IRAN’S election oversight body last night declared the hotly-disputed presidential vote valid after a partial recount, rejecting opposition allegations of fraud and further silencing calls for a new vote.

Iran’s opposition leader has insisted that the bitterly contested presidential election be nullified, rejecting the latest offer of a partial recount and signalling he is not dropping his political challenge despite mounting pressures by Iran’s ruling clergy.

Iran’s hardline president lashed out anew at the United States and President Barack Obama today, accusing him of interference following post election turmoil.

A HARDLINE Iranian cleric called yesterday for the execution of leading “rioters” to teach a lesson to the thousands who have protested against the June 12 presidential election result.

PROTESTERS clashed with riot police again yesterday around Iran’s parliament, as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country won’t annul the results of last week’s disputed presidential election.

Iran moved a step closer to a final election victory declaration for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today when a leading critic of the voting announced he was withdrawing his objections "for the good of the country".

IRAN expelled two British diplomats yesterday after bitterly accusing Britain of meddling and spying. The government also dealt a fresh blow to the opposition by making clear it will not hold a new vote despite charges of fraud.

Iran’s top electoral body today rejected calls to scrap the country’s disputed election, ending hopes of a rerun demanded by angry opposition supporters.

Iran’s state TV today has reported the country’s top electoral authority has ruled out annulling the results of the disputed June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was named the winner.

RIOT police attacked hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas and fired live bullets in the air to disperse a rally in central Tehran yesterday, carrying out a threat by the country’s most powerful security force to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard today threatened to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election.

AN EERIE calm settled over the streets of Tehran yesterday as state media reported at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities arrested the daughter and four other relatives of ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran’s most powerful men.

State media reported today at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities have arrested the daughter and four other relatives of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran’s most powerful men.

Iran’s opposition leader received another stern warning today not to encourage his supporters to take to the streets.

Iran’s supreme leader today said Iran’s disputed presidential vote had not been rigged, sternly warning protesters to halt massive demonstrations demanding a new election or be held responsible for creating chaos.

Iran’s supreme leader addressed the nation today in his first public comments since opposition supporters flooded Tehran’s streets in an unprecedented challenge to the country’s ruling clerics.

Tens of thousands of black-clad protesters filled the streets of Tehran again today, joining opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran’s disputed election.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi are protesting in the capital Tehran for the fourth straight day over the disputed Iran presidential election.

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has issued a direct challenge today to the country’s supreme leader and cleric-led system, calling for a mass rally to protest disputed election results and violence against his followers.

Iran's opposition announced a third day of street demonstrations today as the country's most powerful military force warned of a crackdown against online media in its first pronouncement on the deepening election crisis.

The spokesman for Iran’s Guardian Council said today it was ready to recount specific ballot boxes in last week’s disputed presidential elections.

GUNMEN fired on opposition protesters yesterday, killing at least one person and seriously inuring others, during a mass protest in Tehran against alleged election fraud.

More than 100,000 opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defied an Iranian Interior Ministry ban today and streamed into central Tehran to cheer their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since elections that he alleges were marred by fraud.

Iran’s state television says the supreme leader has ordered an investigation into claims of fraud in last week’s presidential election.

Iran’s hardline president shrugged off post-election violence as “passions after a soccer match” and drew his own huge rally of support as protesters battled police and shouted their opposition from the rooftops.

Iran’s leaders today declared the country’s parliament elections, which were carried by conservatives, a victory that showed Iranians’ defiance of the West.

Hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pulled ahead in Iran’s parliamentary elections, according to partial results early today.

Conservatives and allies of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood to keep their hold on parliament today as Iranians voted in elections in which reformists were barred from running.

Iran’s parliament today voted to urge the government to “revise” ties with the UN nuclear agency in a move seen as likely to reduce the country’s cooperation with the international atomic authority.

Iran’s parliament today voted to urge the government to “revise” ties with the UN nuclear agency in a move seen as likely to reduce the country’s co-operation with the international atomic authority.

A LEADING hard-line Iranian cleric yesterday came out against a Western incentive package aimed at persuading the country to suspend uranium enrichment.

The Iranian parliament today threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty if the US continued pressuring Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.

IRAN’S parliament approved a bill yesterday requiring the government to block international inspections of its atomic facilities if the UN nuclear monitoring agency refers it to the Security Council for possible sanctions.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday to pursue a peaceful nuclear program - an effort the US maintains is really a cover for trying to build bombs - and said his government will not be an extremist one.

IRAN officials yesterday dismissed allegations of vote rigging in the presidential election, clearing the way for a run-off vote.

ON the eve of Iran’s presidential election, US President George W Bush has said the voting has been designed to keep power in the hands of a few rulers “through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy”.

On the eve of Iran’s presidential election, US President George Bush said the voting has been designed to keep power in the hands of a few rulers “through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy".

Iranian MPs sent a letter to President Mohammad Khatami today asking him to implement a law allowing Iran to resume nuclear activities “as soon as possible,” state-run radio reported.

Fearing a boycott after all reformist candidates were disqualified from Iran’s upcoming elections, the country’s supreme leader ordered the applications of some candidates be reviewed today, state-run television reported.

Iran’s hard-line constitutional watchdog has decided that women can run for president in June elections, state-run television reported today.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami acknowledged the failure of the pillars of his presidency today, conceding his two key reform proposals that sought to check the powers of hard-liners could not be salvaged.

IRANIAN conservatives formally reclaimed control of parliament yesterday following disputed elections boycotted by reformists who called the vote a “historical fiasco” in which voters had no free choice.

MORE than a third of the Iranian parliament resigned yesterday and the speaker delivered a stinging rebuke to the hard-line Guardian Council for its disqualification of hundreds of liberal candidates in upcoming elections.

More than 100 liberal Iranian legislators handed in their resignations yesterday, deepening a crisis over this month’s parliamentary elections that was sparked after a hard-line body disqualified hundreds of would-be candidates.