Teheran, June 19: Among the propaganda coming from all sides in the Iranian election dispute, one letter stands out: a note from the interior minister to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, giving the ‘true’ result of last Friday’s vote.
The letter acknowledges the Supreme Leader’s ‘order’ for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to win but shows Hossein Mousavi winning, with a total that would have set up a runoff against fellow reformer Mehdi Karroubi. Real or fake, the document is circulating widely, the Independent reported.
Thousands of copies of the letter have circulated in Teheran, and in the European Parliament on Wednesday the Iranian filmmaker Marjane Satrapi flashed it as evidence of fraud. The letter has electrified the opposition, strengthening its claim that Mousavi was robbed of victory.
Meanwhile, Iran’s top legislative body, seeking to calm days of public fury, has invited the three defeated candidates in last week’s disputed presidential election to a meeting on Saturday to discuss their complaints, state radio said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Guardian Council also said that the 12-member body had already begun the “careful examination” of a total of 646 complaints submitted in connection with the June 12 vote, which official results showed that president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won against his rival by 63 per cent votes.
Ahmadinejad’s main challenger in the election, moderate Mir-Hossein Mousavi has called for the election to be annulled. The council has said it is ready to recount disputed ballot boxes but has ruled out cancelling the election result.
–Agencies