Iran forges ahead with plans to appoint Ahmadinejad

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".

Mohsen Rezaie, a former commander of the feared government-supporting Revolutionary Guards, told the elections supervisory body, the Guardian Council, he had intended to follow up his accusations.

He said however, as a "selfless soldier for the Islamic republic", he could not pursue his allegations given the "critical" and "pivotal" political and social conditions of the country. He said controlling the situation was more important than election results.

Iran's supreme leader has said that Ahmadinejad won fairly but the government appears to be moving in stages toward a final declaration, perhaps to avoid provoking a resurgence of protests by backers of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Mr Mousavi's supporters claim massive fraud tilted the election and want the vote to be cancelled and held again. The final tally gave 62.6% of the vote to Ahmadinejad and 33.75% to Mr Mousavi, a landslide victory in a race that had been perceived as much closer.

Mr Mousavi has said little and remained out of the public eye as the government flooded the streets of Tehran with police and pro-government militia to deter further protests. It has quietly been arresting reformist activists and others, according to human rights group outside the country.

Government figures have shown that at least 627 people have been arrested in Tehran. Some state media have reported 17 protesters killed by security forces. Other state reports give the number as 27.

Another opposition figure, reformist presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, called for a day of mourning for those killed in protests since the election.

Protesters have been resorting to more subtle ways of challenging the outcome of the presidential election: holding up posters, shouting from rooftops and turning on car headlights.

"People are calmly protesting, more symbolically than with their voices," a Tehran resident said.

President Barack Obama hardened his rhetoric on the crackdown, saying the world was "appalled and outraged"

"I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not interfering in Iran's affairs," Obama said. "But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society."

Mr Obama had been avoiding harsh condemnation of Iran's government, which often labels domestic unrest as the work of foreign agents.

Iran's leaders have ruled out a revote, saying they found no major fraud, even though the Guardian Council has acknowledged irregularities in 50 of 170 districts. The council said the discrepancies were not widespread enough to affect the outcome.

Iran has 46.2 million eligible voters, one-third of them under 30. The huge margin of victory for Ahmadinejad went against the expectation that a record turnout would help Mr Mousavi.