Posted: 05:36 AM ET
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iran’s supreme leader has ordered an investigation into the country’s disputed presidential election and asked opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi to pursue his allegation of ballot fraud through legal means.
The country’s government-funded Press TV reported Monday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had requested the moves.
The news came on the same day as Iran braced for a third day of protests as demonstrators, defying a government ban on their rallies, began to gather at Tehran University.
“They are chanting slogans: ‘Death to the dictator,’” said a witness who CNN will not identify for safety reasons. “We are here. We will not leave the scene until our presence is known.”
Earlier Monday, the government had rejected a request by opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi to hold a nationwide march to protest the results of the country’s presidential election, Iranian media reported.
Press TV was among several media outlets that quoted the Interior Ministry as saying it had declared such a march illegal.
But Moussavi’s supporters, in messages on social-networking sites, indicated the rallies would continue with or without the blessing of the administration.
Tens of thousands of people around the world championed them on social-networking Web sites and urged friends to wear green in solidarity.
Official results from Friday’s elections had President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning with more than 62 percent of the vote.
But Moussavi, the hardline incumbent’s leading opponent, has disputed the results, and his supporters have fought pitched battles in the streets with police and Ahmadinejad’s supporters since the vote.