Supporters of leading reformist candidate in upcoming Iranian presidential elections, Mir Hossein Mousavi, unseen, leave teh sport hall after attended in his election campaign rally in Tehran Sunday May 31, 2009. Mousavi, is a former Prime Minister, and a main challenger of the hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for June 12 presidential elections.(AP photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

A volunteer carries posters of reformist candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi, at one of his election offices in Tehran, Monday, June 8, 2009. Iran's presidential campaign, now in its final week, has reached a level of passion and acrimony no one remembers to have occured in Iranian history. Reformists, who seek an easing of social and political restrictions at home and better ties with the West, see a strong opportunity to unseat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has become increasingly unpopular because of Iran's economic woes. Critics also say he has needlessly enflamed world anger at Iran with his statements calling U.N. resolutions "worthless papers" and casting doubt on the Holocaust.(AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

A supporter of main challenger and reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, wearing a mask of him, flashes the victory sign amongst the crowds at a night-time street rally just days before the elections, in the Sadatabad district of northern Tehran, Iran, in the early hours of Tuesday, June 9, 2009. With Farsi hip-hop and techno music blaring from car speakers and young men and women dancing in the streets, election fever in Tehran is more like a party than a protest but the festive atmosphere of these nightly street rallies have a serious undertone. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Female supporters of the leading reformist Iranian presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, hold green balloons, the symbolic color of Mousavi's campaign, in an electoral campaign gathering in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2009. Mousavi is leading reformist challenger to the hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Iranian presidential race on June 12. (AP Photo / Vahid Salemi)

Female supporters of the leading reformist Iranian presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, hold green balloons, the symbolic color of Mousavi's campaign, in an electoral campaign gathering in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2009. Mousavi is leading reformist challenger to the hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Iranian presidential race on June 12. (AP Photo / Vahid Salemi)

A supporter of main challenger and reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, standing next to a poster of him, whistles as she films the event with her mobile phone, amidst a festive atmosphere at an election rally at the Heidarnia stadium in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A supporter of Iranian reformist presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, holds a piece of stone and with his covered his face with green scarf symbolizing his party's color as the others burn a trash bin in Tehran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Supporters of the main election challenger to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police and set up barricades of burning tires Saturday as authorities claimed the hard-line president was re-elected in a landslide. The rival candidate said the vote was tainted by widespread fraud and his followers responded with the most serious unrest in the capital in a decade. (AP Photo)

Supporters of Iranian reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi being chased by security forces as they pass by a burning bus on the streets of Tehran, protesting the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Iranian riot police have clashed with supporters of the main opposition candidate in disputed presidential elections.(AP photo)

Iranian riot police clear away the remains of burning debris as supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi fought running battles using stones and petrol bombs against police, protesting the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

An Iranian girl looks back as supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi fight running battles using stones and petrol bombs against police, as they protest the results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Police tried to suppress demonstrators who took to the streets to protest the declared results of recent presidential elections. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, some wearing green as the color of the party, gather on the streets protesting the results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Iranian riot police have clashed with supporters of the main opposition candidate in disputed presidential elections. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

** ALTERNATE CROP ** Iranian supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi is beaten by government security members during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad take to the streets Sunday, setting trash dumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered by voter fraud claims. (AP Photo)

Iranian supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi gather on the streets protesting the results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Iranian riot police have clashed with supporters of the main opposition candidate in disputed presidential elections.(AP photo)

Iranian supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi gather on the streets protesting the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. Iranian riot police have clashed with supporters of the main opposition candidate in disputed presidential elections.(AP photo)

Iranian supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are followed by Iranian riot-police in front of Tehran university during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the streets Sunday, setting trash dumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered by voter fraud claims. (AP Photo)

** ALTERNATIVE CROP TO XHS138 **An Iranian supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi is beaten by government security members as female opposition supporter comes to his aid during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad take to the streets Sunday, setting trash dumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered by voter fraud claims.(AP Photo)

Iranian students, supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi at the main entrance of Tehran university during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the streets Sunday, setting trash dumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered by voter fraud claims. (AP Photo)

Iranian supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi chased by Iranian riot-police and militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the streets Sunday, setting, trash dumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered by voter fraud claims.(AP Photo)

Leading reformist candidate in the forthcoming Iranian presidential elections, Mir Hossein Mousavi, speaks during a meeting with professors at Tehran university in Tehran, Thursday May 7, 2009. Mousavi, an influential former prime minister, is the leading challenger to the hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the June 12 presidential elections. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

The Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi is under 24-hour guard by secret police and no longer able to speak freely to supporters, according to the film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Mr Makhmalbaf, 52, an informal spokesman abroad for the protest in Iran, said that Mr Mousavi was not under arrest but "he has security agents, secret police with him all the time. He has to be careful what he says."

In a telephone interview, Mr Makhmalbaf, the director of the 2001 film Kandaha, denied suggestions that the protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were losing steam.

"The regime, arguably, is losing ground, not the protests," he said. "Ordinary Iranians are openly rejecting the legitimacy and power of Ayatollah Khamanei. That is entirely new, unheard of."

Mr Makhmalbaf, a friend of Mr Mousavi for 20 years, said that there were reports from Iran that some of the militia deployed to suppress protest were "speaking Arabic". "That is unconfirmed but it suggests that the regime is unable to trust its own security forces to repress the Iranian people," he said. "It suggests that people are being used from abroad."

Mr Makhmalbaf is touring Europe to try to explain events in Iran to the media. He denied reports that he had been formally appointed as a spokesman for Mr Mousavi outside Iran. "I am simply speaking on behalf of all the people who are protesting and dying on the streets of Iran," he said.

Mr Mousasvi's means of communication had been cut off, or confiscated, just after the disputed election, Mr Makhmalbaf said. He had therefore been asked informally to make sure that a true picture of what was happening in Iran reached the outside world.

Asked to explain where the protests might go from here, he said that Mr Mousavi had urged his supporters not to confront the regime directly but to "adopt the tactics of Gandhi, the tactics of non-violent protest and civil disobedience".

"The problem is that the more people that are killed, the more angry people will be, the more protesters will want to come out onto the streets."

The film director dismissed all hope of some form of negotiated agreement. "Within the last ten days, there has been a meeting between Mousavi and Ayatollah Khamanei," he said. "Nothing came of this meeting. I do not know of any further dialogue which is now going on."

Asked to explain how a Mousavi-run Iran would differ from an Ahmadinejad-run Iran, Mr Makhmalbaf said: "The first thing to say is that it is now clear that Ahmadinejad is irrelevant. He is not the real power."

If Mousavi was to become president, he said, Iran would invest in "improving the economy for ordinary people, not creating nuclear weapons or supporting conflicts abroad". Secondly, he said, there would be an end to the "constant harassment of young people which means that virtually every young person in Iran has been beaten up by the security forces."

Source: Independent

Belfast Telegraph