Votes are Being Bought, Iran Gov't Says

IranMania:

Iran's reformist government alleged that "certain organs" were buying votes in poorer aread of Iran ahead of this week's presidential run-off election. READ MORE

The government spokesman also said outgoing reformist President Mohammad Khatami was "very worried" ahead of Friday's high-stakes clash between between hardliner Mahmood Ahmadinejad and moderate conservative Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

"The government has receieved reports on the distribution of funds by certain organs in the poorer areas of certain provinces with a specific aim in mind," Abdollah Ramazanzadeh said, quoted by the ISNA news agency.

"Khatami is worried about the future of the country and believes that we need to continue the reform process we have embarked upon with the people," he added.

"It is normal that the president expects that the reins of the country are put into the hands of someone who is capable and can represent the Iranian people on the international stage."

Rafsanjani, defeated reformist candidate Mostafa Moin and moderate cleric Mehdi Karoubi have all made unprecedented public allegations of dirty tricks ahead of last week's first round, ranging from smear campaigns to vote-buying on a massive scale.

These, they claim, were orchestrated by the powerful Revolutionary Guards, the Basij militia and the Guardians Council -- which acts as a veto-wielding electoral watchdog and dismissed the complaints after an extremely limited partial recount.

Khatami had already given his implicit personal backing to Rafsanjani by urging a vote for "moderation".