Defeated Mousavi says Iran's new gov't "illegitimate"

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TEHRAN, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi said in a statement posted on his website on Wednesday that Iran's new government is "illegitimate."

"From now on the majority of society, of which I am a member, will not accept its (the new government's) legitimacy," the statement said.

Referring to a number of detained people of his supporters, Mousavi called on the officials to "free the children of the revolution from the prisons," and also called for lifting of a ban on the media.

Iran's Guardian Council, which is charged with supervising elections in the country, approved the results of the June 12 presidential election on Monday.

The announcement came after the Guardian Council ran a recount of 10 percent of the votes on Monday, which showed no irregularities, the English-language satellite Press TV channel said.

The Guardian Council's announcement confirmed that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been reelected for a second term.

Guardian Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai told state television later Monday that the case for reviewing the election results "is closed now" for the council.

On June 13, the Iranian interior minister said Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots, while his main rival Mir- Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent.

The other two candidates -- former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei -- got less than 2 percent of the total ballots.