Iran's Guardian Council admits excess voters; CFR's 'Must Reads' on Iran; Australian email at centre of ute affair a fake; bomb blast injures leader in Caucuses; and more

Top of the Agenda: Iran Election Aftermath

Iran's government today acknowledged flaws in the country's disputed recent June 12 presidential vote, which has prompted mass protests. Al-Jazeera reports Iran's Guardian Council, the powerful body that has held decisive sway over Iranian politics in recent decades, admitted that the number of votes cast in fifty cities exceeded the number of voters, seemingly contradicting prior statements by the country's Supreme Leader that the vote was fair. At the same time, however, the authorities insisted that the violations did not break Iranian law (NYT), and the Guardian Council said it was unclear whether the discrepancies would have swayed the reported results of the vote, which according to Iran's government returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

Meanwhile, Iran's government condemned what it said were the West's efforts to use the vote to undermine Iran's power. A spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry said foreign media had acted as "mouthpieces" of hostile governments (BBC) seeking "anarchy and vandalism" in Iran. The Washington Post reports Iran's state-run media also ratcheted up its criticism of protestors this weekend after at least ten people were killed on Saturday.

NPR's Weekend Edition examines whether Iran's crackdown on this weekend's protests, which in addition to claiming lives left roughly one hundred people injured, could mark the end of the post-election flare-up.

Responding to Iran's political turmoil, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said political change in Iran could restore peace in Israeli-Iranian relations (Reuters).

Background:

CFR's Must Reads on Iran.

An interactive timeline tracking U.S.-Iran relations since World War II.

A Backgrounder on religion and politics in Iran.

 

PACIFIC RIM: Australian Politics

Australian authorities said an email that has drawn great attention in the country for alleging misconduct on the part of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is in fact fake (The Australian).

N.KOREA: The South Korean paper Chosun Ilbo reports that the son and slated heir of Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-Un, has been working as the acting chairman of Pyongyang's National Defense Commission.

 

ELSEWHERE:

India clamps down on Maoists.
Ingushetia leader severely injured in attack.

This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.