Despite their admission Monday of voting irregularities in 50 cities, Iranian officials have announced there will be no “re-vote,” that the Presidential election results would not be overturned, and that they stand by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the elected winner. A spokesman for the powerful Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was quoted by Iran’s state-run English language Press TV as saying the organization had found “no major fraud or breach in the election,” and therefore, results would not be annulled. These new developments further taint a failed and fraudulent election process that has set off the most sustained challenge to Iran’s leadership in 30 years. With violence and bloodshed continuing in the region, there seems to be no peaceful end in sight.
