Council Asks Ayatollah to Extend Iran Election Probe

(NEWSER) - Iran’s Guardian Council has invited all three opposition candidates to a meeting to air their grievances Saturday, the New York Times reports. But the opposition is likely to view that olive branch warily; it has already turned down the council’s offer for a partial recount. Protesters say they intend to continue their mass street campaign demanding the vote be annulled entirely. More»

(NEWSER) - As his adversaries faced a mass court hearing condemned as a show trial, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was formally endorsed today for a second term as president of Iran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conducted the ceremony, which Mir Hossein Mousavi and other opposition figures boycotted. The endorsement came after state television screened courtroom confessions by two prominent reformists, who said they had "changed" since their arrest. They added that they had not been tortured, as supporters alleged. More»

(NEWSER) - Iranian police beat demonstrators gathered in a Tehran cemetery to mourn victims of post-election violence, including Neda Agha-Soltan—the 26-year-old whose killing was witnessed by hundreds of thousands on YouTube. A witness told Reuters that some mourners were arrested. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi defied threats from the Revolutionary Guards and tried to attend the ceremony, but he was forced back into his car minutes after arriving. More»

In-law stays despite pro-Israel comments

(NEWSER) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied a direct order from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to dismiss his vice president, opening a rift between Iran's president and supreme leader, reports the Los Angeles Times. Ahmadinejad's newly chosen VP, who is his son's father-in-law, has infuriated hardliners by making favorable remarks about Israel. But Ahmadinejad surprised the Iranian elite by keeping him in office, saying, "He is very loyal to the Islamic Revolution and a servant of people." More»

(NEWSER) - A potentially big development on the Iran elections tonight: The nation's most prominent clerical group demanded that the results be thrown out and called the new government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad illegitimate, the New York Times reports. The decision may yet collapse under state pressure, but it's a defiant rebuke of the nation's supreme leader and the clearest sign yet of a serious split in the country's leadership. More»