Iranian security forces on motorcycles are seen amongst traffic near the parliament building. -- PHOTO: AP
TEHERAN - IRANIAN police were out in force across the capital Teheran on Monday as the authorities upheld the official results of this month's fiercely-disputed presidential election over opposition protests.
OUTRAGE AT DETENTION
Western governments meanwhile expressed outrage at Iran's continued detention of the four British embassy staffers.
Iran freed five of their colleagues earlier in the day, but British Prime Minister Gordon Brown slammed the arrests as 'unacceptable' and demanded the immediate release of the other four.
As Iranian authorities continued to hold four locally recruited British embassy staff, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi warned that the Group of Eight major powers would consider sanctions against Tehran at a summit next week.
State television announced that, after a 'thorough and comprehensive investigation,' Iran's official electoral watchdog had upheld the re-election of hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a vote denounced by his main challenger, former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi, as a 'shameful fraud'.
The head of the Guardians Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, concluded that 'the majority of the objections were not deemed infringements or fraud and were only minor irregularities that occur in each election,' the television reported.
Mr Mousavi's supporters had boycotted the partial recount of the vote carried out by the council in response to the complaints of the defeated candidates.
The opposition had demanded a complete rerun and has staged massive public demonstrations in a dispute that has shaken the foundations of the Islamic regime, with unprecedented criticism of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to the official results, Mr Ahmadinejad won by a thumping majority of 63 per cent against just 34 per cent for Mousavi, a gap of 11 million votes.
Witnesses said thousands of policemen and Basij militiamen brandishing sticks were deployed in Teheran's main squares to prevent any recurrence of the opposition protests over the conduct of the election that have broken out since the June 12 poll.
They said security forces were also randomly checking the boots of cars and vehicles, and checking the identification cards of drivers. -- AFP
