Iran’s supreme leader today ordered an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country’s most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
State television quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directing a high-level clerical panel, the Guardian Council, to look into charges by pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has said he is the rightful winner of Friday’s presidential election.
I’m not getting my hopes up. After all, Iran’s “supreme leader,” Ayatolla Khamenei, handpicked Ahmadinejad to run for president several years ago, and initially urged the country to unite around the supposed winner after the results were announced. This could easily be just a cynical move in a political game, futilely trying to provide some semblance of legitimacy to the fiercely contested vote.
But time will tell. Unexpected reversals can and do happen sometimes. No one expected the Berlin Wall to fall when it did in 1989.
David Handy+
In the meantime, they’ll just be [url=http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/06/iranian-opposition-leader-defies-ban.html]gunning down protestors[/url]. Where’s Neil Young when you need him?