Political Iran's supreme leader rejects vote fraud claims

**MehdiBaTo** · 19-06-09, 06:41

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's supreme leader on Friday rejected opposition claims that last week's presidential elections were rigged, describing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's win as "definitive" and calling for an end to days of protest.

In his first speech since the June 12 election outcome sparked the country's worst unrest in 30 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the vote accurately reflected the will of the people and accused "enemies of Islam" of stoking anger.

The "Islamic establishment would never manipulate votes and commit treason. The legal structure in this country does not allow vote-rigging," Khamenei said, in his first address since the elections.

He told a large crowd at Tehran University that the "historic" 85 percent turnout of more than 40 million people meant the vote was too large to have been manipulated.

"There is a difference of 11 million votes. How can vote-rigging happen?" he added.

Ahmadinejad claimed victory with more than 62 percent of the votes, surprising many experts who had predicted a stronger showing from opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi.

The Ayatollah's speech was likely to come under heavy scrutiny in Iran, amid expectations that, despite conciliatory comments, his strong endorsement of Ahmadinejad will do little to appease Moussavi's emboldened supporters.

Moussavi's allegations of ballot fraud and calls for a fresh vote have rallied thousands on the streets of Tehran and other cities, in scenes not witnesses in country since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled its monarchy.

The unrest prompted Iran to place restrictions on foreign media, limiting their reports on six days of street protests, police arrests and small outbreaks of violence that have left at least eight people dead. Watch militia crackdown »

Khamenei described the dispute over the election outcome as a disagreement within Iran's establishment, accusing "foreign enemies" and "Zionists" -- including the United States, Britain and Israel -- of fomenting violence.

Expressing support for Ahmadinejad, he accused rival election candidates of insulting the president in the run-up to the vote.

"They swore and called the president superstitious and called him names, which is embarrassing. They forgot about morality and law," he said.

Khamenei, who has authorized a partial vote recount, said proper legal channels should be used for any challenge to the election outcome. He called for an end to street protests, warning that perpetrators of violence would face punishment.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Iran's capital for the sixth day in a row. Some estimates put the total number of participants in the hundreds of thousands. See where protests have taken place »

Moussavi spoke through a bullhorn from atop a building to the throngs of marchers who snaked through the city, in what was described as a peaceful protest.

He spoke hours after the Iranian government agreed to meet with candidates for crisis talks to discuss complaints stemming from the election.

With restrictions on reporting the unrest, much of the news, video and images emerging from Iran have come via social networking sites, often bypassing authorities' attempts to block applications such as Facebook and Twitter.

effat27 · 19-06-09, 06:43

ta yar ke ra khahad o meylash be ke bashad

shazam · 19-06-09, 08:57

Man ke chesham ab nemikhore. Az in Akhonda harchi ke beghi bar miyad..........
Omidvaram ke in jonbesh edame peyda kone

nimamc · 19-06-09, 09:08

I am surprised, really

Ashkan-k56 · 19-06-09, 09:19

man hodoode 1saat az sohbat haye in sheykh ro goosh dadam!
va koli be harfash khandidam
amalan manzooresh in bood ke;
''dame hame oonai ke ray dadan garm! hali dadid be JE! hala berid
khooneh hatoon ta Mahmoud joon be karesh bereseh!''

