Moussavi calls on Guardian Council to nullify election

June 29th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's legislative body, the Guardian Council, gave up hopes of representatives of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi appearing for an election review process and would start a re-count in front of state television cameras, the news network Khabar reported Monday. Khabar quoted council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei as saying that the representatives of both Moussavi and fellow presidential contender Mehdi Karroubi were supposed to join the review panel by noon Monday but because of their absence, the council had ordered the start of the recount of 10 percent of the ballots without the two defeated candidates' representatives.

June 28th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi Saturday refused to support a panel set up by the electoral watchdog Guardian Council to conduct a partial recount of votes in the disputed presidential election, a media report said. Refusing to be cowed by attacks on his party offices, Moussavi again demanded for fresh polls.

June 28th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on all relevant parties Sunday to end disputes over the outcome of the June 12 presidential election. "I call on both sides not to provoke emotions of the youth, stop putting people against each other and refrain from scratching the nation's unity," Khamenei said in a meeting with judiciary officials.

June 27th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's Guardian Council has offered opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi a deal to settle the dispute over alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election. Council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei said a special committee would be formed to review the disputed election results that gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a controversial victory.

June 24th, 2009 TEHRAN - Mohsen Rezaei, an opposition candidate in Iran's June 12 presidential elections, has withdrawn his complaint to the Guardian Council regarding irregularities in the election process, Iranian media reported Wednesday. The (current) political, social and security situation has entered a sensitive and decisive phase, which is more important than the election, said Rezaei in a letter to the secretary of the Guardian Council, Press TV reported.

June 24th, 2009 TEHRAN - The best way to settle the dilemma over the controversial results of Iran's presidential elections would be formation of an independent committee, a statement released on opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi's website suggested Wednesday. Moussavi, and millions of Iranians, accuse the government of fraud in the June 12 election that gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory.

June 23rd, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi has met senior clergy and discussed the latest developments in the country, including the deaths of protestors during street demonstrations in Tehran, his website said Tuesday. In the meeting which was held Monday, Moussavi discussed the alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election, people's right to follow up the issue, mass arrests and attacks on protestors which have led to the killings of "innocent people", the website said.

June 22nd, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's powerful Guardian Council has said 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 Sunday.

June 20th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's Guardian Council will recount 10 percent of the ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential election, the state television reported Saturday. "The Guardian Council is ready to recount randomly up to 10 percent of the ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential election," council's spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai said.

June 20th, 2009 TEHRAN/BERLIN - Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the presidential candidate defeated in last week's contested poll, has written a letter to Iran's Guardian Council Saturday, saying that he believes the election was rigged in advance. In the seven-page letter, made public as clashes were going on between police and protestors in Tehran, Moussavi said "I will continue my efforts to clarify the truth on the basis of the constitution and current laws, although the violations and planning of this disgusting move had been planned in advance." The Guardian Council had offered to recount 10 percent of votes randomly to prove the veracity of the poll.

June 20th, 2009 TEHRAN/BERLIN - Eyewitness reports said Saturday that Iranian police have fired gunshots in the air at a demonstration in Tehran to disperse protestors. Witnesses said supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi clashed with supporters of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

June 17th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi indicated Wednesday that his supporters would continue their protests until new presidential elections were held. "We peacefully protest against election fraud and all we want is the annulment of the election and the holding of a new election without cheating," the opposition leader said while calling on his supporters to stay calm and peaceful.

June 16th, 2009 TEHRAN - At least seven people were killed when security forces opened fire during a protest rally organised by the supporters of defeated Iranian leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi in the June 12 presidential elections, TV reports said Tuesday. The protestors tried to attack a security check post near Tehran's Azadi Square Monday when the security forces opened fire.

June 14th, 2009 TEHRAN - With clashes continuing Sunday night on the streets in Tehran, Iran's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi plans to make a speech to Iranians in the capital's Azadi (Freedom) square. Eyewitnesses from several parts of Tehran say clashes between Moussavi supporters and police were continuing and had grown more violent since Saturday scuffles.

June 13th, 2009 TEHRAN - An influential Iranian clergy group Saturday protested against alleged fraud in the presidential election counting process and called for the nullification of the election. The Islamic Combatant Clergy Association (ICCA), which is close to former president Mohammad Khatami and supported Mir-Hossiein Moussavi in Friday's election, said on its website that the election should be nullified and held again in a calmer, more logical and more just atmosphere.