While the streets of the Iranian capital Tehran are still filled with angry supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi following Friday's election, it's a different story in other parts of Iran. An RNW correspondent in Isfahan, one of the biggest provincial cities, reports no signs of popular unrest.

Listen to a Newsline interview with Professor Azadeh Kian of the University of Paris, who says Iran's Islamic regime faces a serious threat from a wide range of disappointed voters:

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi gathered for a rally in downtown Tehran on Monday, defying an Interior Ministry ban. It was probably the largest demonstration since the revolution in 1979. There were reports that Ahmadinejad supporters attacked Mousavi supporters with batons. Later, shots were fired at the demonstrators on Freedom Square, killing one protestor. It is unclear where the shots came from, and the demonstrators fled the square.

Earlier, a witness reported that "The street is fully packed," adding that the crowd was waiting for Mr Mousavi and other pro-reform leaders who back his call for the annulment of the official result of Friday's election, which showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won by a huge majority. When Mr Mousavi arrived, he spoke to the demonstrators from a car roof. It was his first appearance in public since the election result was announced.

"Where are the 63 percent who voted for Ahmadinejad?" chanted the crowd, referring to his official election tally. "If Ahmadinejad remains president we will protest every day," they shouted. "We fight, we die, we will not accept this vote rigging," was another chant in the crowd.

President Ahmadinejad and Interior Ministry officials have dismissed allegations that the vote was rigged. The president has called the election "free and healthy." In a press conference, he likened the street protests to the behaviour of football supporters after their team had lost an important match.

Contrast in Isafahan
In Tehran, the unrest is concentrated in the north of the city, where the richer and more liberal sector of the population live. But Isfahan, a major provincial city with some 2.5 million inhabitants, is quite a contrast. A Radio Netherlands Worldwide correspondent visited Isfahan on Monday and found that life was carrying on normally. People were going to work, doing their shopping and enjoying the summer evening in the park.

It's unclear how many people in Isafahan are aware of the unrest in the capital. State television had not been reporting it in the 48 hours prior to Monday evening, and over the weekend the BBC said that its satellite TV service was being "jammed" by the Iranian authorities. However, BBC Monitoring noted that the official Iran News Network aired a 2-minute film report showing the slow and peaceful march of pro-Mousavi protesters in Tehran streets at 1748 UTC on Monday. This was apparently filmed before the

There have, however, been disturbances in Isfahan's universities, situated far outside the city centre. Exams were taking place on Monday, but outside the classrooms there was a lot of discussion about the protests in Tehran. The authorities have tried to restrict access to the Internet and SMS traffic, but the news is still getting through, via services such as Twitter.

Not all the students in Isfahan's universities support Mr Mousavi. Those who do are convinced that the election was a fraud, but their opponents counter with arguments such as:

"Do you think that all these people who have gone on the streets making a lot of noise actually voted?"

Liberalists vs traditionalists
The divisions between the liberalist and traditionalist sectors of the Iranian population are reflected on a city bus. One woman on the bus says:

"You can't assume that the girls with make-up and no headscarves and the young men dancing on the street represent the whole of society. The Mousavi youngsters are not representative of the whole Iranian population."

Her friend adds:

"It was just as busy when Ahmadinejad came to Isfahan. His fans are true Muslims. He stands for what Iranians find important. And that isn't the so-called freedom to take off your headscarf - only a small minority want that!"

That comment is immediately challenged by a furious Mousavi supporter:

"The central theme of the discussion is not about the headscarf, but about real freedom...do you know how many websites are blocked at the moment? We want to talk with whom we want, about what we want, and how we want, also on the Internet. That's the freedom we're rising up for, and it's what Mousavi represents."

The discussions will go on, but everyone is aware of the need to choose their words carefully, because you never know who's listening on the bus.