Allegations of Fraud in Iran -- I'm Shocked, Shocked!

I suppose that these days it's impossible to hold an election anywhere without raising charges of fraud. This time, though, they seem to be well warranted.

The LA Times reports:

TEHRAN, Iran -- Two reform candidates angrily challenged the results of Iran's presidential election Saturday, charging that hard-line factions manipulated the vote in favor of the conservative mayor of Tehran, a former member of the Revolutionary Guard with limited political experience.

At a raucous news conference, third-place finisher Mehdi Karroubi claimed that conservatives had denied him his rightful place in Friday's runoff election between the two top vote-getters.

Another reformer echoed the complaint. Mostafa Moin had been considered a likely challenger to the front-runner, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, but finished fifth out of seven candidates.

After a day of sometimes contradictory information, election officials confirmed late Saturday that Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had come in second, only 1 1/2 percentage points behind Rafsanjani. The former president, a 70-year-old centrist, will face the 49-year-old Ahmadinejad in the first presidential runoff in the 26-year history of the Islamic republic.

Rafsanjani, a one-time confidant of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, has spoken of the need for greater engagement with the United States.

Ahmadinejad, who was an unknown when he was tapped to run Tehran's city government two years ago, has said better relations with the United States are not a priority. He has also been quoted as ruling out any retreat by Iran from its nuclear program, which the country says is for peaceful purposes. The United States and the European Union say Iran is attempting to acquire nuclear weapons.

"Access to nuclear technology is an inalienable right of Iran and the world ought to recognize our rights," Ahmadinejad has said.

Moin's finish came as a bitter disappointment to followers and aides, who were counting on him to build on the policy of gradual liberalization carried out for the last eight years by incumbent Mohammad Khatami. A campaign aide to Moin spoke darkly of a "coup d'etat" being carried out by the Revolutionary Guard and the conservative watchdog Council of Guardians, which oversees elections and decides who can run.

Does anyone seriously think that real reform can be achieved through the electoral process in a land where religious authorities vet all candidates? When there are no principles or agendas to debate, all that is left is squabbling over offices.

Read the story here.