TEHRAN: Iranian police were out in force across Tehran yesterday as the authorities upheld the official result of this month’s fiercely disputed presidential election over opposition protests.
State television announced that after a “thorough and comprehensive investigation,” the official electoral watchdog had upheld the re-election of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a vote denounced by his main challenger, former Premier Mir Hossein Mousavi, as a “shameful fraud.”
The head of the Guardians Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, concluded that the majority of the objections were not deemed infringements or fraud and were only minor irregularities that occur in each election, television reported.
Mousavi’s supporters had boycotted the partial recount of the vote carried out by the council following complaints by defeated candidates. The opposition had demanded a complete rerun and has staged massive public demonstrations with unprecedented criticism of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to the official results, Ahmadinejad won by a thumping majority of over 63 percent against just 34 percent for Mousavi, a gap of 11 million votes.
Witnesses said hundreds of policemen and Basij militiamen carrying sticks were deployed in Tehran’s main public squares to prevent any recurrence of the opposition protests over the conduct of the election that broke out after the June 12 poll. They said security forces were also randomly checking the boots of cars and vehicles and the identification cards of drivers.
Western governments, meanwhile, expressed outrage at the continued detention by the Iranian authorities of four locally hired staff of the British Embassy in Tehran.
Iran freed five of the nine embassy staff members it had initially detained, but British Prime Minister Gordon Brown slammed the arrests as “unacceptable, unjustified and without foundation” and demanded the immediate release of the remainder.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Iran’s treatment of the British Embassy staff as “deplorable” and said Washington was following the situation “with great concern.”
Speaking after talks with Brown in London, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso expressed his “full solidarity” with Britain over the arrests. “Intimidation and harassment are unacceptable and they will be met with a strong collective European response,” he warned.
Iran has repeatedly accused the West, particularly Britain and the United States, of “meddling” as its rulers struggle to contain the most serious upheaval since the revolution 30 years ago.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said Tehran had no plans to close the British mission or other embassies or downgrade diplomatic ties with foreign nations. He said the four still under detention were being questioned. The opposition protests have fizzled out in the face of a massive crackdown by authorities. At least 17 people have been killed and many more wounded in clashes with security forces, according to state media.
Ahmadinejad yesterday called for a probe into the death of Neda Agha-Soltani, a woman whose killing apparently by the Basij during a protest rally in Tehran generated an international outcry. Neda became an icon for the opposition after an Internet video showing her final moments was seen around the world.
