TEHRAN - IRANIAN state television said on Wednesday a partial recount of the vote in the country's disputed June 12 presidential election had verified the result.

Official results released a day after the election showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won by a landslide, but his main moderate challenger Mirhossein Mousavi said the vote was rigged and called for it to be annulled.

Iranians protest against election result: witness =========================== TEHRAN - A GROUP of over 200 Iranians gathered Wednesday in southern Tehran to protest against the presidential election result, a witness told Reuters, adding there were no clashes so far. ... more Iran's Karoubi says new government 'illegitimate' ============================= TEHRAN - Iran's moderate defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi rejected on Wednesday the June 12 presidential election result and said the new government was 'illegitimate', his website reported. ... more

Iran's English-language Press TV said in a scrolling headline: 'Iran: partial vote recount verifies election result.' It did not give details.

Iran's top legislative body - the Guardian Council - had previously said it was ready to recount a random 10 per cent of votes cast, but it was not immediately clear whether this was what Press TV was referring to.

Earlier this week, a spokesman for the council, which must approve the result, again ruled out any annulment of the election, saying no major irregularities had been discovered.

But on Tuesday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved a request by the council to extend by five days the deadline for receiving and looking into complaints about the election.

The council is a 12-man body, six senior clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader and six Islamic jurists, which must ensure all laws agree with Islamic Sharia law and Iran's constitution.

It also vets aspiring candidates for presidential elections. -- REUTERS

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