Iranian officials have again declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the nation's disputed presidential election.
The powerful group that supervises Iran's elections, the Guardian
Council, conducted a partial recount Monday of 10 percent of random
ballot boxes nationwide.
According to Iranian state media, the Council said the recount confirms
the official results from the June 12 vote, and the body dismissed all
the election complaints it received.
Earlier in the day, the Council said its members met with defeated
reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, but that the meeting was
"ineffective."
Mr. Mousavi previously rejected the partial recount and insisted that the results of the election be annulled.
In other news, Iran says it has released five Iranian staffers of the
British embassy in Tehran, days after nine were detained for alleged
links to the nation's post-election unrest.
British Prime Minister Gordon Browncondemned the detentions, saying they are "unacceptable, unjustified and without foundation."
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news
conference Monday that four staffers of the British embassy still are
being held for questioning.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for their release and said the United States is watching the situation.
A report Sunday quoted the nation's intelligence minister, Qolam Hosein
Mohseni-Ejei, as saying he has proof that some of the local staffers
collected news about the recent protests.
Iranian state media also report Mr. Ahmadinejad has ordered a probe
into the death of a young woman named Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot
dead in Tehran's post-election protests.
The widely viewed amateur video of her death has circulated on the
Internet and international news broadcasts, and her name has become a
rallying cry among demonstrators.
In a letter to Iran's judiciary chief Monday, Mr. Ahmadinejad called her death "completely suspicious" and referred to "vast propaganda by foreign media."
Iranian officials say 17 people were killed in post-election violence, but witnesses say the toll is much higher.