AFP: The main reformist candidate defeated in a first round of Iran’s presidential election demanded Monday that the runoff polls be postponed pending a probe into alleged vote rigging. The “first round of the presidential election was contrary to a free and fair election,” Mostafa Moin’s campaign said in a statement.
Defeated Iranian reformist demands election postponement
Iran bans four dailies over election rigging charges
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 20 – Four Iranian dailies were suspended today by Tehrans Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor for carrying the text of a letter by defeated presidential hopeful Mehdi Karroubi to the Islamic Republics Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, charging that Fridays first-round elections were rigged.
Iran bans four dailies over election rigging charges
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 20 – Four Iranian dailies were suspended today by Tehrans Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor for carrying the text of a letter by defeated presidential hopeful Mehdi Karroubi to the Islamic Republics Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, charging that Fridays first-round elections were rigged.
Rice accuses Iran of ‘organised cruelty’
AFP: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemned what she described as “the organised cruelty” of the Iranian regime, three days after the first round of the presidential election in the Islamic Republic. The top US diplomat made her comments in Cairo on Monday in the keynote speech of a whirlwind tour of the Middle East aimed at boosting US policies for democracy and reforms in the region.
Iran’s ‘Democracy’
The Wall Street Journal – Review & Outlook: The most astonishing aspect of Friday’s presidential vote in Iran is not that the elections will go into a second round but that Tehran managed to convince so many in the West that this is a real demonstration of democracy. All power is held by Supreme Leader Ali Khameni, his Council of Guardians and the small clique of military officers and businessmen around him.
Canadian PM concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions
CBC News: Prime Minister Paul Martin said Sunday that world inaction on Iran’s moves toward becoming a nuclear power is “simply unacceptable.” “I do not believe that the world can simply stand by and watch the possibility of Iran going from step-to-step towards the creation of making itself a nuclear power,” he told reporters after meeting Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU Council, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
Iran poll challenger accused of ballot fraud
The Guardian: Iran’s presidential election was thrown into uncharted territory yesterday after a hardline candidate who unexpectedly won his way into a run-off vote was accused of ballot-rigging.
Iran cleric resigns post as fiasco over vote-fixing grows
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 19 Irans former Parliament Speaker and presidential hopeful Mehdi Karroubi, who came in third in Fridays presidential election, today resigned his membership of the powerful State Expediency Council and stepped down as an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in protest against rigging of the polls by sections of the Revolutionary Guard and the [paramilitary”> Bassij.
Iran cleric resigns post as fiasco over vote-fixing grows
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 19 Irans former Parliament Speaker and presidential hopeful Mehdi Karroubi, who came in third in Fridays presidential election, today resigned his membership of the powerful State Expediency Council and stepped down as an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in protest against rigging of the polls by sections of the Revolutionary Guard and the [paramilitary”> Bassij.
Vote-Rigging Feared in Iran Election
AP: The front-runner in Iran’s presidential runoff sought to rally moderates Sunday by warning that his hard-line opponent would run a totalitarian regime, a charge made amid suspicions the powerful Revolutionary Guard will rig the vote for conservatives. One losing candidate already has accused the Revolutionary Guard and its vigilante supporters of fixing votes during the first round of balloting.
