Ahmadinejad Declared Winner of Iran Election

[Defender968]

Well I wish I could say I'm surprised , and even more surprising is the challenger is shouting fraud, but never fear he’ll be killed shortly. I mean really come on, no politician would ever steal an election, especially not in a stand up country like Iran, led by a prince like Mahmoud And so it goes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...300627_pf.html

Ahmadinejad Declared Winner of Iran Election
Clashes Break Out Among Voters as Challenger Mousavi Disputes Results

By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 13, 2009 12:34 PM



TEHRAN, June 13 -- Riot police clashed with supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in the center of the city Saturday evening after the government declared that he had been defeated in a landslide by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Police used tear gas and batons to battle angry crowds, buses were set on fire and explosions and gunshots were heard in the distance.

In some areas, protesters pushed back the riot police. Women wrapped their headscarves around their faces to protect themselves from the tear gas. One man reportedly died after he was beaten by police.

On one street, riot police in full gear zoomed around on red motorcycles while others stood between three burned-out city buses. Hundreds of protesters hurled stones at them. Thick black smoke filled the air.

"We want freedom," the protesters shouted. Many of them had covered their faces with green cloth, the color of Mousavi.

Hundreds of people ran through the alleys surrounding the normally bustling street as police slowly advanced, hurling back stones that demonstrators had thrown at them. "Fight them!" a man shouted. "Death to the dictatorship!" others yelled at they ran toward the police.

In another location, demonstrators threw several policemen to the ground, and bystanders then beat and kicked them.

Mousavi, a former prime minister who waged a heated campaign against Ahmadinejad's bid for reelection, urged his supporters to reject a "governance of lie and dictatorship." He attributed the results to widespread vote fraud and vowed to resist a "dangerous manipulation" of the balloting.

The demonstrators on the streets carried placards and shouted protests that the election had been stolen. The word in the crowd was that Mousavi would lead a march toward the Interior Ministry, where the votes were counted and which announced that Ahmadinejad had won with 62.6 percent of the vote to less than 34 percent for Mousavi.

"I'm warning that I won't surrender to this manipulation," Mousavi said in a statement posted on his Web site Saturday. He said the announced results were "shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran's sacred system" and represented "treason to the votes of the people." He warned that the public would not "respect those who take power through fraud."

A senior official in Mousavi's campaign said reports that Mousavi was under house arrest were false.

Ahmadinejad will give a speech on television later tonight, and his supporters are expected to celebrate in the streets. A big celebration is planned for Sunday afternoon, and his supporters will have a victory rally at Azadi square.

Iranian media remained silent on the riots, which broke out soon after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Ahmadinejad. The police issued a statement saying that all gatherings were illegal.

The election stirred deep political passions among Iran's 46 million eligible voters, pitting Ahmadinejad, a populist who promised to help the poor and to make Iran a world power, against three challengers. Under Iran's system, if no candidate wins a clear majority, a runoff is to be held between the two top vote-getters.

Mousavi portrayed himself as the candidate for change, pledging to take a less confrontational tone in relations with the West and to provide more technocratic management of the economy. His campaign produced an outpouring of enthusiasm from youth, intellectuals and an older generation of Iranian leaders, while Ahmadinejad drew his core support from rural and working-class voters, plus elements of the military and conservative Islamic clergy.

Ahmadinejad, who has been president since 2005, did not make a statement immediately after the polls closed, but his supporters pointed to the Interior Ministry's official tally to claim victory. Mousavi's supporters charged that officials were trying to steal the election and cut off alternative sources of information. For several hours during the balloting Friday, they said, international telephone lines to Tehran were down and text messaging -- which Mousavi's supporters had used to organize street rallies -- was blocked. Members of the baseej, a paramilitary force of volunteers organized by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, reportedly seized a building in North Tehran that housed several Web sites supporting Mousavi, which were shut down.

A senior aide to another opposition candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, charged that the Interior Ministry was distorting the early vote count by providing results from the countryside and not cities. "We believe these results are void and not acceptable," said the aide, Morteza Alviri.

Mousavi, meanwhile, issued a written statement thanking the "dear people of Iran" for his victory.

"I would like to inform you that in spite of wide-ranging fraud and problem-making, according to the documents and reports we have received, the majority of your votes have been cast in favor of your servant," the statement said. It concluded with a veiled suggestion of a possible confrontation, calling his supporters into the streets to celebrate his victory Saturday night and warning that if the votes are not fairly counted, "I will use all legal facilities and methods to restore the rights of the Iranian people."

The Interior Ministry, which is overseeing the election and counting the votes, is headed by Sadegh Mahsouli, a staunch supporter of Ahmadinejad. But its results must be confirmed by the Guardian Council, a panel of senior Islamic clergymen led by Khamenei, the supreme leader. Khamenei and Mousavi, who was prime minister from 1981 to 1989, are members of an older generation of Iranian revolutionaries who overthrew the shah 30 years ago.

[mac117]

Can't say I didn't see that one coming.........

