Iranian voting fraud claims rejected

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

Friday’s run-off will be between the top two candidates in last week’s first round - former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and hard-line Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mr Rafsanjani, 70, bidding to regain the post he held from 1989 to 1997, rebranded himself as a liberal for the campaign, saying the time was right to open a new chapter in Iran-US ties and signalling he would increase social and political freedoms.

His surprise rival Mr Ahmadinejad, 49, who would be Iran’s first non-cleric to be president for 24 years, focused on the need to tackle poverty and has said resuming talks with Washington would not solve the Islamic Republic’s ills.

Iran’s hard-line Guardian Council, which has the final word on election results, ordered a recount from 100 ballot boxes in four cities after reformists alleged rigging. “It has been clarified there was no discrepancy in the election results,” the council said.

Third-placed reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi had said some Ahmadinejad votes were paid for with bribes. A newspaper which printed Mr Karroubi’s charges was shut by the judiciary.

Many political analysts, while surprised by Mr Ahmadinejad’s strong showing, said reformists had provided no concrete evidence of vote-rigging and had underestimated the mayor’s strong support among Iran’s large mass of pious poor.