Iran's Guardian Council will not annul election saying there was "no major fraud"

Officially the incumbent President Ahmadinejad won the election with around two thirds of the vote. However his nearest rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi along with hundreds of thousands of protestors, have contested the result saying that the election was rigged in favour of Mr Ahmadinejad.

For full coverage of the Iranian election protests click here

Mr Mousavi and two other defeated candidates had submitted 646 complaints of breaches of electoral rules to be examined by the Guardian Council. One of the irregularities was the fact that turnout in some places was over 100 per cent, suggesting the results were manipulated.

Yesterday the Guardian Council conceded that turnout was above 100 per cent in some places but said it was normal as Iranians are free to vote in any area they wish for the presidential election.

Late last night the spokesman for the council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, said that most of the 646 complaints were reporting irregularities before the election was held and not during or after the vote.

Kadkhodaei said, "If a major breach occurs in an election, the Guardian Council may annul the votes that come out of a particular affected ballot box, polling station, district, or city like how it was done in the parliamentary elections," reports Iran's state funded Press TV.

"Fortunately, in the recent presidential election we found no witness of major fraud or breach in the election. Therefore, there is no possibility of an annulment taking place."

Kadkhodaei added that polling stations had been open longer than officially announced, dismissing claims that polling stations had been closed early. He said that polling stations were told to remain open as long as there were queues of people wanting to vote.

He also said that he had received reports from provincial boards looking into alleged illegal campaigning on the day of the election itself, but that the reports showed no "series of violations had occurred".