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Election body raises
vote discrepancies
TEHERAN: Iran’s electoral watchdog, the Guard-
Iran’s Guards vow to crush
ians Council, has acknowledged some discrepan-
cies in the disputed presidential election 10 days
ago that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadine-
jad to power, state television reported.
Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai said
the three defeated candidates had complained
that the number of ballots cast in some districts
dissent
exceeded the number of eligible voters. TEHERAN: Iran’s hardline Revolution-
“Our investigation shows that the number of ary Guards threatened yesterday to crush
districts they announced is not correct. Based Q&A: protests, after opposition leader Mirhos-
on our preliminary report, 50 districts face this sein Mousavi urged supporters to stage
issue,” Kadkhodai was quoted as saying by the What more demonstrations over the disputed
television. – AFP could June 12 election.
happen “In the current sensitive situation
Mousavi backers urge next in ... the Guards will firmly confront in a
people to carry black candles revolutionary way rioters and those who
Iran violate the law,” said a statement on the
TEHERAN: Young supporters of defeated pg 12 Guards’ website.
Iranian election candidate Mirhossein The statement by the Guards, viewed
Mousavi urged people to carry black candles as the most loyal guardians of the ruling
with green ribbons later in the day to show clerical establishment, clearly signalled a
solidarity with victims of recent unrest, their crackdown on any fresh unrest over the
website said. The website also said motorists

should turn on their headlights for two hours
from 5 pm (8.30pm in Malaysia) to “show their
solidarity with families of martyrs killed in
recent events”.
Green has become the symbol of support
for Mousavi, a moderate politician who says
the June 12 presidential election was rigged in
favour of the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. The authorities reject charges
of vote fraud. – Reuters
Change in Iran could
bring peaceful ties: Israel
BERLIN: Peaceful relations between Israel and
Iran would be possible if new leadership took
power in Teheran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said in an interview with German
newspaper Bild.
“There is no conflict between the Iranian peo-
ple and the people of Israel and under a different
regime the friendly relations that prevailed in the
past could be restored,” Netanyahu told German
daily Bild. Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who has called the Holocaust a
“great deception” and said Israel should be wiped
from the map, was officially re-elected in a June
12 vote that the opposition has denounced as a
fraud. – Reuters
re-election of hardline President Mah-
moud Ahmadinejad.
Despite the warning, about 1,000 sup-
porters of Mousavi gathered in a central
Tehran square, a witness said.
“I was passing through Haft-e Tir
square and I saw around 1,000 people
there,” the witness said.
Iranian supporters in America protest against the government crackdown in Iran.
Mousavi, who was officially beaten
into second place by Ahmadinejad in an
election which he says was rigged, called
late on Sunday for fresh protests by his
supporters.
“Protesting against lies and fraud (in
the election) is your right,” Mousavi said
in a statement on his website.
The Revolutionary Guards said they
would not hesitate to confront “illegal”
protests by defeated presidential candi-
dates, and warned the West to stop back-
ing “rioters”.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khame-
nei met Ahmadinejad, parliamentary
speaker Ali Larijani and judiciary chief
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
on Monday to discuss post-election devel-
opments, the ILNA news agency said.
Evoking the prospects of legal action
against Mousavi, Ali Shahrokhi, head of
parliament’s judiciary committee, said
his call for “illegal protests and issuing
provocative statements” had been a
source of unrest.
AFPPIX
“Such criminal acts should be con-
fronted firmly. The ground is paved to
pursue Mousavi legally.”
Iranian authorities have accused West-
ern powers of supporting the widespread
street protests and have not ruled out ex-
pulsions of some European ambassadors.
In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry
said Italy was prepared to open its embassy
in Teheran to wounded protesters in coor-
dination with other European nations.
The move follows a Swedish initiative
to look into whether European Union na-
tions could put together a plan to take in
and provide aid to demonstrators at their
embassies in Iran, the ministry said.
Iranian state television said 10 people
were killed and more than 100 wounded
in demonstrations in Teheran on Satur-
day, which defied a warning from Su-
preme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The office of Tehran’s prosecutor
general blamed the weekend deaths on
“unknown vandals” who had opened fire
on civilians. – Reuters

