TEHRAN - The Society of Qom Seminary Teachers (religious scholars) issued a statement on Wednesday urging the defeated presidential candidates to pursue their complaints through legal channels. The society also announced support for the Supreme Leader’s guidelines in how to resolve disputes over the election results.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who finished second in the presidential election, and Mahdi Karroubi, who finished last in the four-way race, have made allegations of election fraud.
In the statement the seminary teachers also deplored events that followed the election in Tehran and some other cities in which some people were killed and some others wounded.
The religious scholars said these sad events caused a “pain in the heart” of the Supreme Leader, ulema, clerics and all those whose hearts are filled with the love of the Islamic Revolution.
The union also said it has “no doubt” that those who plunder public property and behave violently are not connected to any political group or presidential candidate.
“The purpose behind such acts, as the Supreme Leader noted, is to bitter the sweetness of the Iranian nation’s victory in the presidential election,” part of the statement said.
Unfortunately the election aftermath have given a pretext to “damage the reputation” of the Islamic Republic and also provided a “good subject” for Zionist-related media.
The seminary teachers have insisted that the Guardian Council is the only legal body authorized to investigate claims of election fraud and it is necessary that each candidate pursue his complaints through the council which is also obligated to investigate complaints and release its findings.
At the end the society called on the people to keep their unity, remain calm and observe the law