Iran's outgoing reformist cabinet on Tuesday called on its supporters to accept the outcome of the ninth presidential elections, in which ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The requirement for reforms makes it necessary to respect people's rights and accept the outcome of the ninth presidential elections," government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh was quoted as saying in an interview.

"The issue of significance is that reformist methods have already been established and the victory of supporters of reforms does not necessarily require their participation in key positions," Ramezanzadeh said.

Ramezanzadeh further said that the victory of reformists' opposition was materialized based on the mottos of the reformists.

In the presidential runoff elections on Friday, hardline Tehran Mayor Ahmadinejad won overwhelmingly over pragmatist former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The three reformist candidates -- former Higher Education Minister Mostafa Moin, former Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Mehdi Karoubi and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh -- failed even in the first round of the voting on June 17.

The outgoing reformist cabinet, led by President Mohammad Khatami, is to step down on Aug. 3.

Source: Xinhua