MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia respects Iran's presidential election results and will continue to develop mutually beneficial cooperation and neighborly relations with Tehran, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement released on Monday said.
The Foreign Ministry said the events that occurred in Iran following the announcement of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory were an exclusively internal issue for the country.
"We believe that the disagreements arising after the elections should be settled in strict compliance with Iran's Constitution and law," the statement read.
Tehran has seen mass demonstrations over alleged ballot fraud in the landslide reelection of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12. Official results gave the incumbent 63% of the vote, with reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi getting 34%.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossan Qashqawi said in a weekly press conference on Monday that European countries and the United States were behind the riots and protests in Tehran adding, "France has even gone as far as calling for the annulment of the election outcome. What right do they have to make such inappropriate and irresponsible remarks?"
Qashqawi criticized foreign media for dramatizing the developments in Iran, saying their efforts to launch a cyber war against the government is "totally out of line."
At least 457 people are reported to have been arrested during rioting in Iran's capital on Saturday with some 13 people being killed.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned Europe and the U.S. against meddling in Iran's domestic issues.
Opposition leader Mousavi called on his supporters to continue "showing restraint," saying in a statement on his website on Sunday that the mass arrests "will create a rift between society and the country's armed forces."
