Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders inquiry into vote-rigging claims in Iranian poll.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered an investigation into claims of vote-rigging and fraud in last week's presidential election, Iranian state TV reported today.

The report said Khamenei had told the guardian council, the clerical body that oversees elections, to examine the pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's claims of widespread rigging in Friday's poll.

The government declared the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to have won in a landslide victory.

Today's news represents a surprising turnaround for Khamenei, who had previously welcomed the results.

Mousavi has cancelled a rally planned for later today after being warned …