report
June 30, 2009
Delegate Responsibility for Approving the Election to Leader
Shervin Omidvar
Mehdi Karoubi wrote an open letter to the Guardian Council this past Sunday in which he emphasizes that annulling the June 12th election is the only way to restore people's trust,...

Mehdi Karoubi wrote an open letter to the Guardian Council this past Sunday in which he emphasizes that annulling the June 12th election is the only way to restore people's trust, and asks the Guardian Council to delegate the responsibility of approving the election results to the Islamic republic supreme leader.
In his letter to the Guardian Council, Karoubi again reiterates his position that the elections should be annulled. "Annul the election whose irregularity and fraud are evident to everyone. If the GC intends to certify the results of the election because the supreme leader has declared that annulling it would not be in the best interests of the state, I then ask the Council to assign the responsibility for doing this to him [supreme leader's]."
Mehdi Karoubi's suggestion to the Guardian Council is made after ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic republic approved the election results in a public note on June 13 and referred to Ahmadinejad as the "president elect."
Despite the protests of the other three presidential candidates and the publication of evidence exposing the incidence of widespread fraud, the leader of the Islamic state approved the election results for the second time a week later, during Tehran's Friday prayers. While voicing his support for Ahmadinejad, the leader threatened the other candidates, especially Mir Hossein Mousavi, that they would be held responsible for the murder of street demonstrators if they continue to protest the election results.

Election Results "Ridiculous"
Referring to his previous letter to the Guardian Council, in which he had written, "The only way to restore people's trust regarding their right to self-determination is to annul the election," in his latest letter Karoubi wrote, "Prior to the election, we held the belief that the people's widespread presence can render fraud ineffective, without knowing that people will be acting in a pre-designed show by participation in the election."
Addressing the members of the GC, Karoubi denounced the election results as "ridiculous," adding, "The ridiculous results inflicted such a shock on society that the people's trust in the regime was seriously undermined."
Karoubi insisted, "One cannot ignore the presence of millions of people who demand their rights in a peaceful and civil manner and, by calling them thugs and agitators, unleash the irresponsible rogue and plain-clothed agents to suppress the people using the most insulting remarks and most savage behaviors that the pen is unable to describe."