Iran Election Result
 

Why am I not surprised about him winning again? Does anyone actually believe the 60-30% margin he won by is legit? Looks like a complete farce to me, as from what I've seen it was expected to be a very tight race. What you guys think?

I couldn' t believe it this morning. I was pretty confident that Mussawi would make it considering his support from young iranians, especially women.

Either the reports here on TV painted a totally wrong picture or something really went wrong. It certainly smells fishy ...

Thats what I thought, from what the BBC and the like have been saying is that the opposition had strong support. But if you look at the final poll its as if everyone hated him. I was really hopeful that these elections would bring a more moderate leader to Iran, and maybe start on mending ties with the western world... but it looks like the revolutionaries have done there bit to make sure that doesn't happen. I wonder what kind of signals this sends off to Washington?

Let's sit still, be a hole in the water and listen for a while. and most important: stay out of Iranian inner politics. Any interference whatever can only make things worse. Let them settle their affairs (but hold them responsible for their choices).

I perceived a split in Iran like the one I saw in Turkey. In the big cities, Mussawi probably was strong. But in the rural places, when I was there, nationalistic and clerical conservatives were the strong majority.

Although I see it from a perspective from the early to mid-90s. Things may have changed due to the isolation and the failed youth "rebellion" in the 90s (which brought both moderate and extremist young people to the streets of the cities). I haven't been there since then.

Anyway, the president should not be overestimated anyway, for this simple reason:

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5...06wartents.jpg
"Waiting for the new president"

Waiting for a new president :rotfl:

The Mullah's run the show anyhow.

The election is a sham.

I see no reason to suspect vote rigging.
As SB rightly said, Mussawi may have had a core in the affluent new thinkers
in the cities-modern, but in rural areas and the city-old there hasn't been
much change since the last election. Why should there have been?

If the news here made the Mussawi support look big, it is only because
Ahmadinejad supporters arn't news anymore.

If this election was rigged, I doubt it would be by Ahmadinejad, but rather by the Mullah's.

They obviously have a tight grip on the reigns of power and find it much easier to mould and control Ahmadinejad in their ways than they would have been able to with Mussawi.

Don't forget the "beloved" Ayatollah.:nope:

He is one of the Mullah's.

Mullah is " an educated Muslim trained in religious law and doctrine and usually holding an official post "

Still though...four more years with this guy?! :damn:

At least it wont me the same old. Now he's gonna have nukes. :oops:

Mussawi made very precise statements over observers being chased out of polling stations and counters at the last moment being replaced by unlegitimised foreigners nobody had seen before. He also pointed out that incredibly short time after the stations closed, almost 8 million votes were claimed to have already been counted - which in the Iranian counting system would not be possible after such an unbelievable short time.

I fear the accusation that the elections had been rigged, has quite some substance. Currently, occasional gunfire is to be heared in Teheran. I am not sure that there will be relections, though. I tend towards a No on that question.

The controversial figure for the Mullahs is not Mussawi himself, but his wife.

Isn't that a normal form of celebration in some parts?

It's not celebrations, but clashes between police and protesters.

Like he said isnt that 'normal'? :rotfl: