Iran’s Presidential Vote Cleanest, says Guardian Council
Guardian Council, Iran’s electoral watchdog, has said that country’s disputed presidential vote was the cleanest ever, dismissing charges of fraud by opposition candidates who brought thousands of protesters on the streets.
The Group of Eight leading powers also called on Iran to put post-election violence to an end and resolve the crisis “soon” but pointedly did not condemn the regime at a foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy.
“After 10 days of examination, we did not see any major irregularities,” Guardians Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai told the official IRNA news agency.
“We have had no fraud in any presidential election and this one was the cleanest election we have had. I can say with certainty that there was no fraud in this election.”
Following a fierce clampdown by the regime, the protests that erupted over hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election have dwindled.
State-run English-language Press TV said on Thursday that 20 people have been killed in the protests, including eight members of Iran’s Basij militia. Other state media have reported that 17 civilians have been killed.
