IRAN has banned an ally of the country's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi from leaving the country.
Abolfazl Fateh, head of Mousavi's media office, said the ban would not change his political stance, adding he was banned from leaving Iran because of his role in post-election developments.
Fateh, who had been studying for a doctorate in Britain,
said: "Such pressures cannot push people like me to change our political stance. The imposed ban will not change my political views."
Iranian authorities have used a combination of warnings, arrests and the threat of police action to drive mass rallies off Tehran's streets, with smaller gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.
The authorities have accused Mousavi of responsibility for the bloodshed, while he says the government is to blame. The state media said 20 people have been killed in the violence.
Mousavi has called for an annulment of the vote because of election rigging.
The semi-official ILNA news agency said Mousavi had urged the interior ministry to allow a rally by his supporters at the Azadi square in south-west Tehran.
Iran's top legislative body has said it found no major violations in the 12 June presidential election, which it described as the healthiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but said 10 per cent of ballot boxes would be recounted.
The establishment has made it clear it has no intention of holding a new election and has set up a special court to deal with hundreds of detained protesters. A hardline Iranian cleric has called for the execution of leading "rioters".
US President Barack Obama on Friday praised the bravery of Iranians who protested against a disputed election in the face of "outrageous" violence.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated his call to Obama yesterday not to interfere in Iran's state matters.
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Swedish ambassador Magnus Werndstedt after an attack on Iran's embassy in Stockholm on Friday.
More than 150 people had gathered outside the embassy to protest against the Iranian regime, when some of them attacked the building with rocks and tore down a fence to enter the embassy grounds.
"A few managed to climb through broken windows into the building," a police spokesman said. He said one member of the embassy staff was injured inside the building,adding that police had evicted the demonstrators from the building and arrested one person.
Organisers of the demonstration said a few of the protesters were injured in clashes with the embassy's security officers.
"We want a regime change," said Firouzeh Ghaffrpour, one of the organisers.
The protesters, mostly Iranians, also demanded the embassy be closed.
