Human Rights Official Condemns US Meddling in Iran’s Internal Affairs

(FNA)- Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani deplored the US statement on the conditions of two opposition leaders in Iran as a blatant meddling in Tehran's domestic affairs.

"I believe this statement is a clear instance of interference in a country's internal affairs and is contradictory to the Algeria treaty and even against international undertakings since it incites chaos," Larijani told reporters in the Western province of Lorestan on Wednesday.

His remarks came after the US Department of State released a press statement on Iran on Saturday, saying, "The United States renews its call on every government, including the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to respect their international obligations and to release all prisoners in their custody".

It referred to the house arrest of the Iranian opposition leaders, Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, after the 2009 post-election unrests in the country.

Friday June 12, 2009 Iran was again under the spotlight for a hot presidential race. Over 85% of eligible voters came to the polling stations to elect a president for the country for the next four years. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi, Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezaei and former Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi were candidates, with the first two nominees being the candidate of choice for the majority in the country.

But, Moussavi, apparently so assured of his definite victory that hours before the initial results were announced by the Interior Ministry, called a press conference to declare just at the end of balloting that he had won a landslide victory and would be the next president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Yet, when official results were released the next day, Iran's election headquarters said from a total number of 39,165,191 ballots cast in Iran's 10th presidential election, Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, which accounted for 62.63% of the votes, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Moussavi could secure only 13,216,411 (33.75%) votes.

Mohsen Rezaei stood third with 678,240 votes (1.73%) and Mehdi Karroubi came last with 333,635 votes (0.85%) cast in his favor.

Following the announcement of election results, supporters of both Moussavi and Karroubi took to the streets, mainly in Tehran, in daily rallies and riots led by their defeated candidates to shout their protest, alleging election fraud.

Then, the Guardian Council set up a special committee to do a partial vote recount. The top legislative body confirmed that the recount of 10 percent of the ballot boxes had shown no irregularities in the vote.

According to Iranian law, the Guardian Council's approval of the vote negates the possibility of an election re-run.

President Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second four-year term during a special ceremony held at the parliament weeks later.

Nevertheless, Moussavi and Karroubi's stubborn insistence on election fraud continued to make parts of Tehran scenes of unrest for several months.

But after people from different walks of life staged major rallies across the country in support of the Islamic Republic and the rule of the law as well as the Guardians Council's endorsement of the 10th presidential election, calm was restored in the capital. The largest such rally took place in Tehran on December 30, 2009 with millions of participants, which knocked the steam out of the seditious moves of Moussavi and Karroubi and their foreign backers.