The U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, questioned election integrity in Iran by stating that “the Iranian regime is holding what it calls [parliamentary] elections on 21 February… But the real voting takes place in secret and long before 21 February. The clerics pick the winners and losers before the ballots are even cast… Today, the Iranian regime is facing a crisis of legitimacy and credibility”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson subsequently stated that “instead of questioning the voting in Iran, the U.S. officials had better answer questions… over the ambiguous and complex mechanisms of presidential elections in their own country in which the majority’s vote is ignored”. “The U.S. regime”, Mousavi added, “should also explain its extensive ties with countries that are alien to even the simplest forms of elections”.