A partial recount of Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential election began on Monday, al-Alam state television reported.
Iran’s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, had offered to recount a random 10% of the votes. But defeated opposition candidate Mirhossein Mousavi has rejected this, saying the whole election should be annulled.
Recounting had started in 22 Tehran districts as well as in provinces, al-Alam said.
Official results released a day after the June 12 election showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by a landslide, sparking days of street protests by supporters of Mousavi, who says the vote was rigged.
The 12-member Guardian Council is to give its final verdict on the election and this could happen later on Monday. It has repeatedly ruled out annulling the vote, saying it has found no major irregularites.
The disputed poll and its turbulent aftermath have exposed splits in Iran’s political establishment and plunged the country into its deepest crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. State media say 20 people were killed in post-election violence.
British embassy staff freed
Meanwhile, Iran said on Monday five out of the nine detained local staff at the British embassy in Tehran had been released.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hassan Qashqavi said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had spoken on the phone on Sunday evening.
Iranian media said on Sunday several local British embassy staff had been detained on accusations of involvement in street protests that rocked Iran after the disputed election.
”Out of nine people, five of them have been released and the rest are being interrogated,” Qashqavi told a news conference in comments translated by Iran’s English-language Press TV.
He said Miliband had stressed in his conversation with Mottaki that Britain’s intention was not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.
”Mottaki said that if they really prove this in practice … this can be considered as a positive step,” Qashqavi said.
On Sunday, Miliband demanded the release of all the staff held and said his European Union colleagues had agreed to a ”strong, collective response” to any such ”harassment and intimidation” against EU missions. — Reuters