A security crackdown appears to have quelled street rallies against Iran’s disputed poll, but the leadership faced a new challenge on Wednesday.
Authorities said they would teach a lesson to ”rioters” in the worst unrest to befall the country since 1979.
Iranians began voting on Friday in a closely-fought election which pits hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against a former prime minister.
Iran launched a missile with a range of 2 000km on Wednesday and the president said the Islamic state could send any attacker ”to hell”.
Journalist Roxana Saberi flew to Europe early on Friday, days after being released from a Tehran jail after being acquitted on charges of spying.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that US President Barack Obama’s offer of better ties was just a ”slogan”.
Iran is running more than 5 000 centrifuges for enriching uranium, its president was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Iran will not give up its rights in the face of Western pressure, its supreme leader said on Sunday, two days after major powers said they would make a new offer to convince Tehran to halt its nuclear plans. Ayatollah Ali Khomenei did not explicitly mention Iran’s nuclear activities, which Western powers suspect are aimed at making bombs.
Conservatives won a majority in Iran’s parliamentary vote, state television said on Sunday, but the new assembly may still give President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a tougher time ahead of next year’s presidential election. Western powers embroiled in a deepening stand-off with Tehran over its disputed nuclear plans condemned Friday’s election as unfair.