RFI - Iran's electoral watchdog ready to recount presidential vote

Iran's electoral watchdog ready to recount presidential vote

Article published on the 2009-06-16 Latest update 2009-06-16 18:50 TU

Protestors in Teheran
(Photo: AFP)

The powerful Guardians Council says it will recount the presidential ballot if it finds that offences have been committed. These include buying votes or using fake identity cards. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of Friday's vote over the moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi claims the poll was rigged and wants a new election

On Monday, a mass protest against Ahmadinejad turned violent. Iranian radio reported the deaths of seven people and the arrest of several of Mousavi's supporters.

Tyres, dustbins and motorbikes were set on fire as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Teheran in scenes reminiscent of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

There are fears of more violence as supporters of both President Ahmadinejad and Mousavi are holding rival demonstrations in Tehran today.

The authorities have also launched a crackdown on reformists including journalists. Two prominent reformists were arrested at their homes before dawn on Tuesday. Saeed Hajjarian and Mohammad Ali Abtahi were both close aides to former president Mohammad Khatami. Restrictions have been placed on foreign journalists in the country.

US president Barak Obama says he is 'deeply troubled' by the violence, while in a strongly-worded reaction French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "the extent of the fraud" in the election was "proportional to the violent reaction."

It has also been reported that the US government asked the operators of social networking site Twitter to postpone planned maintenance to allow Iranians to continue to communicate while other means of communication were shut off.

Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad has joined world leaders at a region summit in Russia. In his address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the president made no mention of the worst rioting in the country for a decade or his disputed re-election.