Iran rules out annulment, Tehran crowds gather

Iran ready to recount disputed vote
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By Dominic Evans and Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's top legislative body on Tuesday ruled out annulling a disputed presidential poll that has prompted the biggest street protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution but said it was prepared for a partial recount.
In what appeared to be a first concession by authorities to the protest movement, the 12-man Guardian Council said it was ready to re-tally votes in the poll in which hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the runaway winner.
But the powerful Council rejected reformist calls to annul Friday's election that set off fast-moving political turmoil, riveting attention on the world's fifth biggest oil exporter which is locked in a nuclear dispute with the West.
Iranians outraged by Mirhossein Mousavi's defeat in what they viewed as a stolen election plan another rally on Tuesday, even though seven people were killed on Monday on the fringes of a huge march through the streets of Tehran.
Mousavi, however, urged his supporters not to attend the rally "to protect lives," saying it was canceled. Ahmadinejad's supporters called for a counter-rally at the same Tehran square, possibly setting the scene for more confrontation.
Further protests, especially if they are maintained on the same scale, would be a direct challenge to the authorities who have kept a tight grip on dissent since the 1979 overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah after months of demonstrations.
Iranian state television said on Tuesday the "main agents" in post-election unrest had been arrested with explosives and guns. It gave no further details in a breaking news headline.
The United States and its European allies have been trying to persuade Iran to halt nuclear work that could be used to make an atomic bomb. Iran says it wants nuclear energy only to generate electricity.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who has sought to reach out to Iran asking its leadership to "unclench its fist," said he was deeply troubled by the post-election violence and that protesters who had taken to the streets had inspired the world.
A spokesman for the Guardian Council said only that it was "ready to recount the disputed ballot boxes claimed by some candidates, in the presence of their representatives."
"It is possible that there may be some changes in the tally after the recount," spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
ANNULMENT CANNOT BE CONSIDERED
"Based on the law, the demand of those candidates for the cancellation of the vote, this cannot be considered," Kadkhodai told state television.
Mousavi had asked the Guardian Council to annul the vote, but has said he was not optimistic about its verdict.
Despite the protests and upheaval, Ahmadinejad was in Russia for SCO talks on Tuesday on his first foreign trip since official results showed he secured a second term. Continued...
Source: Reuters