Iran Focus: Paris, Jun. 25 – A day after the surprise election of the ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran as the new President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s security forces were placed on heightened state of alert throughout Saturday to prevent any street demonstrations.

AP: Governments of Muslim countries offered cautious congratulations in response to Iran’s presidential election, while several Western countries Saturday sharply criticized a vote they said showed “serious deficiencies.” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the conservative mayor of Tehran, defeated his relatively moderate rival and was declared Iran’s next president. His triumph extends the conservatives’ control in Iran at a time when the nation’s nuclear program faces increasing international scrutiny.

AFP: The White House expressed support Saturday for those pressing for greater freedom in Iran, following hardliner Mahmood Ahmadinejad’s shock landslide victory. “We continue to stand with those who call for greater freedom for the Iranian people,” Maria Tamburri, a White House spokeswoman, told AFP.

AFP: The victory of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran’s presidential election is proof of the failure of western governments’ policy of “appeasement” to the Islamic republic, the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Maryam Rajavi said Saturday. “Western governments have some soul-searching to do after the clear failure of years of appeasement. They must ask themselves the question what has happened so that now we have extremists in control of all the levers of power,” Rajavi said in a telephone interview from her headquarters outside Paris.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 25 – Defeated presidential contender Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani today lashed out at state institutions for illegally aiding his rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to win the elections.
In a statement, the former two-term President said, “I do not intend to present a complaint to the arbiters [Guardian Council”>, who have shown that they cannot and do not want to resolve it”.

Press Association: Supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran held a rally outside Downing Street today to protest against the “sham” presidential elections in Iran. A letter was delivered to No 10 calling on the British Government to adopt a firm policy towards the mullahs’ “dictatorship” and to abandon a policy of appeasement towards the ruling clique in Iran.