Tashah
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Source: guardian.co.ukRiots erupt in Tehran over 'stolen' election
Ian Black and Saeed Kamali Dehghan in Tehran
Saturday 13 June 2009
Iran is facing political turmoil after hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was confirmed today as the winner of the presidential election and outraged supporters of his chief rival took to the streets to protest against a "dangerous charade" after a record 85% turnout. Tonight riot police in Tehran faced thousands of angry demonstrators shouting "death to dictatorship" amid shock and confusion after the official result backed Ahmadinejad's claim to have won, made barely an hour after the polls closed on Friday night.
"The regime is making a decision to shape the direction of Iran for the next decade," a political analyst, Saeed Laylaz, said. "I'm sure they didn't even count the votes. I do not accept this result. It is false. It should be the opposite. If Ahmadinejad is president again Iran will be more isolated and more aggressive. But he is the choice of the regime." Laylaz had warned before the result that a second presidential term for Ahmadinejad could create a "Tiananmen"-type situation in Iran after an outpouring of popular enthusiasm for his rival in Tehran and in other cities.
Overt signs of repression included the failure of phone lines for hours after the polls closed and the blocking of the English and Persian-language websites of the BBC and the Voice of America - which are regularly attacked by the Iranian government as "imperialist." SMS messaging also failed. Foreign diplomats scrambled to make sense of the reversal. Fraud had been expected but not on the apparently massive scale required to produce an outcome almost diametrically opposite to what had been predicted by the Mousavi camp and independent analysts.
Friday's excitement in the opposition camp gave way to fury. "It's shameful, they have rigged the polls," said technician Majidreza Askari. "What would you expect from the interior ministry of a liar president? Ahmadinejad lies in front of the whole nation on state-run TV." Samaneh Younes, a nurse demonstrating in Vanak Square, Tehran, tonight, said: "How is it possible that Mousavi didn't even get good results in his own province? How is it possible that there were no blank votes? Why didn't the government provide enough ballot papers in big cities where Mousavi had a huge number amount of supporters?"
One has to wonder if that wouldn't be a problem solver for the western world and Iran itself, if it brought about a more freedom centered government for the Iranians constantly abused by the standing government there. I would hope it wouldn't be necessary because of the loss of innocent life of course, but if civil war cannot be stopped, at least some good could come from it.To much of this sort of thing might result in a civil war.
To much of this sort of thing might result in a civil war.
Nah, not gonna happen. The grip of the Mullah's is far stronger then most people want to believe.
Overt signs of repression included the failure of phone lines for hours after the polls closed and the blocking of the English and Persian-language websites of the BBC and the Voice of America - which are regularly attacked by the Iranian government as "imperialist." SMS messaging also failed.
Hey, this kind of reminds me of what happened back during the 2000-2001 American presidential polls.....well without the violence of course....but almost the same type of corruption. Anyone else see scary similarities?
At least it's a good thing to know that America isn't the only government which is corrupt.
Hey, this kind of reminds me of what happened back during the 2000-2001 American presidential polls.....well without the violence of course....but almost the same type of corruption. Anyone else see scary similarities?
At least it's a good thing to know that America isn't the only government which is corrupt.
Will end the same way the College 'riot' ended a few years ago. If it doesn't just fade away in a day or two..which is most likely.
Ring leaders will be hung, agitators imprisoned.... rest will melt away.
Iran will continue to develop nuclear weapons, call for the extermination of Jews, the destruction of the USA, openly support terrorists, etc ..and Obama will do nothing but pose for cameras.
Article is here.Iran is in turmoil and the country’s political scene is undergoing moment-by-moment changes following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s landslide victory in yesterday’s presidential elections, with evidence growing of a brutal government crackdown on supporters of reformist opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
It is not even close to the same thing. If fraud was as massive in 2000 do you really think the official results would have been so close? In Iran they didn't even count the votes, they just made up some BS numbers.
So you say their votes weren't even counted because a member of the losing party said so? Are there actual facts supporting those accusations? I haven't seen any, just accusations from the losing party. True, maybe our voting corruption in the 2000-2001 elections wasn't quite as bad, but it was still there, making my point valid.
No it doesn't not even close but nice try to bring in something that is way off topic as a matter of fact I call:bs and trolling
Has there been any election, ever, without at least SOME corruption?
Further, has there been a US election in the past 50 years that had only slight corruption?
Poll watchers in Iran's election report that Moussavi got 65% of the vote.
The Mullah's give the election to Ahmedinejad, and claim that Moussave only got 28% of the vote.
How does one solve a huge discrepancy like that? Easy. Arrest the candidate who really won, and wage a brutal crackdown on his supporters. How good of a strategy is that? It depends on the integrity of the people. I have a feeling that the Spirit of Philadelphia has returned, this time making a visit to Iran. The Mullahs have become the new King George III. Freedom for the Iranian people may not happen overnight, but it will eventually come. More than 200 years ago, Americans showed that, no matter how mightily armed the suppressor is, it cannot keep the people down forever, and that eventually, they will rise up and overthrow tyranny. I am optimistic that this is exactly what is going to happen in Iran. As Americans, we should support and encourage the overthrow of Iran's tyrants. My best wishes go out to the Iranian people. May they one day prevail, and soon.
Article is here.
From the article; I found this interesting:
Trying to cut their communications, eh?
Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets of Tehran in protest against the outcome of the country's elections, in the biggest unrest since the 1979 revolution.
Riot police were deployed in the capital on Saturday after about 3,000 supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a reformist candidate, took to the streets following the announcement of his defeat by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president.
The protests intensified following a televised speech by Ahmadinejad in which he said the vote had been "completely free" and the outcome was "a great victory" for Iran.
Al Jazeera's Teymoor Nabili, reporting from Tehran, said major streets in the north of the city had come to a standstill.
"Coming up the street there were running battles happening between riot police and students and there were refuse bins alight in the middle of the road," he said.
"I saw riot police hitting students with sticks. I saw students - or young people - throwing stones at the riot police, trying to knock them off their motorcycles.
"But you didn't get a sense that there was any kind of organised movement in this."
Mehran Kamrava, the director of the centre for international and regional studies, at Georgetown University's campus in Qatar, said that protests in northern Tehran were not necessarily an indication of a rigged ballot.
"The western media has been talking to people in north Tehran, who tend to vote overwhelmingly against Ahmadinejad," he told Al Jazeera.
"But let's not forget that many of the urban Iranians have priorities and proclivities that are not necessarily reflected in other areas of the main cities, and those people could easily have voted for Ahmadinejad.
"Iranian politics have proved themselves to be notoriously unpredictable and this could be one of those instances of unpredictability."
But Khameini appeared unlikely to intervene, calling on defeated candidates and their supporters to avoid "provocative behaviour".
<snip>
Iran does not allow international election monitors.
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