Iran's Guardian Council admits to election irregularities

Jun 22, 2009, 0:48 GMT

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi speaks to reporters in a press conference in Tehran, Iran, on 22 June 2009. The spokesman indicated that Tehran did not rule out expulsion of diplomats over alleged support for protests. EPA/STR

Tehran - Iran's powerful Guardian Council said Sunday there were some irregularities in the June 12 presidential election, which has been widely disputed and triggered bloody street protests.

The Guardian Council admitted that the number of votes collected in 50 cities was more than the number of eligible voters, the council's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) channel.

He said this amounted to about 3 million questionable votes, but added that 'it has yet to be determined whether the amount is decisive in the election results.'

Iran's official media reported that at least ten people were killed in Saturday's clashes between government security forces and opposition protesters. In addition to the seven previously reported killed in earlier demonstrations, it brought the death toll to at least 17 in the violence since the controversial election.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - whose declared victory over his opponents, chiefly Mir-Hossein Moussavi, triggered the street protests - Sunday appeared to be unperturbed by the latest violence, ignoring any mention of the protests.

In remarks, Ahmadinejad termed the high turnout in the June 12 vote as an undeniable victory for Iran and said it proved once again that 40 million Iranians still loved the Islamic system.