Reports say supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi plan to stage rallies on Wednesday as protests against the disputed election continue.

Moussavi supporters, who are crying foul over the 'surprise' results of the hotly-contested election, reportedly plan to stage a civil rally in a main square in Tehran Wednesday afternoon.

The reports come as hundreds of thousands of Moussavi voters have participated in civil rallies in Tehran and other cities over the past four days to protest at the election's result.

Moussavi has rejected the election process and its final count announced by the Interior Ministry as fraudulent.

On Tuesday, he issued a statement, expressing readiness to participate in live television programs to announce his stance to the Iranian people.

"Moussavi is ready to participate in live TV programs to express his stance on the 10th presidential election and the happenings after that," Ghalamnews quoted the former premier as saying.

Meanwhile, protests have often been accompanied with violence.

"Seven people were killed and 29 injured during the illegal rally on Monday," Tehran Governor General Morteza Tamaddon said on Tuesday.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Moussavi asked the Iranian nation to wear black on Thursday to show solidarity with the families of who have lost their lives since the clashes erupted.

"As you know, several Iranian people have been injured or killed in the latest illegal and violent clashes with the critics and protesters over the results of the 10th presidential election," he said in the statement.

He added that he would take part in rallies held on Thursday.

Tehran's police chief Ahmad Reza Radan, meanwhile, said security forces had arrested a number of armed rioters in connection with recent violence in Tehran.

While Moussavi backs the right of his supporters to express their dissatisfaction with peaceful protests, the candidate, who suffered a crushing defeat, has asked his supporters to keep calm and vigilant and to not fall into 'traps'.

The former premier has also called on the Guardian Council, the body supervising the electoral process, to nullify the Friday election in which incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared victor by a landslide.

By law, the council is obliged to address any complaints about elections within a 10-day period.

SF/HRF/SC/MD