- Title: LUXEMBOURG: France wants investigation into Iran elections
- Date: 16th June 2009
- Summary: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG (JUNE 15, 2009) (REUTERS) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER AT NEWS BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER SAYING: ''I simply said that the fact that the elections led to a repression of opponents is unacceptable, that it shouldn't be accepted in regards to human rights and the transparency of the elections. We strongly stand up against the sad vision we had last night. Our request was to ask for - which word did I use in English? - an investigation, thanks very much, the translation elated me, into information given by opponents. We need to know if all this is fair or not. We cannot accept the results without taking into account those demands from the opponents. So we need to investigate. That's what I said.'' REPORTERS KOUCHNER LEAVING
- Embargoed: 1st July 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Luxembourg
- Country: Luxembourg
- Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC6NQWOSTRBFP6X26JJJTGPW5M
- Story Text: French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner called on Monday (June 15) for an investigation into Iran's presidential election, citing opposition allegations of irregularities.
''Our request was to ask for... an investigation... into information given by opponents. We need to know if all this is fair or not. We cannot accept the results without taking into account those demands from the opponents. So we need to investigate,'' Kouchner said.
Kouchner, who briefly attended a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, called the repression of supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi ''unacceptable''.
Protests have erupted in the Iranian capital and elsewhere since Saturday (June 13), following the announcement of a landslide victory for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday's election (June 12).
On Monday, Mousavi's supporters called off a planned protest rally in Tehran after the Interior Ministry declared it would be illegal and treated as sedition.
The election outcome has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter to curb nuclear work they suspect is for bomb-making, a charge Iran denies. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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