Today's Top Stories (June 16, 2009)

Today's Top Stories (June 16, 2009) - International reactions to Iran elections Tuesday 16 June


Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at the Russian city of Yekaterinburg today to attend the ninth annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).


Iran has an observer status in the SCO, which includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgystan.


A spokeswoman for Russias President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters that: the heads of SCO member states congratulated Ahmadinejad on his reelection.


Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that: "We welcome the fact that the elections have taken place, and we welcome the newly re-elected Iranian president on the Russian soil."


Ryabkov added that: "It's quite symbolic that the Iranian president arrived in Russia on his first foreign visit since re-election. We see that as a sign that the Russian-Iranian relations will advance further."


In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said today: The elections are a matter for the Iranian people, but if there are serious questions that are now being asked about the conduct of the elections, they have got to be answered.




Brown said There must be no violence in response to peaceful protests, adding that: the relationship they will have and the respect they will have from the rest of the world will depend on how they respond to what are legitimate grievances that are being expressed and have to be answered.


At the same time Japans foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, said today in a press conference: We are extremely concerned about the confusion in Iran. We are carefully monitoring the situation.



He added: We hear about shootings. We hope that the situation will come to an end as soon as possible.




Also today, Australias Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told that countrys parliament: We are of course gravely concerned about both the reports and the images of serious human rights abuses that weve seen on camera and in ...

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