Mousavi vows not to back down

TEHRAN, June 26 (UPI) -- Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a statement, vowed not to bow to "recent pressures" to change his mind about challenging election results.

In a statement posted on his newspaper's Web site, Mousavi said the pressures were aimed at isolating him and "making me change my position regarding the annulment of the election," The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

"I cannot modify black as white and white as black," Mousavi was quoted as saying. "This is not the solution to expect me to express something in which I don't believe."

Mousavi and other presidential candidates protested the outcome of the June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, charging widespread ballot fraud. Protesters have wracked Iran since. Official reports say 17 people have died, most on Saturday when protesters confronted police and pro-government militias.

Press TV, an Iranian government-funded broadcaster, reported Mousavi as saying "those responsible for electoral fraud" sided with factions behind the post-election violence, CNN reported.

CNN said it was unable to verify the statement on the Web site because access to it appeared to be blocked. The Iranian government has cracked down on the demonstrations and news-gathering by international journalists.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given the Guardian Council, which oversees the country's election, until next week to examine claims of ballot irregularities and certify the polls, but public statements by Khamenei and the council indicate Ahmadinejad's win will stand.