of what he alleges were irregularities, a charge the Interior Ministry and Ahmadinejad have dismissed.

On Sunday, Mousavi's supporters handed out leaflets calling for a rally in downtown Tehran on Monday afternoon.