US Vice President Joseph Biden said Sunday that there are “real doubts” about whether Iran’s presidential election was free and fair, but the United States has to “accept” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner for now.
The vice president, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” stressed that monitors and officials do not yet have enough information to gauge whether the results are accurate but said several factors raise serious questions about the credibility of the vote.
“We don’t have all the details. It sure looks like the way they’re suppressing speech, the way they’re suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated, that there’s some real doubt about that,” Biden said. “I think we have to wait and see, but it didn’t seem to be on its face to be as clear cut.”
“I have doubts, but we’re going to withhold comment until we have a thorough review of the whole process,” he said.
Ahmadinejad said at a press conference Sunday that the vote was unquestionably “real and free,” though reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi accused the government of voter fraud. The clash has led to unrest in the streets, as Mousavi supporters clash with police in Tehran, FoxNews reported.