Rafsanjani’s daughter freed

TEHERAN: Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter
of former Iranian president and powerful
cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been
freed after two days in detention, the Fars
news agency reported yesterday. Hashemi, a
strong supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi was
released late on Sunday, it said.
Iranian newspapers reported that she had
been arrested on her way to take part in an
opposition rally which ad been banned by the
authorities. – AFP
Clerics criticise leadership
over polls unrest
TEHERAN: Pro-reform clerics in Iran stepped up criti-
cism of the authorities on Sunday after more than a
week of unprecedented popular defiance against the
leadership of the Islamic Republic.
But in an indication of their determination to
crack down hard on demonstrations which culmi-
nated in the death of at least 10 people on Saturday,
authorities dismissed the protesters as “terrorists”
and rioters.
As authorities fulminated against protesters
backing defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein
Mousavi, moderate former President Mohammad
Khatami signalled increased opposition among pro-
reform clerics to Iran’s conservative leadership.
“Preventing people from expressing their
demands through civil ways will have dangerous
consequences,” Khatami, a Mousavi ally, said in
a statement, the semi-official Mehr news agency
reported.
His comment, implying criticism of Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has backed a
ban on protests and defended the outcome of the
election, found an echo with Grand Ayatollah Hossein
Ali Montazeri, the most senior dissident cleric.
“Resisting people’s demand is religiously pro-
hibited,” said Montazeri, an architect of Iran’s 1979
Islamic revolution who fell out with the present
leadership and has been under house arrest for
some years.
In a statement on his website, Montazeri called
for three days of national mourning for those killed.
Mousavi, who came second to Ahmadinejad in
the polls and whose followers have spearheaded
protests, says the election was rigged and must be
annulled.
Iran state television said 10 people were killed
and more than 100 others injured in protests held
in Teheran on Saturday in defiance of a warning
from Khamenei. A separate report put the number
of deaths at 13.
State television said the violence included the
torching of a mosque, which it blamed on “rioters”.
“In the unrest leading to clashes 10 people were
killed and more than 100 wounded,” it said. “The
presence of terrorists ... in yesterday’s event in
Enghelab and Azadi avenues was tangible.”
The harsh tone suggested the authorities may
be preparing for a crackdown to end more than a
week of protest.
“The police will maintain a presence in various
parts of the city and will confront all gatherings and
unrest with all its strength,” the official Irna news
agency quoted the commander of Teheran police,
Azizullah Rajabzadeh, as saying.
Sunday had been free of “illegal gatherings” and
those detained during Saturday’s disturbances had
been turned over to the judiciary, he added.
Government restrictions prevent correspondents
working for foreign media from attending demonstra-
tions to report. In London, the BBC confirmed that
Iran had ordered the broadcaster’s correspondent,
Jon Leyne, out of the country.
Ahmadinejad meanwhile accused the United
States and Britain of interfering in Iran’s affairs.
“I advise you (the United States and Britain) to
correct your interfering stances,” Ahmadinejad was
quoted by ISNA news agency as saying at a meeting
with clerics and scholars.
US President Barack Obama, in the forefront of
diplomatic efforts to halt an Iranian nuclear pro-
gramme the West fears could yield atomic weapons,
urged Teheran to “stop all violent and unjust actions
against its own people”. “The Iranian government
must understand that the world is watching. We
mourn each and every innocent life that is lost,”
Obama said in a statement. – Reuters
Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei wields
absolute control
in Iran through
a network of
loyalists and
institutions, including the
Revolutionary Guards, Basij militia,
judiciary and intelligence services
Jul 17, 1939: Ali Khamenei, son
of a cleric, born in Mashhad, Iran
Education: Studies at Islamic
seminaries in Mashhad and Qom,
where he becomes devoted follower
of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
1963-69: After U.S.-backed Shah
of Iran drives Khomeini into exile,
Ali Khamenei is arrested by SAVAK
secret police. He spends three years
in jail and further three in detention
1978: Strikes and demonstrations
against Shah paralyze country
1979: Shah overthrown. Ayatollah
Khomeini makes triumphant return,
from exile, declares Islamic Republic,
becomes country’s Supreme Leader,
Khamenei becomes Defence Minister
1981: Khamenei survives
assassination attempt during election
campaign. Elected President of Iran
by landslide 95% vote
1989: Following death of Ayatollah
Khomeini, Assembly of Experts,
Iran’s most senior body, choose
Khamenei as Supreme Leader
Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS