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Ahmadinejad Wins Surprise Iran Landslide Victory
Challenger Mousavi claims fraud after record 84% turnout • Tense scenes in Tehran with riot police on streets
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won a crushing victory in Iran's landmark presidential election, according to the country's authorities, but his moderate challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi has warned of "tyranny" and protested that the result was rigged after a record turnout of 84%.
An Iranian protests against presidential elections in Iran outside a polling booth set up for the local Iranian community in Los Angeles. Hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was heading for a thumping victory in Iran's fiercely-contested presidential race, official results showed, in a major upset for his moderate rival.
(AFP/Mark Ralston) Mousavi
appealed directly to the regime's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, as baton-wielding riot police dispersed angry supporters
outside his Tehran headquarters today.
"I personally strongly protest the many obvious violations and I'm warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade," said Mousavi. "The result of such performance by some officials will jeopardise the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny."
As news of the official result sank in, the capital was quiet but tense. Riot police gathered around key government buildings, and mobile phone text messaging was blocked. International news websites – including the Guardian and the BBC – as well as pro-Mousavi websites were blocked or difficult to access.
"The election was a game and full of lies," shouted one protester. "We can not do anything here," said another. "We can not believe the results and they are unacceptable."
Mousavi, a former prime minister, had been widely expected to trounce the controversial incumbent, or at least do well enough to trigger a run-off. He claimed victory in an apparent attempt to pre-empt his rival.
But as the votes were still being counted late on Friday, aides to Ahmadinejad announced that he had won by an "unassailable" margin after polling stations stayed open four extra hours to meet the huge demand.
The interior ministry said this morning that Ahmadinejad had won a crushing victory of 63.3% to 34.7% with most of the votes counted, though the final official result was temporarily put on hold.
Even in Mousavi's hometown province of Tabriz in north-west Iran, the ministry claimed Ahmadinejad received more than 60% of the vote.
Early editions of Mousavi's paper Kalemeh Sabz, or the Green Word, and other reformist dailies declared Mousavi the victor but were ordered to change their headlines, local journalists said. The papers had blank spots where articles were removed.
The outcome seems a grave setback to hopes for a solution to the looming international crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions and for détente with the US in response to Barack Obama's overtures. Israel quickly demanded efforts to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
"It doesn't augur well for an early and peaceful settlement of the nuclear dispute," said Mark Fitzpatrick at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.
If the result stands it will spell an end to hopes for the greater freedoms and economic competence Mousavi had promised Iran's 72 million people. At times the election campaign seemed like a referendum on Ahmadinejad's four-year term.
The high turnout underscored the stakes domestically. Mousavi's slick campaign galvanised an apathetic electorate and raised hopes of a more stable economy and increased liberty at home as well as better relations abroad.
Supporters had hoped Mousavi could have a similarly positive effect to Mohammad Khatami, who ushered in a period of change that ended when Ahmadinejad came from nowhere to capture the presidency four years ago.
Trita Parsi, the president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, expressed disbelief at the wide margin in Ahmadinejad's favour. "It is difficult to feel comfortable that this occurred without any cheating," Parsi told Reuters.
Ali Ansari, who heads the Institute for Iranian Studies at St Andrews University in Scotland, warned: "The potential for unrest is high."
As three weeks of often passionate campaigning drew to a close on Wednesday, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued an ominous warning that any attempt at a popular "revolution" would be crushed.
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37 Comments so far
Show AllStupid Iranians, they need electronic voting machines like we have in the USA. Then the results can be made reflective of a close ballot.
If the USA is so "great" why does not the government have a "Department of Elections" run by protected civil servants to hold efficient and fair election ballots?
Reform under this government is always just a head fake.
Well, apparently the fix was in - what a surprise. :)
This will get interesting, fully two thirds of the Iranian population were born after the momentous year of 1979. It appears the majority of these younger people want to engage with the world as well as participate in activities, culture etc. currently not available to them. We'll see how they react to the door being slammed in their faces and what the true power in Iran - the Supreme Council - does about it.
When will the US start demanding that its main Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, hold elections? All we're going to be reading about the Iranian elections is that it was "fixed" and the corporate media won't even mention Saudi Arabia's or Egypt's lack of democracy. Damn it, but democracy sure can get in the way of US imperialist interests when the results aren't what the power elites wish for.
