Ayatollah wants protesters to accept election results

Iran´s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameini backed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today, calling on supporters of opposition candidates to terminate protests over last week's election results.

Khameini rarely speaks in public, but today he addressed a crowd of thousands at Tehran university. He defended last weekend results.  

“Sometimes the difference between two individuals is 100 thousand or 500 thousand votes” he said, “But how can 11 million votes be replaced or changed?”

Iranian authorities declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the winner of last weekend´s election with over 60 per cent of the ballot, claiming he obtained 11 million votes more than reformist candidate Mir Houssein Moussavi.
But opposition leaders say the elections were fraudulent, and they filed more than 600 complaints throughout this week, while their supporters held massive marches in Tehran.

Today,  Ayatollah Khameini urged opposition leaders to handle their concerns through Iran´s legal system and not through public demonstrations.  

Meanwhile in the United States, the House passed a resolution that "condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the Internet and cellphones."
After today's vote, Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia spoke to the press. He echoed GOP views against the Obama Administration's pursuit of diplomacy.

But while many condemn the Iranian government's treatment of protesters, some analysts point out that massive protests since last weekend have been largely peaceful, and they say that for the most part, police have not enforced an official ban on public gatherings.