http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=197114
June 20, 2009 Leader: All four candidates belong to Islamic system Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said all four presidential candidates belong to the Islamic system and thus all pursue their complaints through legal channels. He made the remarks in his sermons delivered at Friday prayers in Tehran. The Leader stated that the presidential election's 'unprecedented' turnout of almost 85 percent hit the enemy like a 'political earthquake' and became a cause for a 'real celebration' for the friends of the country. Ayatollah Khamenei said the high turnout in the election, in which about 40 million Iranians cast ballots, was a great manifestation of the people's solidarity with the Islamic establishment. He went on to say that the June 12 presidential election showed that the Iranian nation has a 'common sense of responsibility' to determine the destiny of the country. All those who took part in the election proved their 'political consciousness and commitment' to the Islamic establishment to the entire world, he added. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will by no means betray the votes of the nation," he asserted. However, Ayatollah Khamenei maintained that the Guardian Council, the body tasked with overseeing the election, would look into the complaints of the candidates who are unhappy about the election results. The Leader stated that the establishment would never give in to illegal demands and urged all presidential candidates to pursue their complaints through legal channels. He also called on the people to halt the illegal street demonstrations over the election results. Following the announcement of the outcome of the election, supporters of the defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- who has rejected the election results -- took to the streets of Tehran and other cities in daily rallies. "It must be determined at the ballot box what the people want and what they don't want, not in the streets," he said. The Leader also urged all presidential candidates to be vigilant in the face of enemy plots to sow the seeds of discord in the nation. Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the enemies are trying to undermine the people's trust in the establishment. The Leader also warned about foreign media outlets' efforts to destabilize the country and blamed Britain in particular. On June 12, President Ahmadinejad was reelected president with almost 25 million votes, which was over 60 percent of the vote. His three challengers were Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi, and Mohsen Rezaii. The Leader said the time is over for rivalry and stated that everyone should unite and line up behind the president-elect. He stated that the election was fair and ruled out any allegations of fraud in the presidential election, insisting that the Islamic system does not "cheat" voters. "Iran's laws do not allow vote rigging, especially at the level of 11 million," he said, referring to Ahmadinejad's victory margin. "If the difference was 100,000 or 500,000 or 1 million, well, one may say fraud could have happened. But how can one rig 11 million votes?" Ayatollah Khamenei asked. The Leader said the only way to resolve the complaints is through "legal channels", adding, "I will not surrender to illegal precedents." "If the legal framework is broken today, no election will be trusted in the future," he added. Ayatollah Khamenei also stated that all groupings should refrain from going to extremes. "If the political elites violate the law, unintentionally or on purpose, they are responsible for the bloodshed, aggression, and chaos." In a reference to the presidential debates, in which the incumbent president accused the families of Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and former parliament speaker Ali-Akbar Nateq-Nouri of financial corruption, the Leader said, "Concerning relatives of these individuals or others, whoever has any case to raise, he should just pursue those cases through legal channels. Without proving anything, nothing should be mentioned. As long as an accusation is not proven, there is no difference between individuals and nobody should then be accused [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
