Iranian media shut down

TEHRAN, June 15 (UPI) -- Iranian authorities Monday blocked reports from international correspondents as demonstrations continue following a contested presidential election.

Iranians voted in record numbers Friday for their next president. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a second term over his closest rival, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Mousavi, hours before the polls closed, said he had won the vote. Results issued shortly after polling stations closed said Ahmadinejad had won, though observers raised questions over those claims because of requirements for a two-tiered hand count of the votes.

With protesters burning tires and razing storefronts during the weekend, Iranian authorities shut down cellular service and blocked international correspondents from filing their reports, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

RFE/RL reports staffers from al-Arabiya claimed Iranian officials had ordered them to take a week's vacation while its Web site was replaced with reports from state media outlets.

United Press International encountered either no service or limited service from English-language broadcasts coming from Iranian media outlets.

Local outlets, including a pro-Mousavi newspaper and other reformist news services, were also either closed outright or heavily censored.