TEHRAN, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran has cracked down on a network that defames presidential candidates for Friday's runoff, the official IRNA news agency reported Wednesday, quoting a senior Iranian official.

    "Interior Ministry officials working with security and judiciary forces succeeded in identifying a large organized network working to defame candidates of the presidential election ahead of the runoff on Friday," Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said.

    The network managed to produce and distribute millions of copies of CDs and letters containing "reactionary" issues about contenders of the upcoming runoff election, he said.

    Iran's pragmatist former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and ultra-conservative Tehran Mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad will vie for presidency on Friday as they emerged as top two vote-getters in the first round of polling last Friday.

    Lari did not explicitly say who was targeted by the defaming propagandas or what their contents were, only revealing that they portrayed the candidate as individual whose acts were contradictory to his words.

    "There is no doubt that some foreign hands from outside the country were involved in producing and distribution of the CDs and letters," Lari added.

    There have been reports of fraud in the election since the result of the first round was announced, in which Ahmadinejad won a surprising second place following Rafsanjani.

    Wednesday is the last day for their legal campaignings to win supporters for Friday's race, which will elect a new president to succeed outgoing President Mohammad Khatami. Enditem