Hello, this is Ron Gold reporting.
Damn. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been reelected as President of Iran by the suspiciously high margin of 62.6% to 33.7%. He defeated reformist candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi in a highly disputed election, which has been filled with accusations of corruption. So not only will the world still have to deal with a Holocaust denying nut job, but now the people of Iran may have a President that they don’t like and think is illegitimate (insert George W. Bush joke here). Yet it might not be over, as Moussavi hasn’t thrown in the towel:
He warned “people won’t respect those who take power through fraud” and said the decision to declare Mr. Ahmadinejad the winner was a “treason to the votes of the people.”
The conflicting claims, coming after an extraordinary campaign that saw vast street demonstrations and vitriolic televised debates, seemed to undermine the public legitimacy of the vote and to threaten unrest.
The only person who could give legitimacy to the situation is the Ayatollah, but it doesn’t appear that he’ll do anything, besides saying Ahmadinejad’s victory is God’s work:
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, closed the door on any chance he could use his limitless powers to intervene in the disputes from Friday’s election. In a message on state TV, he urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad, calling the result a “divine assessment.”
Well, if it really is “divine assessment,” Allah has strange taste in politicians.
But it’s clear many Iranians aren’t satisfied with the Ayatollah’s answer, and are taking to the streets (raw footage here). I wish them the best of luck.
