Security crackdown continues

The Council of Guardians -- a body comprised of 12 clerics and Islamist jurists that oversees elections -- concluded its final investigation into allegations of voting irregularities and fraud in the 12 June presidential election. As expected, the council announced that it found no major violations, which falls in line with the body's previous judgment that the election was free and would not be annulled. Although the council had already ruled on its investigation earlier in the week, on 24 June Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted an additional five days to examine the disputed election, likely in an effort to defuse tensions among reformist supporters. Meanwhile, a hard-line Iranian cleric and member of the Assembly of Experts (a body of scholars that elects and can remove the ayatollah) has publicly stated that the leaders of the unrest and rioters should be punished by execution; however, there has been no further indication that Iranian officials will take such a hard-line approach to deal with the opposition leaders. There have been no reports of major protest rallies over the past several days; several planned rallies have been cancelled in light of the security crackdown. The massive deployment and presence of security personnel has effectively prevented reformist supporters from planning and staging large gatherings. According to reports, small-scale protests continue to occur but are quickly put down by police officers using batons and tear gas. On 26 June reformist supporters were planning to release thousands of balloons to commemorate a young girl who was killed sometime last week in central Tehran.