EU Voices It's Dismay Over Iran's 'Flawed' Election

Iran's clerical establishment faced international criticism yesterday when America and the European Union condemned the country's general election as flawed.

The US State Department said it did not meet international standards and EU foreign ministers said a "genuine democratic choice" had been rendered "impossible".

The EU voiced "deep regret and disappointment" over an election which saw Iran's hardliners retake control of parliament after the regime banned thousands of reformists from standing.

Iran's only link with the West comes through trade talks with the EU. Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, said the "flawed" election would affect the negotiations, which have been stalled since last June because of concern over Teheran's nuclear programme.

There were rowdy scenes in the Iranian parliament as reformist MPs resigned in protest over the conduct of the polls. About 80 were officially barred from seeking re-election and another 40 quit.

One of them, Fatemeh Haghighatjou, said: "I resign because a staged, unfair and uncompetitive election was held with the aim of yielding an obedient majlis [parliament]. They do not want a republic, but a Taliban-style Islam."

Bahaodin Adab, an ethnic Kurdish MP, described the increasing threats to reformists. "We are getting threatening phone calls at home to our families," he said. Mr Adab added that resigning MPs "have no security".

Traditionalists on Iran's all-powerful Guardian Council sought to bolster the legitimacy of their allies' victory by accusing reformers of "playing" with the election's highly sensitive turnout figure.

The Guardian Council released a statement accusing the interior ministry, which the reformists control, of having done "everything possible to dissuade" Iranians from voting.

The council added: "Now they are resorting to playing with [turnout] figures. If we consider the real figures, then we will get to around 60 per cent of eligible voters who actually voted."

A turnout of 60 per cent was constantly mentioned in the state media even before polls closed on Friday. The interior ministry figures, which are consistent with the anecdotal evidence of quiet polling stations and apathetic voters in Teheran, exposed the gap between official rhetoric and reality.

Traditionalist candidates were confirmed yesterday as winners in all Teheran's 30 parliamentary seats. But after 2,500 reformists were barred from standing, most voters in the capital heeded calls for a boycott and turnout in some areas was only 28 per cent.

Leaders of hardline parties offered reassurance that they would not reverse the liberalisation of social codes that has been the sole tangible achievement of President Mohammad Khatami's reformist-minded government.

But Said Mortazavi, the public prosecutor and a champion of traditionalism, ordered the closure of two reformist websites popular among Iranian students.

The gap between the state media's version of the polls - that the turnout was "massive" - and the interior ministry's turnout figure of 50.6 per cent, the lowest since the 1979 revolution, has become increasingly glaring.

The 50.6 is even ridiculous because government employees, military, etc.. are forced to vote or loss their jobs.

In one city with a population of 115,000 it was reported that 128,000 voted.

The population that voted is probably closer to 20% and that's because smaller towns typically vote on ethnic and local lines and not based on the Iranian government.

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