Guardian Council

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Top Clerics Defy Ayatollah Over Iran Election

(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...

Iran Council Confirms Ahmadinejad Win

Top council makes decision

(Newser) - After partially recounting ballots, Iran’s top legislators have confirmed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the victor in the country’s presidential election, the BBC reports. The decision by the 12-member, conservative-controlled Guardian Council was announced on state television and follows weeks of protests in which some 17 are believed to have...

Council Asks Ayatollah to Extend Iran Election Probe

(Newser) - The top body investigating the results of the recent election is asking Iran’s supreme leader to give it more time to clear up any and all “ambiguities,” Reuters reports. “We are urging you to allow us to extend the deadline to receive further complaints five more...

Clerics Invite Opposition to Talk
 Clerics Invite Opposition to Talk 
Iran election dispute

Clerics Invite Opposition to Talk

(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...

Iran Blocks Foreign Press as Thousands Protest

Government cracks down on communications, arrests reformists

(Newser) - Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are planning more rallies today, despite an appeal for calm by the country's supreme religious leader. Iran has banned international journalists from the protests after Monday's violence at a Mousavi demonstration, where seven people died. But state television, which showed rallies in...

Iran's Guardian Council Vows Recount as 7 Die in Protests

Guardian Council makes U-turn as state radio confirms deaths

(Newser) - The most powerful body in Iran declared it will allow a recount in last Friday's controversial presidential election, the BBC reports. The announcement follows three days of massive protests in Tehran, in which seven people were killed. State radio claims the deaths came as protesters attacked a military post after...

Women Candidates Shut Out of Iran's Presidential Race

Council chucks out applications from all 42 female hopefuls

(Newser) - Iran's vetting board has once again rejected every female candidate from the nation's upcoming presidential election, Time reports. Women made up almost a tenth of the 475 hopefuls who signed on. The rejection is widely blamed on the Guardian Council's interpretation of a word in Iran's constitution which they have...

Ruling Conservatives Should Fare Well in Iran Vote

Conservatives likely to gain in parliament as many reform candidates barred

(Newser) - Iranian conservatives are likely to gain seats in tomorrow's parliamentary elections despite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's growing unpopularity, Al Jazeera reports. Iranians may disapprove of the president's economic policies, but the ruling Guardians Council barred 1,700 candidates—mainly reformists—from seeking election to the 290-seat parliament. Government officials and state-run media...

8 Stories