Let's all look towards American "democracy" that has 2 parties of Big Business and the electorate makes a choice as to which of the two will best represent the interests of the corporations which totally control the electoral process and the candidates.
The outcome seems a grave setback to hopes for a solution to the looming international crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions and for détente with the US..
-------------------------
Iran's nuclear ambitions?
The 2003 National Intelligence Estimate (under Bush) said that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program.
The article should cite evidence when they make such a potentially destabilizing claim.
I am not sure why this 'win' was a surprise. There are at least 5 ways that the vote can be manipulated in Iran and I think one would have to be naive to imagine that the incumbent power and those all-powerful theocrats didn't capitalise on that.
Interesting, but not unexpected either, that Israel applauds this re-election of their hated Ahmadinejad. Israel needs enemies, perceived or otherwise, in order to exist.
North America is not so lily-white in elections either; didn't the Supreme court appoint (rather than elect) a recent president in the US and didn't Harper try to cancel funding to any opposition parties in Canada leading to the shut down of parliament at a time of economic need?
I can't claim any special insight on this one:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/could-fraud-explain-ahmadinejads-win/article1181246/
http://tinyurl.com/kq8ajv
The Globe and Mail is Right-wing??? Ha-ha-ha-ha! It is always being accused of being left-wing in Canada but it all depends on your reference point. You will notice that I have expressed no opinion about whether Ahmadinejad would have won on a fair vote or not, just that an incumbent will use all available resources to ensure their continuation and that there is no independent oversight to deny tampering. You might also want to look at the theocratic overrides on votes and the complexity and overlaying nature of Iranian political structures.
As for Western media I have a basic distrust and gain most of my information from Eastern sources. Since in this case there is correlation I have no problem posting a reply with a link when requested. Note that your post is simply an Ad Hominem attack with no argumentative substance.
Actually Harper, thriough his Minister of Finance, was trying to stop the funding for ALL parties, including his own Conservative Party, which is extemely well funded from other sources. It was an inept, brazen and a very stupid move. Then he goes on to portray his utter ignorance of how a constitutional democracy government works when, threatened with a coalition government proposal from the other parties, he states only the people of Canada can elect the Prime Minister. He is wrong on both counts; a coalition attempt is a device which is perfectly legal and conforms with Parliamentary rules and, the people do not elect the Prime Minister, they vote for their riding candidate only. The party with the most seats usually gets to form the government and therefore the leader of that party will be Prime Minister.
Mr Harper needs a civics lesson.
Absolutely correct; I neglected to mention that the funding stop also applied to the Conservative (Reform?) party since the effect is negligible.
Harper is extremely cunning; I suspect he knows full well that the people do not elect the PM but he also knows that most Canadians don't know that and he can always count on manipulating this largely ignorant vote. Those that can't get further than reductionist binary over-simplification are quite happy to accept these misleading "truths" from a "strong" leader. He does after all think he was appointed by God.
Ahmadinejad is a struggling hero of the people and Mousavi is just a Pro-Western, MIC approved, American backed stooge who's only goal is to subvert Iran for American corporate interests, right?
Puhhhlease.
Why do people on the left glom onto folks like Ahmadinejad?
Aside from the fact that Iran is a theocracy, what has Ahmadinejad done that you dislike? How is he provoking conflict? I don't see him as a "struggling hero of the people", just a head of state who, unlike the US and Israel, has not recently (or ever) launched a war of aggression. How is it fair to call him provocative for resisting our efforts to draw Iran into a war?
"Pro-Western, MIC approved, American backed stooge who's only goal is to subvert Iran for American corporate interests, right?"
Well, when the country that has been threatening to bomb you for several years (after installing the Shah, and supporting Iraq in the Iran/Iraq war, and currently funding covert action to "destabilize" your "regime") decides to back the opposition candidate (like we did in Georgia and the Ukraine, and recently Lebanon) it should probably raise some red flags, right?
Puhhhlease.
You do know that the US "installed" Ahmadinejad in the first place, do you not? Get your facts straight. If you think Mousavi is any better, please explain and prove it and prove to us that he's not there to govern as a foreign corporate puppet.
"You do know that the US "installed" Ahmadinejad in the first place, do you not? "
Nope, but that would be interesting. Care to provide a link or anything to support your assertion?
Actually, not unlike our 'electing' George Bush a second (actually a first) time. The rest of the world thought we were nuts. There's no accounting for people's electoral tastes - which is why the people who own and operate America hate and fear democracy so much.
