The State Department said the election was a setback for political reform in Iran but it said pressure for democracy in that country will continue nonetheless.

At a news briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher expressed the United States' disappointment in the election results. "It was not an electoral process that met international standards and I think you've seen other members of the international community say that. But we do continue to believe the Iranian people deserve a government that responds to their aspirations, and we believe that that desire on the part of the Iranian people will continue to be expressed in a variety of ways," he said.

Mr. Boucher said the election, and a broader lack of respect for human rights, was only one among a list of concerns the United States has about Iranian government policies.