Iran rules out scrapping presidential vote as world alarm mounts

"In the recent presidential election we witnessed no major fraud or breach," Guardians Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai was quoted as saying by English-language state television Press TV.

 

"Therefore, there is no possibility of an annulment taking place." Â

 

The opposition has been staging almost daily rallies to protest at alleged fraud and widespread irregularities in the June 12 election which returned hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power for another four years.

 

World leaders are calling for an immediate halt to state violence against the protesters, but the Iranian authorities have fired back, accusing Western governments particularly Britain and the United States of meddling.

 

The state media said that at least 17 people have been killed and many more wounded in the unrest that has convulsed the nation for 11 days, shaking the very pillars of the Islamic republic.

 

The streets of Tehran remained tense on Tuesday the day after hundreds of riot police armed with steel clubs and firing tear gas, many riding on motorbikes, broke up an opposition rally of about 1,000 people.

 

Demonstrators had gathered in a central square in defiance of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite force set up in the wake of the 1979 revolution, which warned of a "decisive and revolutionary" riposte to protests.

 

Hundreds of protestors and prominent reformists and journalists have been rounded up by the authorities -- even figures close to top regime officials including former president and powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon voiced growing concern about the violence and urged "an immediate stop to the arrests, threats and use of force."

 

He appealed to the government and the opposition "to resolve peacefully their differences through dialogue and legal means."

 

The White House spoke out about the lack of "justice" in Iran, and said President Barack Obama had been moved by scenes of demonstrators braving repression, especially women.

 

Some European governments have begun urging nationals to avoid travel to Iran as the crisis escalates.

 

Iran has singled out Britain, as well as the United States, as one of the leading instigators of what it says is foreign "meddling" in the post election chaos.

 

An Iranian lawmaker was quoting as saying by the official IRNA news agency that Tehran’s ambassador to London would be recalled for consultations, but this was later denied by a foreign ministry source to AFP.

 

London is pulling out relatives of embassy staff and, along with Italy and Germany, warned its nationals against travelling to Iran, where supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week said Britain was the "most evil" of its enemies.

 

But student unions cancelled a planned demonstration outside the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday after the interior ministry said it would not issue a permit.

 

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the post-revolution premier who is now leading the opposition, has urged his supporters to continue demonstrating but to adopt "self-restraint" to avoid more bloodshed.

 

And in a sign the opposition remained defiant, defeated reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi called for a ceremony on Thursday to mourn slain protesters.

 

Mousavi, Karroubi and the third defeated challenger Mohsen Rezai have listed a total of 646 irregularities and are insisting on a new election, not a recount.

 

The Guardians Council, which has acknowledged that there were more voters than eligible voters in 50 of the country’s 366 constituencies, is due to make its final ruling on Wednesday.

 

But parliament said it was preparing for the new government to take office.

 

"Parliament's board of directors set July 26 to August 19 as the period for the presidents swearing-in and the introduction of the new cabinet," IRNA said.

 

Foreign media have been restricted in their reporting of the crisis, and some Western outlets have been accused of fomenting the violence and acting as the "mouthpiece of rioters."

 

The authorities have imposed a ban on foreign media coverage of all unauthorized demonstrations, effectively keeping the journalists off the streets, but images of police brutality have spread worldwide via amateur video over the Internet.

 

The 27-member European Union on Monday rejected Iran’s claims of interference as "baseless and unacceptable" but voiced deep concern about the continuing brutality and called for the crisis to be settled through "democratic dialogue and peaceful means."

 

Rights watchdog Amnesty International urged Iran to stop using the Basij militia to police demonstrations, saying they have reportedly used "excessive force" against protesters.

 

Dramatic footage of the final moments of Neda Agha-Soltan, a young Iranian woman whose death during protests in Iran has made her a symbol for the opposition, has been flashed around the world on the Internet

 

Neda, seen with blood pouring from her nose after she was reportedly shot in the chest in Tehran on Saturday, was an innocent bystander targeted by the militia after stumbling into the running battles, her fiance, Caspian Makan, told London-based BBC Persian television.

 

Photo: AP