Rioting In Iran
Yesteday’s stunning surprise announcement of Ahmadinejad as the winner of the Iranian election has led to protests and riots in Iran, news agencies are reporting. Some of these riots are getting violent. Some pictures are here.
Here is a report by a NBC producer in Iran:
What started off as a small rally outside a pro-reformist newspaper swelled into a massive crowd of people chanting, “Death to the dictator, death to Ahmadinejad!”
Then, what started with a small amount of police pushing the crowd back turned into huge riot police in armored gear and motor bikes beating all the young students here with batons, knocking them back. The students responded by throwing stones, which the police then threw back. Now the police are coming off all the heart streets and main streets to try and disperse the crowd. But this is an unprecedented scene in Iran today.
Iranians are highly skeptical of the vote result:
Asked if he believed the election results being reported by Iran’s Interior Ministry, Arouzi sounded highly skeptical. “If you were in Tehran the last few days, you would think it impossible that Ahmadinejad won,” he said. “Everybody we spoke to was a supporter of Mousavi.”
Some videos (there are more at the link):
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In this second video, police are seen running away from protesters (beginning of the video).
Update: It’s looking more and more like this election was definitely stolen for Ahmadinejad. CallerRick is definitely right in pointing out that the real power in Iran rests with Ayatollah Khameini. More from the Huffington Post:
3:41 PM ET — Potentially stunning development. The National Iranian American Council links to a Farsi language story saying the President of the Committee of Election Monitoring has requested that the election be canceled.
Hojjat-ol-Eslam Yali Akbar MohteshamiPour officially requested that the Guardian Council to cancel this election and schedule a new election balanced and moderated democratically with the widespread and national presence of the people.
Also from NIAC:
According to Mousavi’s website, a group of employees in the Ministry of the Interior in an open letter warned that the votes have been changed and manipulated in the state election commission. In this letter, which was addressed to the chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the President, the of Majlis of Iran, the heads of the legislative and judicial branch and several other government agencies, a group of employees stated that “as dedicated employees of the Interior Ministry, with experience in management and supervision of several elections such as the elections of Khamenei, Rafsanjani and Khatami, we announce that we fear the 10th presidential elections were not healthy.”
Juan Cole also reacts with some evidence that the vote was stolen: Stealing the Iranian Election.
1. It is claimed that Ahmadinejad won the city of Tabriz with 57%. His main opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is an Azeri from Azerbaijan province, of which Tabriz is the capital. Mousavi, according to such polls as exist in Iran and widespread anecdotal evidence, did better in cities and is popular in Azerbaijan. Certainly, his rallies there were very well attended. So for an Azeri urban center to go so heavily for Ahmadinejad just makes no sense. In past elections, Azeris voted disproportionately for even minor presidential candidates who hailed from that province.
2. Ahmadinejad is claimed to have taken Tehran by over 50%. Again, he is not popular in the cities, even, as he claims, in the poor neighborhoods, in part because his policies have produced high inflation and high unemployment. That he should have won Tehran is so unlikely as to raise real questions about these numbers.
…
6. The Electoral Commission is supposed to wait three days before certifying the results of the election, at which point they are to inform Khamenei of the results, and he signs off on the process. The three-day delay is intended to allow charges of irregularities to be adjudicated. In this case, Khamenei immediately approved the alleged results.
This was rather poorly done. Why give Ahmadinejad such a large margin? If you’re going to steal the election, at least make it look plausible.
More at the link.
Update #2: The BBC reports that “official” election results have Ahmadinejad winning Mousavi’s home district. I call bullshit.
Tags: Iran
There is a risk to holding fake elections.
Since the US media treats every story as a “this is bad for Obama story” I guess tomorrow’s talking heads shows will be packed with Republicans saying that this is bad for Obama.
It is not Obama’s fault. I pray for his wisdom in dealing with this dynamic situation.
Andrew Sullivan provides interesting data suggesting that the Iranian Interior Ministry had no intention of a fair election.
Harvard’s Internet and Democracy Project mapped out the doings in the Iranian blogosphere ahead of the election and found strong support for Mousavi. Which was probably picked up by the media and transmitted as real possibility for the reformer.
Neither is conclusive evidence of much, but adds to a picture that something went very, very wrong here.
Americans did not “riot” when Bush stole 2 presidential elections.
“Sure Looks Like Democracy To Me”
I am sure that repub David will be happy to know that foreign journalists are being beaten for breaking Iranian law by reporting on this story.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE55C11920090613
From today’s Washington Post:
“In Shahr-Rey….voter Ali Badiri said that young women without head scarves had been dancing in the streets over Mousavi’s candidacy. “I’ll vote for Ahmadinejad, because if Mousavi wins, they will be dancing naked next week.”
Remember, the true leader of Iran will, no matter who wins this election, continue to be cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s President is essentially a figurehead who carries out diplomatic duties.
And then Nate deconstructs Sullivan’s graph re: vote counting.
Do we expect free elections in Iran or Venezuela?
Only ‘approved’ candidates were allowed to challenge the incumbent so the contest was rigged from the start.
I for one was extremely suprised that this happened. (sarcasm)
BTW, the reason they faked a landslide is because there would have to be a run-off with the top 2 candidates if one of them didn’t get 50% or more in the general election.
Yes, I know about the run-off. They’ve been walking down Ahmedinejad’s numbers to 62% (at first 75% was reported).
The people of Iran clearly thought they were having an election. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have shown up at the polls at 85%.
All of the candidates in the election had the approval of the nutty clerics. This is a country that hangs rape victims.
The young may becoming disenchanted with the regime and anything that we could do to encourage a change would be appropriate.
The stolen election might be what was needed to bring Iran back into being a “civilized democracy.” I use those terms loosely, as the Supreme Ayatolah still has the final say on everything. But a Mousavi victory might have toned down some of the rhetoric we’ve been hearing for the past 4 years. This could be similar to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
I am still amazed at how many can claim that Bush stole any election. Only Democrats are in a position to do so.
Does anyone making claims about Republican vote theft have any first-hand experience in the area?
Tell me how an election can be stolen.
Art wrote Do we expect free elections in Iran or Venezuela?
Only ‘approved’ candidates were allowed to challenge the incumbent so the contest was rigged from the start.
Your ignorance about Venezuela is telling.
I was really surprised that Iran would even have a presidential election. I had no doubt that President Ahmadinejad would be the winner. After all, he claims to be preselected by Alla himself to destroy the Zion entity called Israel. Therefore one can only assume that with such a divine calling, the man couldn’t lose regardless of how many angry voters voted against him. Incredibly, this has led to some of the most deadly protests and riots in Iran’s recent history. That is according to most foreign news agencies.
I wish the people of Iran all the best in that never ending struggle to be free. As for the people here in the US, I hope that when the time comes for us to march to Washington protesting Obama’s insane policies, we show the same courage as those who now riot in those filthy crime-ridden streets of Iran.
In the spirit of Winston Churchill
“What’s happening in Iran right now! May be happening here in the USA tomorrow”
Paul, your ignorance of Iran is stunning.