TEHRAN — Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of interference for saying its election was neither free nor fair as political factions traded blame for the record low turnout and high number of invalid ballots.
Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline judge who is under US sanctions, secured victory as expected on Saturday in an election marked by voter apathy over economic hardships and political restrictions.
A US State Department spokesman said on Monday the United States viewed the process that made Raisi Iran’s president-elect as “pretty manufactured,” reiterating the US view that the election was neither free nor fair.
Tehran rejected the criticism, according to Reuters.
“We consider this statement as interference in our domestic affairs, contrary to international law and reject it,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei was quoted by state media as saying. Washington did not have the authority to express views on elections in other countries, he said.
On Monday, some 150 former United Nations officials and international human rights and legal experts called in a letter for an international commission of inquiry into the extrajudicial killing of thousands of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 in which Raisi is accused of involvement.
When asked about allegations that he was involved in the killings, Raisi told reporters: “If a judge, a prosecutor has defended the security of the people, he should be praised … I am proud to have defended human rights in every position I have held so far.”
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