Thousands of people clashed with police on Saturday after the disputed election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked the biggest protests in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iranians to respect Ahmadinejad’s victory in a presidential election that his closest challenger described as a “dangerous charade.”

Ahmadinejad’s triumph in Friday’s vote upset expectations that reformist candidate Mirhossein Mousavi might win the race.

Thousands of Mousavi supporters took part in the protests, some chanting, “What happened to our vote?.” Others chanted anti-Ahmadinejad slogans, bringing traffic to a standstill. “We are Iranians too,” and “Mousavi is our president,” they shouted.

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