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Iran's Rezaei withdraws election complaints

Iran Materials 24 June 2009 10:22 (UTC +04:00)
Iran's Rezaei withdraws election complaints

Presidential contender Mohsen Rezaei has withdrawn his complaints filed with the Guardian Council, the country's electoral watchdog, about the disputed presidential election, Press TV reported.

"The [current] political, social and security situation has entered a sensitive and decisive phase, which is more important than the election," Rezaei said in a letter to the Secretary of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati.

Citing an epic participation by the Iranian people in what he called a 'clear sample of religious democracy', Rezaei said despite of his insistence on following the complaints, he withdrew his appeal because of time shortage.

His letter came as Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei accepted a request put forward by Ayatollah Jannati for extending the deadline to investigate complaints made to the body.

Rezaei came third in the election by winning 678,240 votes (1.73 percent).

The defeated candidates -- Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohsen Rezaei -- in the hotly-contested presidential election cried foul once incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared victor by a landslide in the June 12 poll.

Mousavi, Karroubi and Rezaei, according to the Guardian Council, had reported over 600 irregularities in the electoral process.

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the council's spokesman, has suggested that the number of votes cast in 50 cities exceeded the actual number of voters.

However, he says there are no regulations barring travelers from casting their vote in a city other that their hometown.

Thus, the Guardian Council has ruled out the possibility of nullifying the disputed election, citing no record of any major irregularity.

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