A PRO-REFORM Iranian clerical group said yesterday the outcome of last month’s presidential vote was “invalid”, even though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has upheld the result.
The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers sought the release of Iranians arrested in protests after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the June 12th vote.
“Other candidates’ complaints and strong evidence of vote-rigging were ignored . . . peaceful protests by Iranians were violently oppressed . . . dozens of Iranians were killed and hundreds were illegally arrested,” said a statement published on the assembly’s website. “The outcome is invalid.”
Qom is Iran’s centre of Shia learning, about 125km south of Tehran. The assembly has little political influence, but its statement is a significant act of defiance, since Qom is the power base of the clerical establishment.
Yesterday, Iran said it had released a Greek journalist covering the election for the Washington Times. British foreign secretary David Miliband said one of two British embassy employees detained in Iran would be freed later in the day.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate in last month’s election, released documents at the weekend detailing a campaign of alleged fraud by supporters of Mr Ahmadinejad.
Hossein Shariatmadari, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Mousavi of being a “foreign agent” working for the US and a member of a “fifth column” determined to topple Iran’s Islamic system of governance. The accusation of treason was the highest and most direct issued by an Iranian official since the poll.
In a posting on his website, Mr Mousavi’s special committee studying election fraud accused influential Ahmadinejad supporters of handing out cash bonuses and food, raising wages, printing millions of extra ballots and of other acts in the run-up to the vote.
The committee, appointed by Mr Mousavi, said the state did everything it could to get Mr Ahmadinejad re-elected, including using military forces and government aircraft to support his campaign. Mr Mousavi and his supporters also say commanders of the Revolutionary Guard played an instrumental role in the election by campaigning for Mr Ahmadinejad.
The report noted the Interior Ministry, which counted the votes, is headed by Sadegh Mahsouli, a long-time friend of Mr Ahmadinejad. The secretary of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, publicly supported Mr Ahmadinejad, as had six others on the 12-member council, despite a law requiring them to remain impartial, according to the report.