Iran election 'results cooked,' US says
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States charged Friday that "in essence the results are cooked" in Iran's parliamentary elections because voters are denied a chance to vote for opponents of the Iranian leadership.
US officials appeared to have hoped that the latest UN Security Council resolution against Iran over its nuclear program would encourage Iranians to vote for more moderate candidates in Friday's parliamentary elections.
But Iranian reformists have expressed fury that hundreds of their candidates were disqualified in vetting for the polls. In addition, Iranian conservatives have accused leading moderates of being too close to the West.
"Iran has once again failed to meet international standards on the conduct of democratic elections," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement after polls closed in Iran.
Not only did Iran disqualify candidates, "it imposed severe restrictions on the ability of journalists and media outlets to cover the elections, limited the ability of candidates to campaign, and refused to allow independent election monitors access to polling stations on election day," he said.
Even before the polls closed, McCormack told the daily press briefing that, "in essence the results are cooked," because voters are denied a "full range" of candidates.
In the run-up to voting, he said, Tehran "acted in such a way to deny equal access and open access to those who are running in opposition to the regime, that those running in opposition to the regime were subject to intimidation."
He said voters must choose "between one supporter of the regime and another supporter of the regime" headed by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with little or no chance to vote for regime opponents.
"That speaks to the elected portion of the regime in Iran," he said.
But he added that "real power in Iran is held by an unelected few," with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei at "the top of that power structure."
Analyst Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says power ultimately resides in Khamenei, who oversees a consensus-building process that elections could transform into one "more amenable to diplomatic compromise."
But it appeared that conservatives had a lock on the Iranian elections.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Wednesday the President George W. Bush's administration had "very low expectations" for the elections, saying the results were unlikely to reflect the people's will.
She spoke after Iran's leaders urged voters to send a defiant message to the West by participating massively in Friday's elections after a muted campaign expected to consolidate hardline control of parliament.
Iran's leadership has been keen to minimize political divisions and make a show of national unity amid the tensions over the its atomic drive, which Washington charges is an effort to develop nuclear weapons.
Last week the UN Security Council adopted a third resolution against Tehran threatening more sanctions over its refusal to heed the world body's calls to freeze uranium enrichment, a potential weapons-making process.
Sadjadpour told AFP the latest resolution's goal was "to send a signal to Iranian voters" on Friday to chose "more pragmatic and moderate officials" who can end Iran's isolation and economic malaise.
McCormack's deputy Tom Casey appeared to say as much last week when he argued that "there are political consequences in that system for that failure" by the Iranian leadership to live up to electoral promises.