"The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are, first, the widespread delusion among the poor that we have a democracy, and second, the chronic terror among the rich, lest we get it." Edward Dowling
Great quote, Tirebiter, I love it! It says it all. Now let's start a new political party and make it happen. I think the public is ready for it. At least everyone I talk with agrees. They like the idea of a Mainstream Party.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Your quote by Edward Dowling says it all.
I watched Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory speech. Boy is that guy full of shit!
Deepa
The bais of this article is very obvious. Mousavi symbolises "change" (means pro-US and pro-west, and so promotes US' and West's selfish interests like Shah of Iran).
"If the result stands it will spell an end to hopes for the greater freedoms and economic competence Mousavi had promised Iran's 72 million people." How long does the US and the west deceive the world that their "puppet regimes" around the world symbolise "greater freedom and economic competence"???
Remember 2006 presidential elections in Mexico, in which the US and the West supported Filippe Calderon. The results were contested by opponent Andrés Manuel López Obrador who started what he called a "Pacific Civil Resistance".
According to polls conducted by Grupo Reforma in July 2006 and June 2007, 36 percent of Mexicans still believed the election may have had serious irregularities. But the US and the West hailed the elections, because Calderon was their "puppet".
- Moreover, the world is aware of the "freedom", "democracy" and "economic prosperity" that the US and the west brought to Iran through Shah of Iran. It is also known that Shah's supporters are given safe haven in the US.
In 1953-54 the CIA along with the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) led a coup, through Operation Ajax, against the secular Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran. The purpose of this coup was “to counter his (Mossadegh) nationalization of the British Petroleum Company and to move against the communist Tudeh party whose influence they feared was growing.” The coup brought the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, known as Shah of Iran. Shah crushed the opposition and paved way for the US and the Western interests. He outlawed the existence of rival political parties. With the help of the CIA, Shah created the secret police force SAVAK to crush political and ideological opponents. Dissidents were tortured in the infamous Evin prison. SAVAK killed about 20000 dissidents during Shah’s rule.
Deepa
After the downfall of the US supported dictator Shah of Iran, containing the influence of Iran in West Asia has become a major US foreign policy objective. In order to achieve this goal, the US is making use of several terrorist organizations to carry out covert attacks inside Iran. In April of 2007 the ABC News journalists Brian Ross and Christopher Isham reported that the US was funding a terrorist group Jundullah or Allah’s Brigade to carry out strikes inside Iran. According to them, its leader Abdul Malik Regi, a former Taliban member, was alleged to be involved in large-scale narcotics trafficking through Iranian exiles with connections in West Asia and Europe.
In February of 2007 Jundullah set off a bomb in the Iranian city Zahedan which killed at least eleven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Iranian state television showed the confession of an alleged perpetrator, Nasrollah Shamsi Zehi, that he was trained at a secret camp in Pakistan. Recntly Iran complained against Jundulla and its activities inside Iran.
Media reports suggest that the US is also supporting another extremist organization, Mujahideen-e-Khalq, for attacks against Iran. This organization was involved in the 1991 anti-Shia massacres in Iraq. It was designated as a global terrorist organization in 1997. Another terrorist organization that the US is using to carry out attacks against Iran is a Kurdish terrorist group, Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane, or Party of Free Life of Kurdistan.
No wonder that "Ali Ansari, who heads the Institute for Iranian Studies at St Andrews University in Scotland, warned: "The potential for unrest is high.""
All of this is true. However, that doesn't mean Ahmadinejad isn't a power hungry politican who would stoop to fraud and intimidation to keep control. Just because our msm systematically critizes foreign elections based on our "national interests," that doesn't mean this guy is Iran's George Bush and that he stole an election. That's my best guess.
Somehow, I cannot get the following thoughts out of my mind.
- How do we know for a fact the the opposition was as popular as the US/Israeli/Western press claims?
- The riots fomented by the CIA which resulted in the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1963. This unrest could be the excuse we need to go ahead and allow Israel to nuke Iran - followed by our invasion from both Iraq and Afghanistan (the extra troops-remember & tanks shipped to western Afghanistan). This could be the reason for the dead of night approval of new Afghan commanding general by Congress on Wednesday night.
- News about unrest is getting out of Iran while news cannot be distributed without guv approval inside Iran.... c'mon
but --- who knows?
