Iran's supreme leader orders probe into poll fraud

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday ordered a probe into claims of election fraud, a day after he stated the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as 'fair'.

State television quoted Khamenei directing the Guardian Council to look into charges by Ahmadinejad's rival and pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. The channel quoted the Iranian leader as saying that issues needed to be pursued through a legal channel.

He also urged Mousavi to try to keep the violence from escalating, saying 'it was necessary that activities are done with dignity.'

The Iranian election commission had on Saturday declared Ahmadinejad a winner in Presidential polls with 63.8 per cent of the vote against 32.7 per cent received by Mousavi, the opposition leader and former prime minister.

The election results sparked violence in Iran with protesters, demanding a re-election, taking to streets and battling police. Ahmadinejad rubbished allegations of the verdict being 'manufactured', and maintained the election was fair.

Image: Iranian expatriates protest against the results of last Friday's presidential elections, in Dubai
Photograph: Jumana El Heloueh/Reuters