Aide: Iran's post-election rioters not Mousavi's supporters

Video

Play VideoIran protests US statements on its presidential election Play VideoIran warns media not to inflame tensions Play VideoEvidence suggests Air France jet broke up in sky

TEHRAN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- An aide to Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi said the post-election rioters were "not supporters of, or linked to Mousavi or his camp," the satellite channel Press TV reported Thursday.

Mahmoud Rabi'ee, Mousavi's campaign adviser in the Golestan Province, on Wednesday denounced the recent unrest which led to vandalism, arson and clashes with the riot police throughout Iran, Press TV reported.

"We have objections to the election results, but we show our objections by means of silence," Rabi'ee was quoted as saying.

Iran's Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie said on Wednesday that normal protests by the people should be differentiated from the crimes committed by certain criminal gangs during recent protests in Iran, local Fars news agency reported.

The Intelligence Ministry had arrested over 30 ringleaders in charge of post-election unrest in Tehran, Ejeie said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

The Intelligence Ministry would provide the public with further information in the near future, he added.

Ejeie reiterated that the Intelligence Ministry was working with law enforcement and military bodies to trace and identify the movements which infiltrate into public movements and wage unrest.

On Saturday afternoon, Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots during Friday's vote, while his main rival Mousavi got 33.75 percent.

After the official declaration, Mousavi protested "strongly" the "obvious" violations in Iran's presidential election. He also appealed to the Guardian Council for a cancellation of the election result.

Mousavi's supporters have participated in massive rallies in Tehran and other cities over the past days.