EU concerned over conduct of polls

Prague: The European Union has expressed concern over how Iran's presidential elections have been conducted.

The 27-nation bloc says it is "concerned about alleged irregularities" during Friday's vote and post-election violence that erupted after the release of results on Saturday.

However, it said it hoped to resume dialogue with Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme.

In a statement, the Czech EU presidency noted the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second four-year term and also said it was concerned about violence that erupted after the results.

Iran's Interior Ministry said Ahmadinejad won 62.6 per cent of the vote, against 33.7 per cent for reformist candidate Mir Hussain Mousavi, who branded the results a "dangerous charade" that would "establish tyranny". "The presidency hopes that the outcome of the presidential elections will bring the opportunity to resume dialogue on the nuclear issue and clear up the Iranian position in this regard," the EU presidency statement said.

"The presidency expects the new government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take its responsibility towards the international community and respect its international obligations," it added.

Six major powers, including EU members Britain, France and Germany, have offered Iran a package of economic and other incentives in exchange for which they want Iran to stop enriching uranium, a process that can produce fuel for power plants or, potentially, a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it aims to build a nuclear bomb, saying it only wants to master enrichment technology.