Iran won't annul results; will release ballot details

Iranian media reported the nation's Guardian Council says it won't annul the results of the disputed presidential vote, denying any major irregularities. Separately, the deputy head of the Interior Ministry's election headquarters, Ali-Asghar Sharifi-Rad, said the ministry is going to publish the results of a box-by-box vote count in an attempt to resolve ambiguities about the poll. Iran won't annul results; will release ballot details In comments published Monday on Iran's Press TV Web site, the official said details of the vote count are usually kept confidential. These developments follow claims of vote rigging and the Guardian Council's announcement Sunday that the total number of votes in 50 cities surpassed the number of people eligible to cast ballots there. More than three million votes could be in question. On the streets of Tehran Monday, Iranian police disrupted a protest shortly after the country's elite Revolutionary Guards warned they would use force to crush demonstrations about Iran's disputed election. Witnesses said hundreds of opposition protesters gathered at Haft-e-Tir Square in central Tehran, in the face of a heavy police presence. They say riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Earlier, Iranian state media reported that 10 people were killed and at least 100 injured in fierce clashes Saturday between security forces and demonstrators in Tehran. The reports also said at least 457 people were arrested. The demonstrators had defied a warning Friday from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not to stage protests. The official death toll from Iran's post-election violence is now at 17. Other reports say the toll is considerably higher. None of the reports has been confirmed, and Iran has barred independent media from reporting in the country. Defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has issued a statement supporting further protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 12 victory, but he urged restraint. At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate end to the use of force against civilians in Iran. He also called on the government and the opposition to peacefully resolve their differences through dialogue and legal means. The disputed vote has triggered Iran's greatest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran won't annul results; will release ballot details

In comments published Monday on Iran's Press TV Web site, the official said details of the vote count are usually kept confidential.

These developments follow claims of vote rigging and the Guardian Council's announcement Sunday that the total number of votes in 50 cities surpassed the number of people eligible to cast ballots there. More than three million votes could be in question.

On the streets of Tehran Monday, Iranian police disrupted a protest shortly after the country's elite Revolutionary Guards warned they would use force to crush demonstrations about Iran's disputed election.

Witnesses said hundreds of opposition protesters gathered at Haft-e-Tir Square in central Tehran, in the face of a heavy police presence. They say riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Earlier, Iranian state media reported that 10 people were killed and at least 100 injured in fierce clashes Saturday between security forces and demonstrators in Tehran. The reports also said at least 457 people were arrested. The demonstrators had defied a warning Friday from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not to stage protests.

The official death toll from Iran's post-election violence is now at 17. Other reports say the toll is considerably higher. None of the reports has been confirmed, and Iran has barred independent media from reporting in the country.

Defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has issued a statement supporting further protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 12 victory, but he urged restraint.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate end to the use of force against civilians in Iran. He also called on the government and the opposition to peacefully resolve their differences through dialogue and legal means.

The disputed vote has triggered Iran's greatest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.