A large number of supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi staged a rally in Tehran on Thursday to mourn the dead Iranians in the past days of violence, a witness said.

The rally started by the crowd dressed in black who gathered between Tehran's Imam Khomeini and Ferdowsi squares.

On Wednesday, Mousavi called on his supporters to stage a peaceful rally or gather in mosques for a day of mourning on Thursday for those killed in demonstrations against what he said was a rigged election, according to a statement posted on his website on Wednesday.

The statement called on his supporters to express their sympathy with the families of the killed or wounded people in the post-election unrest.

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

At least seven people have been killed at the mass rally held by tens of thousands of Mousavi supporters, local English-language Press TV reported on Tuesday.

The protests came after Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli announced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a resounding victory over his main rival Mousavi.

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.

The council has agreed on a re-count of disputed ballot boxes in last week's presidential election if it finds irregularities in the vote count.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2009)