The rally was previously-canceled after it was made clear that use of live ammunition was approved for security forces(uniformed and paramilitary), but they came anyways. Mir Hossein Mousavi decided to come to urge restraint, and it seems to be peaceful enough. With news that Khamanei has allowed for a probe of the "voting irregularities"(which may just be an attempt to buy time to let the temperature drop), it seems that the march today will be a smashing success.
A lot more below the fold.
According to the Associated Press, there are tens of thousands of protesters. CNN says hundreds of thousands. This is from the Associated Press article;
There was no sign of violence or challenges from security forces. Anti-riot stood by with their helmets off and shields at their sides. '
This rally was banned, but so far the ban isn't being enforced. This is a good sign and shows that the cracks forming within the establishment(a government of thuggish-fundamentalists, by thuggish-fundamentalists, and for thuggish-fundamentalists) seem to be real. The demonstrators continue to show signs of coordination, since they have avoided chanting political slogans due to the ban in effect(per CNN).
Speaking to supporters, Mousavi said(BBC);
"The vote of the people is more important than Mousavi or any other person,"
I may not be around to update this diary with further developments until later today, but I hope people keep the conversation going and open up new diaries if the situation changes. Let's hope that things remain as relatively-peaceful as possible.
Update:
Video, with a tip of the hat to Scarce;
Update 2:
Per Enduring America, which I saw thanks to Andrew Sullivan(who has been great since the very beginning), a major crack appears;
Press TV is now reporting on "hundreds of thousands" in today’s rally from Enqelab Square to Azadi Square, protesting the outcome of the Iranian election. The gathering is in defiance of the Ministry of Interior’s refusal to give a permit. So far, based on video and on the correspondent’s report, the rally appears to be peaceful and calm.
Just to bring home the significance of the previous item, Press TV is state-owned media. Until this morning, it has given almost no attention to the protests against Ahmadinejad’s election. The sudden change to in-depth, even effusive coverage of the demonstrations points to a wider political shift: whether this is in line with a "compromise" accepting the legitimacy of the claims of the protests (and, beyond that, the appeal to the Guardian Council) remains to be seen.
Update 3, from the rally;
Nico Pitney of the Huffington Post, who has been just as great as Andrew Sullivan since this whole thing began, has a very touching tweet-update;
"Protestors march towards Enqelab Square, dpa reports. Chants of 'Police, police, thank you' as anti-riot forces keep distance."