As Iran gears up for its presidential election in June, the question of fraud in the 2009 election continues to haunt the country’s leadership. Baztab, a widely read news site close to former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei, stirred up controversy on Saturday after it claimed that Ahmadinejad, Iran’s beleaguered head of government, was in possession of a tape that would prove that authorities had inflated his number of votes in the 2009 race by 8 million and thus brought his total tally to 24 million instead of his original 16 million. … Baztab claimed that Ahmadinejad had threatened to release the alleged tape should the Guardian Council, a body charged with overseeing elections, decide to bar his top aide and protégé Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei from running in the upcoming presidential election on 14 June.
… The site says that the tape in question is a recording of a conversation between Ahmadinejad and other regime officials in the early hours of 13 June 2009. During the conversation, Baztab claims, Ahmadinejad was told that his “real vote” was 16 million. However, in order to prevent allegations of fraud from being levelled at the ruling elite, the incumbent president was informed that his final vote would be announced as 24 million.
In the tape, Baztab adds, Ahmadinejad argued against the move and called for the “real” result to be announced!
Full Article: Iran: Ahmadinejad To Expose 2009 Voter Fraud If Protégé Barred From June 14 Election Eurasia Review.