U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has slammed Iran's presidential elections, saying they failed as an exercise in democracy because unelected clerics decided who could run.
Ms. Rice's comments Sunday in Jerusalem came just hours after third place finisher Mehdi Karroubi accused Iran's conservatives of rigging Friday's vote.
Results show hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad finished a surprising second to former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The two candidates face a run-off vote June 24.
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi also rejected Friday's results, saying she will continue to boycott the polls as long as unelected clerics disqualify office-seekers.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran, had hovered at the back of the field of seven candidates in pre-election surveys before his surprising 2nd place showing. His political base was said to be limited to the capital.