'Repression and violence against peaceful demonstrators must stop because there is no justification for it,' Mr Sarkozy said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS - WESTERN leaders expressed rising anger on Sunday at Teheran's crackdown on protesters disputing Iranian election results and on foreign journalists covering the story soiled diplomatic relations.
AS ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the 'incredible acts of courage' by demonstrators, Iran's electoral watchdog expressed a readiness to 'randomly' recount up to 10 per cent of ballot boxes.
Mr Mousavi wants a new election, but Mr Ahmadinejad bluntly told the United States and Britain to 'stop interfering' after Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki accused London of plotting to sabotage the election.
CARACAS - THE world must respect Iran and the election 'triumph' of its incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday.
'We call on the world to respect Iran because there are attempts to undermine the strength of the Iranian revolution,' Mr Chavez said in his weekly radio and television address.
Following a call from Germany for a full presidential vote recount, French President Nicolas Sarkozy articulated external dismay at the reaction of Iranian authorities to a crisis that has already claimed 17 lives.
'The attitude of the Teheran authorities in the face of the legitimate desire for truth of a large part of the Iranian population is inexcusable,' Mr Sarkozy said, highlighting the Iranian government's 'pariah' status.
Teheran, already isolated due to ambiguous nuclear ambitions, was now 'depriving its people of their most basic democratic rights", he said.
'Repression and violence against peaceful demonstrators must stop because there is no justification for it,' he added.
Iranian state television reported that at least 10 people died and more than 100 were wounded in Tehran during mass demonstrations on Saturday in support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.
But as Iran deported or detained special correspondents for flagship media outlets the BBC and Newsweek, and Britain rejected accusations of meddling behind the scenes, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a vote recount.
'Germany stands by the people in Iran who want to exercise their right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,' Dr Merkel said of the reaction to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being declared the winner of June 12 polls.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned the death toll 'will raise the level of concern among Iranians and around the world.'
The massive street protests - which have spread abroad but subsided in Teheran on Sunday amid heavy patrols by security forces - have posed the greatest challenge to the Islamic region since a 1979 revolution. -- AFP
