TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has agreed to extend the deadline for the probe into the
complaints over the country's presidential election, Iran's Press TV reported
Tuesday.
Khamenei accepted the Guardian Council's request to
extend by five days the deadline for the investigation into the complaints over
vote irregularities, Press TV said.
File photo shows that Iran's Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks at the Friday prayers congregation on
Tehran University campus, on June 19, 2009. He has agreed to extend the
deadline for the probe into the complaints over the country's presidential
election. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
In a letter to the supreme leader, the election
watchdog has asked for more time to remove any ambiguity over the disputed
election.
Local daily Tehran Times has reported that the
Guardian Council would announce its final position on the complaints about the
election results on Wednesday.
Earlier Tuesday, Press TV quoted Guardian Council
spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaii as saying that the Council has rejected any
annulment of the election results because it had found no major irregularities
in the election.
On June 13, Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli
said incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total
ballots, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent.
The other two candidates -- former parliament speaker
Mehdi Karroubi and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei -- got less
than 2 percent of the total ballots.
After the official declaration, all the three
defeated candidates filed complaints over irregularities in the election, while
Mousavi and Karroubi have demanded an annulment of the election.
Mousavi's supporters have participated in massive
rallies in Tehran and other cities over the past days.
The Guardian Council said on Saturday that it was
ready to recount randomly up to 10 percent of the ballot boxes in the disputed
presidential election, state television reported.
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks
during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White
House in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, June 23, 2009.
Obama on Tuesday denied the United States has been interfering in Iran's
affairs, but saying that he strongly condemns Iranian government's "
unjust actions" against its people. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan) Photo
Gallery>>>
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- President Barack Obama on
Tuesday denied the United States has been interfering in Iran's affairs, but
said that he strongly condemns Iranian government's "unjust actions" against its
people.
The United States and the international community have
been "appealed and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the
last few days," Obama told a press conference in the White House, referring to
Iran's post-election situation. Full story
TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Guardian Council, which
is charged with supervising elections in the country, has rejected any annulment
of the June 12 presidential election, Iran's satellite channel Press TV reported
Tuesday.
Spokesman for the Guardian Council Abbas Ali
Kadkhodai was quoted as saying that the council had found no major
irregularities in the election and rejected annulling the results of the
presidential election. Full story
TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran's
Interior Ministry called on the defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein
Mousavi to "respect law," the local IRNA news agency reported.
The statement which was issued in response to
Mousavi's allegations of "fraud" in Iran's recent presidential election, asked
him "to respect the law and the people's vote and to behave according to the
law." Full story
LONDON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Britain is expelling two
Iranian diplomats in retaliation of Tehran's decision to order two British
diplomats to leave the country, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday.
"Iran yesterday took the unjustified step of expelling two
British diplomats over allegations which are absolutely without foundation"
Brown told the House of Commons. Full story
