In his first public response to days of protests, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly warned opponents Friday to stay off the streets and denied opposition claims that last week’s disputed election was rigged, praising the ballot as an “epic moment that became a historic moment.”
In a somber and lengthy sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran, he called directly for an end to the protests by hundreds of thousands of Iranians demanding for a new election.
“Street challenge is not acceptable,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “This is challenging democracy after the elections.” He said opposition leaders would be “held responsible for chaos” if they did not end the protests.
His remarks seemed to deepen the confrontation between Iran’s rulers and supporters of the main opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, who have accused the authorities of rigging the vote.
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I watched the speech live (couldn’t sleep) and was surprised at Khameini’s reference to the Branch Davidians and Waco.
Over at Wannabe Anglican and other places there are strong indications that Moussavi was actually the winner. However, since Ahmadinejad supports the radical theocrats in charge of Iran, it is no suprise that they would declare this Allah’s will. If this is serious enough a problem, we may yet see another revolution in Iran akin to that of 1979 that will depose the current powers.
The statistics, circulated on Iranian blogs and websites, claimed Mr Mousavi had won 19.1 million votes while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won only 5.7 million.
The two other candidates, reformist Mehdi Karoubi and hardliner Mohsen Rezai, won 13.4 million and 3.7 million respectively. The authenticity of the leaked figures could not be confirmed.
[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/18/AR2009061803495.html]Charles Krauthammer’s column[/url] on Iran is well worth reading in full. Whose side is America on? A movement towards more freedom and democracy, or the tightening of the theocratic dictatorship?
Supreme Leader Calls Iran Election Fair I’d imagine this causes many of Iran’s moderates to question their supreme leader’s commitment to the truth … while answering any doubt the might have had about his potential lack of ethics. On the other hand … many others — for example … the more conservative supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — aren’t too concerned with the truth as long as their man stays in power.
Remember the old Don Henley song … The Garden of Allah …
“Because there are no facts, there is no truth
Just data to be manipulated
I can get you any result you like
What’s it worth to you.
Because there is no wrong, there is no right
and I sleep very well at night.”
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Anyway, on topic: Okay, so none of us like Ahmadinejad, or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and none of us think that “democracy” in Iran is worth more than a hill of beans, but how are we really supposed to know whether or not the fuss created by the opposition has any basis in reality or is simply a continuation of the ancient custom of “If at first you don’t succede, claim the other side cheated.” What’s more, what should we do about it? Not like we can send Jimmy Carter with a division of marines and a regiment of UN election monitors to ensure that the Iranians are playing fair.
Iranian democracy is One Man, One Vote – and He’s Da Man!
Mohammad Asgari, head of IT for Iran, leaked the fact that new fancy software had rigged voting results in the outlying areas – negating 19 million votes for opposition. Asgari was killed yesterday.
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This election is all too obviously less than fair. However, the reaction of the young gives hope for the future.
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[Commenters are requested not to make personal comments but to address the thread. Further all comparisons between the Presiding Bishop and any ayatollah will be deleted – Elf]
I was going to maske a comment, but this has become a nanny blog. See ya.