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Cairo
16 June 2009
Iran's Council of Guardians says it is ready to recount votes from the contested presidential election in which incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was declared the winner amid charges of vote rigging. Popular reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is contesting the results, met with members of the council to discuss the recount.
Iran's popular reformist presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and its top ruling body, the Council of Guardians, discussed a formula to recount votes from Friday's contested presidential election.
The Council of Guardians said earlier it was prepared to recount votes from the election in which incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was declared the victor by a landslide, amid charges of fraud and vote-rigging. The scope of the recount is not known.
Guardian Council leader Ayatollah Ahmed Jannati indicated to Iranian government TV that his group was ready to re-examine the election. He says our sense of duty pushes us to do this, and we will accept (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's) request to investigate the election, and are ready to undertake this duty. This, he notes, is our legal responsibility.
Al-Arabiya TV reported Mr. Mousavi met with Ayatollah Jannati early in the day and was to meet later with the Guardian Council.
Several people died Monday during a protest in Tehran. Eyewitnesses reported members of the pro-government Basij militia fired on a group of young demonstrators, killing several, before an angry mob set fire to their headquarters.
Iranian government TV showed images of the burning building repeatedly during its programming, emphasizing that "wicked people attacked and caused massive damage to government buildings."
Throughout the evening and into early Tuesday, protesters honked their car-horns in front of official buildings to defy the government, and young people set fire to trash-bins across the city.
Government TV also showed images of broken glass and several burned ATM machines, and interviewed a number of people who complained that demonstrators had attacked their property.
One older man, who identified himself as a shop-owner, showed the damage to his store-front and complained about the disorderly conduct of protesters. He says that the demonstrations turned violent and that rowdy young people broke the glass on his store-front. "Why did they do this," he asks?
Foreign journalists were also reportedly told by the government press bureau not to cover demonstrations. The Culture Ministry told Reuters that journalists could continue to work from their offices, but that it has canceled press accreditation for all foreign media.
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