19-06-09, 06:41	#1 (permalink)
MehdiBaTo Staff Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 9,103 Credits: 63,485 Thanks: 2,194 Thanked 2,500 Times in 1,073 Posts	Iran's supreme leader rejects vote fraud claims TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's supreme leader on Friday rejected opposition claims that last week's presidential elections were rigged, describing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's win as "definitive" and calling for an end to days of protest. In his first speech since the June 12 election outcome sparked the country's worst unrest in 30 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the vote accurately reflected the will of the people and accused "enemies of Islam" of stoking anger. The "Islamic establishment would never manipulate votes and commit treason. The legal structure in this country does not allow vote-rigging," Khamenei said, in his first address since the elections. He told a large crowd at Tehran University that the "historic" 85 percent turnout of more than 40 million people meant the vote was too large to have been manipulated. "There is a difference of 11 million votes. How can vote-rigging happen?" he added. Ahmadinejad claimed victory with more than 62 percent of the votes, surprising many experts who had predicted a stronger showing from opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi. The Ayatollah's speech was likely to come under heavy scrutiny in Iran, amid expectations that, despite conciliatory comments, his strong endorsement of Ahmadinejad will do little to appease Moussavi's emboldened supporters. Moussavi's allegations of ballot fraud and calls for a fresh vote have rallied thousands on the streets of Tehran and other cities, in scenes not witnesses in country since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled its monarchy. The unrest prompted Iran to place restrictions on foreign media, limiting their reports on six days of street protests, police arrests and small outbreaks of violence that have left at least eight people dead. Watch militia crackdown » Khamenei described the dispute over the election outcome as a disagreement within Iran's establishment, accusing "foreign enemies" and "Zionists" -- including the United States, Britain and Israel -- of fomenting violence. Expressing support for Ahmadinejad, he accused rival election candidates of insulting the president in the run-up to the vote. "They swore and called the president superstitious and called him names, which is embarrassing. They forgot about morality and law," he said. Khamenei, who has authorized a partial vote recount, said proper legal channels should be used for any challenge to the election outcome. He called for an end to street protests, warning that perpetrators of violence would face punishment. On Thursday, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Iran's capital for the sixth day in a row. Some estimates put the total number of participants in the hundreds of thousands. See where protests have taken place » Moussavi spoke through a bullhorn from atop a building to the throngs of marchers who snaked through the city, in what was described as a peaceful protest. He spoke hours after the Iranian government agreed to meet with candidates for crisis talks to discuss complaints stemming from the election. With restrictions on reporting the unrest, much of the news, video and images emerging from Iran have come via social networking sites, often bypassing authorities' attempts to block applications such as Facebook and Twitter. __________________

19-06-09, 06:43	#2 (permalink)
effat27 Forum God Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: alange Posts: 3,201 Credits: 15,547 Thanks: 751 Thanked 884 Times in 534 Posts	ta yar ke ra khahad o meylash be ke bashad __________________ امروز همان فردائیست که دیروز نگران ان بودید بــــــــــــنام خـــــــــــــداوند جـــــــــــــــان و خــــــــــــــرد º°¨ ¸„ø¤º°¨°º¤ø„¸¨°º¤ø„ ¨°º¤ø„ ¸No to J.E!!!!!¨°º¤ø„¸ ¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º „¸¨°º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤

19-06-09, 08:57	#3 (permalink)
shazam Double Ace Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 102 Credits: 458 Thanks: 3 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Man ke chesham ab nemikhore. Az in Akhonda harchi ke beghi bar miyad.......... Omidvaram ke in jonbesh edame peyda kone __________________

19-06-09, 09:08	#4 (permalink)
nimamc Pluto Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Holland Posts: 9,324 Credits: 12,225 Thanks: 4,315 Thanked 1,743 Times in 1,087 Posts	I am surprised, really __________________ Women are free little puzzles and I enjoy "solving" them.

19-06-09, 09:19	#5 (permalink)
Ashkan-k56 Neptune Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 6,543 Credits: 24,860 Thanks: 5,529 Thanked 4,461 Times in 1,714 Posts	man hodoode 1saat az sohbat haye in sheykh ro goosh dadam! va koli be harfash khandidam amalan manzooresh in bood ke; ''dame hame oonai ke ray dadan garm! hali dadid be JE! hala berid khooneh hatoon ta Mahmoud joon be karesh bereseh!'' __________________ خدا را به‌ جان‌ خراباتیان‌ کزین‌ تهمتِ هستیم‌ وارهان‌ به‌ میخانۀ‌ وحدتم‌ راه‌ ده‌ دل‌ زنده‌ و جان‌ آگاه‌ ده‌ که‌ از کثرت‌ خلق‌ تنگ‌ آمدم‌ به‌ هر سو شدم‌ سر به‌ سنگ‌ آمدم...

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Israeli military rejects Gaza abuse claims	MehdiBaTo	News	2	30-03-09 14:52
Iran's Khatami withdraws from June presidential vote	MehdiBaTo	News	0	16-03-09 05:30
Hamas leader meets Iran's Khamenei	MehdiBaTo	News	0	01-02-09 11:50
Chinese phone claims 666 days of standby	Godfather3	Interesting Pictures	4	06-06-08 04:37