[nmap]

But on the other hand...is it really a bad thing if a substantial number of Iranians are angry at their existing government?

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by nmap

But on the other hand...is it really a bad thing if a substantial number of Iranians are angry at their existing government?

I agree whole heartily,I think it's great that the other guy is crying fraud...... I hope it escalates...... Maybe,they may even have a riot over it............

GB TFS

[nmap]

In the event anyone wants to keep up with the current events as reported on Twitter, this LINK is available.

It includes comments and also brief videos of rioting. There is even a rumor of the takeover of a police station.

[Guy]

MSM over-hype that didn't pan out the way they all hoped it would....

The percentage of how much he won by should NOT be over-looked! If it was much closer, I'd take a look at the possibility of fraud....

Stay safe.

[glebo]

Well, well, I guess they got ACORN over there also.

[Defender968]

Originally Posted by nmap

But on the other hand...is it really a bad thing if a substantial number of Iranians are angry at their existing government?

Not at all, I’d love to see an uprising from the Iranian populace to overthrow their government, the world would be better off, but I’m not holding my breath either.

Originally Posted by Guy

MSM over-hype that didn't pan out the way they all hoped it would....

The percentage of how much he won by should NOT be over-looked! If it was much closer, I'd take a look at the possibility of fraud....

Stay safe.

One could argue that how much he won by could simply indicate that his minions were more efficient in their country at election fraud than Acorn is here in ours.

[Utah Bob]

Everybody who is shocked at this, raise your hand.

What's this? No hands?

[OcdtADF]

The only people who didn’t see this coming were the Iranian moderates.

This is essentially a generational conflict; the old guard of the revolution is attempting to remain in charge in the face of major demographic changes in the country. Let’s not forget that Iran has one of the youngest populations in terms of average in the world.

This is due in large part to the baby boom after the ending of the Iran/Iraq War. This new group of electors were eventually going to support a cause and attempt to exert their influence (many more are approaching voting age). In this case it was behind a pretty useless candidate who had the luxury of being connected enough to the old guard that he could not be called a traitor, was a popular prime minister (especially to the young because he oversaw the distribution of food during the afore mentioned war) and most importantly was not Ahmadinejad.

This new group rallied around the new leader quickly and efficiently. This has been a long time coming and the young just expected that power would eventually go towards them, no matter what the supreme leader did.

This was pretty silly the clash has been on the way for a while and the old guard just did what they will always do; rig the election (for evidence look at the result in Mousavi’s own hometown).

The problem for the Iranians now is that there is a large disaffected block that has no loyalty to the currant system. Their aggressive actions have also limited what they can do to fix this. So this problem will now fester until either the young block wins or some sort of compromise is reached. Though we are almost certainly stuck with Ahmadinejad and the nuclear weapons program and we may have no choice now but to do something pretty drastic about that.

That’s just my opinion and I may be wrong.

[Guy]

Originally Posted by Defender968

One could argue that how much he won by could simply indicate that his minions were more efficient in their country at election fraud than Acorn is here in ours.

Exactly my point! The MSM over-hyped the election; NOT realizing political and religious power of the sitting Iranian president (Ahmadinejad).

Moussavi is just the lesser of two evils, even though his views "may" seem in alignment with the MSM...

Since his stint as prime minister, Moussavi has been absent from politics. For the past 10 years, his official job has been to head the state-owned Art Center. He is a painter.

Stay safe.

[Saoirse]

I woke to.... here is no big suprise... PROTESTS still in Iran over the fraudulent election. And ooohh..get this... Obama regime still wants to open dialogue with A-Jad (as the news calls him now)whether he has "acorned" the election or not. I bet A-Jad really wishes he had borrowed the "kool-aid" recipe from Barry and Friends.
I see on Fox they are using the "beatings will continue, until morale improves" idea of appeasing the concerns of their people! There was a video clip curtesy of Twitter through Fox News.
I can only assume that there will be no outrage over this from other countries because we wouldn't want to offend our muslim brothers!

[Richard]

MOO - but it's difficult to tell just yet how much is typical MSM hyperbole and - as was the case in Eastern Europe in 1989-90 - how much is an honestly growing movement against the policies of the current anachronistic ruling elites (whoever they may be) which may lead to something more significant.

It certainly didn't help when Ahmadinejad claimed victory with 62% of the vote after only about 20-25% of the votes had been counted.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi gathered in downtown Tehran on Monday, defying an Interior Ministry ban.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090615/...an_election_76

The obese grand dame hasn't warbled as of yet with this one.

Richard's $.02

[afchic]

I heard on the news this morning that the Grand Ayatollah has launched an inquiry into the outcome of the election, to see if there was fraud involved. I'll see if I can find a link.

[OcdtADF]

- For info on the Inquiry announced by Khamenei

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/wo...n.html?_r=1&hp

The result of the inquiry will be known in 10 days.

- For info on the rally held by Mousavi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8101098.stm

- A study of the poll, evidence it was rigged

http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...904644,00.html