Rival condemns Iran election 'fraud'
The main Iranian opposition candidate today condemned “violations” in the Iranian presidential election.
Mir Hossein Mousavi said on his website that he will not “surrender to this manipulation” and warned that certain officials’ conduct in the election is “shaking the pillars” of the country’s political system.
He called on authorities to immediately end their violations, warning that the people would not respect those who take power through fraud.
With nearly all of the votes counted in yesterday’s election, Iranian authorities have announced that incumbent hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has taken 63% of the vote, compared to 34% for Mousavi.
Outside the Interior Ministry, which directed yesterday's voting, security forces set up a cordon. The results had flowed quickly after polls closed showing the hard-line president with a comfortable lead - defying expectations of a nail-biting showdown following a month of fierce campaigning and bringing immediate charges of vote rigging by Mousavi.
But an expected announcement on the full outcome was temporarily put on hold. A reason for the delay was not made public, but it suggested intervention by Iran’s Islamic authorities seeking to put the brakes on a potentially volatile showdown.
Ahmadinejad had the apparent backing of the ruling theocracy, which holds near-total power and would have the ability to put the election results into a temporary limbo.
There were no immediate reports of serious clashes or mass protests, and the next step by Mousavi’s backers were unclear.
Mousavi, who became the hero of a powerful youth-driven movement, had not made a public address or issued messages since declaring himself the true victor moments after polls closed and accusing authorities of “manipulating” the vote.
“I’m warning that I won’t surrender to this manipulation,” said the Mousavi statement.
“The outcome of what we’ve seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran sacred system and governance of lie and dictatorship.”
He warned “people won’t respect those who take power through fraud” and called the decision to announce Ahmadinejad winner of the election was a “treason to the votes of the people”.
It was even unclear how many Iranians were aware of Mousavi’s claims of fraud. Communications disruptions began in the later hours of voting – suggesting an information clampdown. State television and radio only broadcast the Interior Ministry’s vote count and not Mousavi’s midnight press conference.
Nationwide, the text messaging system remained down today and several pro-Mousavi websites were blocked or difficult to access.
By this morning, Iran’s Interior Ministry said Ahmadinejad had 63.3% of the vote and Mousavi had 34.7% with about 85% of all votes counted. Based on ministry figures, around 75% of the country’s 46.2 million eligible voters went to the polls, many of which were jammed packed with people waiting several hours to cast their ballots.
At a press conference, Mousavi declared himself “definitely the winner” based on “all indications from all over Iran”. He accused the government of “manipulating the people’s vote” to keep Ahmadinejad in power and suggested the reformist camp would stand up to challenge the results.
“It is our duty to defend people’s votes. There is no turning back,” Mousavi said, alleging widespread irregularities.
Mousavi’s backers were stunned at Interior Ministry’s results after widespread predictions of a close race – or even a slight edge to Mousavi.
Bringing any showdown into the streets would certainly face a swift backlash from security forces.
The political chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guard cautioned it would crush any “revolution” against the Islamic regime by Mousavi’s “green movement” – the signature colour of his campaign and the new banner for reformists seeking wider liberties at home and a gentler face for Iran abroad.
The Revolutionary Guard is the military wing directly under control of the ruling clerics and has vast influence in every corner of the country through a network of volunteer militias.
In Tehran, several Ahmadinejad supporters cruised the streets waving Iranian flags out of their car windows and shouting “Mousavi is dead!”
Mousavi appealed directly to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to intervene and stop what he said were violations of the law. Khamenei holds ultimate political authority in Iran. “I hope the leader’s foresight will bring this to a good end,” Mousavi said.
Mousavi said some polling stations were closed early with people still waiting to vote, that voters were prevented from casting ballots and that his observers were expelled from some counting sites.
Iran does not allow international election monitors. During the 2005 election, when Ahmadinejad won the presidency, there were some allegations of vote rigging from losers, but the claims were never investigated.
Before the vote count, President Barack Obama said the “robust debate” during the campaign suggests a possibility of change in Iran, which is under intense international pressure over its nuclear program. There has been no comment from Washington since the results indicated re-election for Ahmadinejad.
The race will go to a runoff on June 19 if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. Two other candidates – conservative former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei and moderate former parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi - only got small fractions of the votes, according to the ministry.
