Iran's Supreme Leader 'orders Revolutionary Guards' to guarantee election According to Iranian opposition sources, Mr Khamenei warned that his supporters also needed to maintain a constant check on the activities of the leaders of Iran's Green Movement, Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Kharroubi, who unsuccessfully stood against Mr Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential election. Opposition activists claim Mr Khamenei told his supporters that they needed to be on their guard against the possibility that pro-democracy forces unleashed by the recent wave of Arab revolts could spread to Iran. "The regime is up to all its old tricks and is trying to rig the election," said an Iranian activist. Iran's parliamentary elections are taking place against a backdrop of mounting international pressure over Iran's controversial nuclear programme. Last week officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna said Iran had failed to cooperate with a team of nuclear inspectors sent to Tehran to clear up questions about possible military aspects of its nuclear programme. Mr Khamenei and his advisors believe this week's parliamentary elections will provide the regime with greater legitimacy in its stand-off with the West over its nuclear programme, and for that reason they are anxious to ensure that there is both a high turn out for the elections and a comprehensive factory for the Conservative Front. The Council of Guards, the body controlled by Mr Khamenei which is responsible for safe-guarding the principles of Iran's Islamic Revolution, has already vetted the names of all those putting themselves forward for election to ensure that only regime loyalists are approved. The Revolutionary Guards and Basij have now been tasked with making sure that Iranians only vote for those candidates who support Mr Khamenei, and not Mr Ahmadinejad. But with the regime firmly controlling all aspects of the election campaign there are fears that many Iranians will simply boycott the election as a way of registering a protest vote. This includes the millions of Iranians who supporter Iran's Green Movement, which has been brutally suppressed since the disputed 2009 election, with many of the movement's leaders either being killed or imprisoned.