Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran - Election in Iran

DoctorZin reports, 6.18.2005:

Iranian Candidate Speaks Of 'Organized Interference' in Elections

BBC Monitoring Service, Monsters and Critics:

Excerpt from statement issued by reformist candidate Mostafa Mo'in after the announcement of the results of the first round of the Iranian presidential elections...

Now the election results have been announced. Despite the warnings that were given by the honourable president and the honourable Interior Ministry, as well as by political parties and groups, a particular, organized inclination targeted the soundness of these elections. In the final days before the elections, suddenly, a powerful will entered the arena bent on the victory of a particular candidate and the elimination of the other candidates and opened the way to the organization of some military bodies and the support of the election supervisory apparatus, so that the self-evident rights of the other candidates could be targeted. Today, anyone can clearly see the effect of this organized interference on the election results.

I declare that what happened was an extra-legal move to deprive one candidate of his right and to pull up another candidate.

I declare that with this move, the warning bell has sounded for our fledgling democracy. READ MORE

This statement is one of the first public challenges to the legitimacy of the elections. In the next few days we can expect a chorus of similar statements, both inside and outside of Iran.

Next Friday, when the runoff election is being held, we need to see the international journalists having the freedom to travel and report from wherever they choose in order to get a true and clear picture of the election and its turnout.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Reuters first reported that Rafsanjani was heading for a run-off vote against reformist Mostafa Moin. Then the government gave out new poll results.
• Reuters updated it's report saying, Rafsanjani now faces a run-off with his closest rival, hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
• Al Jazerra reported that Iranian voters woke up a day after pivotal elections to find their country facing a run-off following results which defied all predictions.
• Iranian blogger: Iran Votes 2005 from what I have seen in Tehran and the news I have got from people elsewhere, it can be said that yesterday turn out was much lower than the the 1997 election, and thus the real number seems to be much lower than the alleged 30 million.
• The Guardian reported that four terrorist suspects arrested in north London are believed to be linked to a dissident group plotting against the Iranian government.
• BBC News reporter discussed Iran's electoral handshake test.
• The Scotsman reported that low turnouts at some polling stations suggesting that calls for a boycott by pro-reformers had had some effect.
• Guardian reported that President Bush said Iran's election was designed to keep power in the hands of a few rulers ``through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy.''
• UPI reported that President Bush's denouncing of Iran's electoral system was seen by Iranian opposition groups as a sign of encouragement and support.
• An Iranian Student produced this translated compilation of online Iranian comments on the election.
• Bloggers produced personal counts of visiting Iranians polling stations in the US.
• SOSIRAN released a report on an altercation at the LA polling place.
• SMCCDI made a call for urgent action to shutdown Iranian polling places outside of Iran.
• And finally, Iran-Shahr Blog published an interview with Reza Pahlavi: The Regime is Archaic.