TEHRAN - Reformers were the grand victors in Iran's parliamentary elections, but they have had to ally themselves in parliament with former radicals who are backed by the Islamic clergy.

"The election of Mehdi Karroubi as speaker, and that of Majid Ansari as deputy speaker show that the IIPF has lost its initiative inside the Majlis (parliament)," said Darius Abdali, a political analyst.

The radicals were among the most ardent supporters of Khomeini.

Another potential player is the small Servants of Construction Party, which is divided into a pro-Khatami camp and a faction closer to the right-wing. On Tuesday, it managed to get two of its members elected to the office that oversees parliament's day-to-day running.

[Reuters reported: in a related story reported that allies of Mohammad Khatami said on Wednesday they would mount a fresh challenge for leadership of Iran's new parliament after an initial loss to veteran revolutionaries.

[But parliament on Tuesday elected two Old Guard revolutionaries and clerics -- Mehdi Karroubi and Majid Ansari -- as interim speaker and his first deputy, ignoring demands from the IIPF and its allies for a younger and fresher representation.]
 

Full Election Recount Would Have Resulted In Complete Revocation, Iran Zamin News Agency, May 30

Last Friday Janatti, the Head of the Guardian Council, in the Friday prayer's ceremony of Tehran, admitted to many cases of irregularities in the Majlis election and said: "We had a great deal of problems. And we did our best to avoid bringing our issues to the public level. We could have said a lot that we did not."

Referring to confiscation of 1,118 electoral forms in a steel warehouse, he added, "well, we found this many forms in a steel warehouse. If [the forms] are in the hands of people in this manner, very simply they could put any name on them and put them in the ballot box. And then take any name that they desire out of it… In another case, they (election officials) said they were told that 47,000 votes were counted… They were surprised and asked the authorities that asked about the population of that area. The response was 39,000 people. They were asked how many of them were eligible for vote? The answer was about 22,000…

"How is that from such a population, you extract some 40,000 votes from the ballots?"...
 

Journalist Detained in Mid-Trial, Agence France Presse, May 29

TEHRAN - A pro-Khatami journalist, on trial before Iran's conservative-dominated press tribunal, was taken into custody after Monday's hearing, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Emadeddin Baghi, who sits on the editorial board of the now-banned daily Fatth, faces complaints filed by the intelligence ministry, state television and former secret service agents.
 

Dutch Minister's Remarks Blatant Interference in Iran's Internal Affairs, The Tehran Times (State-Controlled Daily), May 31

[Jozias Von] Aartsen [Dutch Foreign Minister] visited Iran with the apparent objective of exploring the avenues of upgrading bilateral relations. However, during his talks with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi, he openly interfered in Iran's internal affairs by raising some irrelevant issues.

The first issue brought up by Aartsen was the case of the Iranian Jews being tried on charges of spying for the Zionist regime. He then emphasized that Iran has to support the so-called Middle East peace process. And finally, the Dutch foreign minister raised the question of human rights in the Islamic Republic.
 

Political Rule in Iran Is Completely Split, Iran Zamin News Agency, May 30

State-controlled daily Hamshahri in an editorial on May 22 described "the new chapter of infighting between the Interior Ministry and Guardian Council over Tehran's election" as "worrisome for various reasons." It wrote: "But the main worry is that the two legal and credible organization have accused each other of illegalities."

The daily continued: The Guardian Council claims that Tehran election is "the most problematic" in the history of revolution, while the Interior Ministry claims "the healthiest" election after the revolution was held.

Hamshahri added, "When two legal organization have such incredible difference of opinion, it is inevitable to conclude that the political rule in Iran is completely split…"

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