Ayotallah Khamenei orders probe into Mousavi’s claims

Updated at: 1930 PST, Monday, June 15, 2009

TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told the top election supervisory body to examine defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's complaints, state television said on Monday.Mousavi lodged a formal protest with the Guardians Council calling for it to annul the result of Friday's presidential election which he lost to hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, complaining of vote-rigging."The Guardians Council has been advised to precisely examine the letter," state television quoted Khamenei as telling Mousavi during a meeting on Sunday.A spokesperson for the council, said the 12-member body would meet on Tuesday with Mousavi to discuss the complaint."The results of the presidential election were sent today by the ministry of interior and we will exmamine them."Tomorrow the council will hold a meeting with these people (Mousavi and candidate Mohsen Rezai) to hear their views and we will inform them the way we work," the spokesperson said."The final decision will be given within the statutory deadline."Khamenei also told Mousavi to pursue his complaints over the election through legal means and settle the issue calmly, the television said."In previous rounds some people followed matters through the Guardians Council as it is the legal reference body in these issues and such matters should naturally be pursued legally in this round," Iran's spiritual guide told Mousavi.Mousavi's supporters have staged demonstrations to protest at the election which returned Ahmadinejad to another four years in power.