Kerry blasts Iranian election maneuvering  May 24, 2013 - 9:35
AM US Mideast   TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry harshly criticized Iranian authorities on Friday for
eliminating hundreds of presidential candidates, suggesting that
Tehran is standing in the way of legitimate, representative
democracy.  Among those disqualified earlier this week by Iran's
Guardian Council was former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The purge was seen as a demoralizing blow to pro-reform groups,
and Kerry declared himself "amazed" by a process under which an
unelected body, accountable to no one, picked candidates "based
solely on who represents the regime's interests, rather than who
might represent some different point of view from the Iranian
people."  "That is hardly an election by which most people in
most countries judge free, fair and accessible, accountable
elections," Kerry told reporters in Tel Aviv after two days of
talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. "The lack of
transparency make