Iran to Recount Disputed Votes

Iran’s Guardian Council has announced a recount of disputed votes from last week’s election as massive protests continued in the streets of Tehran. It’s not clear how extensive the recount will be or whether it could threaten to upset the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who flew to Russia on Tuesday for a meeting there.

A spokesman was quoted by state media saying the council was “ready to recount the disputed ballot boxes claimed by some candidates, in the presence of their representatives,” and, “It is possible that there may be some changes in the tally after the recount.”

It does not appear likely that Ahmadinejad will lose his job, though a recount seemed like a remote possibility 24 hours ago.

Telegraph:

A spokesman said it was “ready to recount the disputed ballot boxes claimed by some candidates, in the presence of their representatives”.

“It is possible that there may be some changes in the tally after the recount,” spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

But a senior reformist ally of defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi said they wanted a rerun rather than a recount of “a few ballot boxes”.

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AP photo / Ben Curtis

Tens of thousands of supporters of leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi turn out to protest Friday’s election results at a mass rally in Azadi (Freedom) Square in Tehran.