Council Asks Ayatollah to Extend Iran Election Probe

The top body investigating the results of the recent election is asking Iran’s supreme leader to give it more time to clear up any and all “ambiguities,” Reuters reports. “We are urging you to allow us to extend the deadline to receive further complaints five more days,” the Guardian Council wrote to Ayatollah Khamenei. The Council has rejected opposition demands for a do-over.

“As the legal deadline to review the complaints ends on Wednesday,” the letter continues, “extending the deadline will help the council to remove ambiguities.” The Council argues that more time would conclusively validate the results of the election, which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad another term. 17 people have died in protests that sprung up after the election, which the opposition says was rigged. (More Iranian election stories.)