No voting irregularities, Iran says

TEHRAN, June 25 (UPI) -- There were no major irregularities in the June 12 election in Iran that gave a second term to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, elections officials say.

Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told the state-funded Press TV that the 12-member Guardian Council, the clerical regime tasked with overseeing the elections, had reviewed more than 600 complaints from the presidential candidates and found no major irregularities.

Tehran earlier had extended the deadline to vet complaints of vote tampering and fraud, but Kadkhodaei dismissed that as a confidence-building measure to sanction the outcome.

Iran insists the outcome of the election reflects the will of the people despite complaints by Ahmadinejad's rivals, led by former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi.

A review of the elections by the London policy center Chatham House, however, finds widespread disparities, notably in the wide swing in supporters of the conservative Ahmadinejad compared with trends evident from previous votes.

Iranians took to the streets in mass protest in the wake of the elections. Nearly one week on, however, rallies have turned confrontational as the Basij paramilitary force allegedly reacts to the demonstrations with brutal force.

Iran enacted strict media blackouts following the contested election, making verification of any claims difficult.

Deputy Culture Minister Ali Reza Malekian, who oversees the Iranian media, directly blamed foreign media outlets for misrepresenting the situation on the ground.

"Foreign media aim at provoking the chaos in Iran by turning a blind eye to the media ethics and by publishing fake news," he said.