Deepa
This is the report from an Indian Newspaper "The Hindu" on Ahmedinejad's victory:
"During his four-year tenure, Mr. Ahmadinejad extended micro-credit to small businesses and expanded the health care net to include larger numbers among the poor.
"He is also credited with initiating “justice shares” which allowed the less affluent to become stakeholders in private industry."
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/14/stories/
2009061457120100.htm
No wonder US, Israel and Europe are opposing Ahmedinejad.
Thank you Deepa. As my wife always told me, Iran can effectively communicate with Pakistan and India and is even working to possibly help heal the divide between Pakistan and India. The West is losing out the more they throw tantrums like this. The economies in US and even Europe are worsening and crumbling and here the West is railing against Ahmadinejad's landslide victory. When Nixon in 1972 and Raygun in 1984 won like that, nobody protested. The US is responsible to screwing up Iran's government for decades all for the want of oil. Iran may have its social issues but when we stupid Americans and Europeans can keep voting for more status quo, what's to stop Iran? Deepa, I and a lot of us in the West would love to sincerely apologize to the East for our leaders' recklessness in trying to bully or resorting to tantrum throwing.
And I.
I would like to organize or participate in a bike tour all across Asia to make new friends and to personally and publicly apologize for western-sponsored stupidity and atrocities in every city and village along the way.
Call it the "We're Sorry World Peace Bike Tour".
I wouldn't mind a bike tour though I did not approve of the unsitely one in the other article. Don't get me wrong. There are pluses and minuses of the East and the West. I'm just afraid the bad values have eclipsed what good values the West could have spread to the East.
I'm not sure the West has much to offer the East in terms of any moral values. Maybe technology and entertainment for what it's worth. I think we could learn a lot more from them, as far as patience, virtue, respect, simplicity, hospitality, generosity and so forth.
Presently their is an entourage of diplomats from my home state of Montana over there in Iran on a mission of peace and good will. I would have liked to join them, but without a sponsor could not afford to pay my way over.
I've heard stories about how generous and hospitable the people of Iran are. They'll share their last scrap of food with travelers in the rural areas. Very kindhearted people who smile and laugh easily. I sure hope we don't bomb them!
As far as the naked bike ride? I just don't see how public nudity is a bad thing. If it were normal then we'd be so used to it that we wouldn't notice. All other animals are unclothed. And yes, we too are just animals.
Yeah, but most people better with their clothes on.Especially older people.
Yeah maybe so, but I guess people would take better care of their bodies if they were seen more often in public.
It doesn't matter who won the election in Iran. We the stupid West are gonna have to come clean and admit that we're just begging for more oil from them as if begging from Saudi Arabia wasn't enough. When the US can keep electing status quo again and again, Iran can do as it pleases. Time to leave Iran alone and mind our own business. Our own country continues to crumble and even Europe isn't far behind.
This is exactly what the US wanted--we have a predictable quantity in Tehran. Ahmadinejad is the best bogeyman that State and the Pentagon have had since Osama Bin Laden--a totaly certifiable nutcake upon whom the dumbed-downed masses can vent their misplaced animus.
Meanwhile the elites on all sides sit around congratulating themselves on how smart they are for misdirecting the ire of the rest of us at non-existent foes.
When Main Street learns to hate Wall Street as much as they do Washington DC, they will be closer to the truth of who is causing most of the misery in this world.
Poet
Yesterday I was getting the impression that you were kind of a dink, poet, but now I see you actually have something to offer (especially your second paragraph). Except for promoting hate.
We all need to learn to rise above hate. We can strongly disapprove without hating.
Hatred is causing far more misery in this world than anything, including stock brokers and banksters.
WOW Just like bush!
There were pre-election polls that had Ahmadinejad at 60-62%. Of course, they were not reported in the US though. Neocon propagandists are predictably trying to claim that this election was "rigged" or "stolen" to support their planned illegal war of aggression against Iran.
An attempted occupation of Iran would bankrupt the USA. Iran has a much larger and more patriotic population than Iraq. It has excellent terrain for a guerrilla war (i.e. lots of rugged, mountainous terrain). Iran also has a large number of modern anti-ship missiles from Russia and numerous homemade surface-to-surface missiles. Iran would also issue a fatwa calling on Iraqi Shiites to rise up against the US occupation of Iraq. It would be worse for the US than the Vietnam War, both in terms of causalities and especially the economic cost.