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No re-poll, says Guardian Council

DUBAI: Iranian authorities have ruled out the annulment of the disputed presidential elections held recently and announced fresh measures to suppress the opposition movement seeking a re-poll.

Iran’s Guardian Council, which supervises the conduct of elections, said late on Monday there was no basis to order a re-election. “If a major breach occurs in an election, the Guardian Council may annul the votes that come out of a particular affected ballot box, polling station, district, or city like how it was done in the parliamentary elections,” said Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei. “Fortunately, in the recent presidential election we found no witness of major fraud or breach in the election. Therefore, there is no possibility of an annulment taking place,” he added.

Simultaneously, Parliament’s “board of directors” also announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who won the June 12 elections according to official results, would be sworn in for a second successive term between July 26 and August 19. Parliamentary deputies will also review the credentials of the proposed Ministers during the same period, state-run Press TV reported.

In another boost to Mr. Ahmadinejad on Tuesday, Russia appeared to support the election results. The Russian Foreign Ministry, on its website, said the disputes about the vote “should be settled in strict compliance with Iran’s Constitution and law” and were “exclusively an internal matter”.

Stepping up the crackdown on the student-led revolt in Tehran and some other major Iranian cities, Ebrahim Raisi, a top judicial official, confirmed on Tuesday that a special court has been establish to deal with protesters who had been arrested. “Elements of riots must be dealt with to set an example. The judiciary will do that,” state-run radio quoted him saying.

The deep divisions within the Iranian establishment generated after the vote were once again exposed when a group of Iranian parliamentarians decided to summon Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli to explain how unidentified groups managed to indulge in violence targeting university dormitories and private residences. This step was taken after Speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, asserted that the Interior Ministry should be held responsible for the recent attacks against civilians and university students. “The Interior Ministry should clarify why the security forces destroyed the building and why students were injured or even killed,” he said.

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