Iran clerics call Iran's presidential vote invalid

PanARMENIAN.Net - A group of clerics in Iran has called Iran's presidential vote invalid, contradicting official results.



The pro-reform group's statement pits it against the top legislative body, which last week formally endorsed the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.



The pro-reform clerics group said in a statement that the top legislative body, the Guardian Council, no longer had the right "to judge in this case."



The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers said some members of the Guardian Council had "lost their impartial image in the eyes of the public."



"How can one accept the legitimacy of the election just because the Guardian Council says so? Can one say that the government born out of the infringements is a legitimate one," it said.



The Guardian Council is an unelected 12-member council made up of six religious leaders, appointed by the supreme leader, and six jurists.



The statement is further proof of a split at the top of Iran's establishment, correspondents say.

They say that in particular, it was an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.



The group said the Guardian Council had not paid "attention" to the complaints lodged by the defeated candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and urged other clerics to back them in calling the election and the new government illegitimate, BBC reported.