Iran's Guardian Council has ordered a random recount of about 100 ballot boxes from last week's presidential election, after allegations of widespread vote-rigging.
State television says the unelected hard-line council ordered the recount Monday in ballot boxes from Tehran, Qom and Mashhad.
Front-runner Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and two defeated reformist candidates have alleged voting irregularities in Friday's polls.
The claims came after hard-line Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad finished a surprisingly close second to Mr. Rafsanjani. The presidency will be decided in a run-off vote between the two on June 24.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have closed two pro-reform newspapers that printed vote-rigging allegations from defeated third-place finisher Mehdi Karroubi.
Sources tell VOA one newspaper Eqbal has been shut down indefinitely. Another paper, Aftab-e-Yazd, will be allowed to publish in the near future, if it blames the shutdown on technical problems in a note to its readers.
State television says the unelected hard-line council ordered the recount Monday in ballot boxes from Tehran, Qom and Mashhad.
Front-runner Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and two defeated reformist candidates have alleged voting irregularities in Friday's polls.
The claims came after hard-line Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad finished a surprisingly close second to Mr. Rafsanjani. The presidency will be decided in a run-off vote between the two on June 24.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have closed two pro-reform newspapers that printed vote-rigging allegations from defeated third-place finisher Mehdi Karroubi.
Sources tell VOA one newspaper Eqbal has been shut down indefinitely. Another paper, Aftab-e-Yazd, will be allowed to publish in the near future, if it blames the shutdown on technical problems in a note to its readers.