Your lengthy article makes buttertions which aren't supported by any of the AP, Reuters, or AFP articles I have seen. Are you working for the Bush propaganda machine in prepartion for an invasion of Iran?
One particular galling aspect of your article is the impression you try to give about the lack of voter participation. But except for a transient figure reported during the early part of the run-off, the final count of total voter participation was roughly 59%, a strong figure compared to our own in the US in recent years. And the 59% has never been challenged by anybody yet, not even the State department!
By the way, Bush has consistently sided against candidates and officials who draw their support from the poor! It is the case in Venezuela, in Ukraine, in Lebanon, and in Iran. Talking about election fraud, Bush has been accused of winning on rigged Diebold machines too.
We have to understand two things.
1) Maybe the well-to-do Iranians would prefer for the young women to be able to socialize freely in public places and wear mini-skirts or western-style fashions. But if you invade Iran, I believe that almost all of the Iranian would close ranks against the invaders.
2) There is apparently close to 30% unemployment, particularly among the youth. Why shouldn't a streetsweeper Tehran mayor who promises to more equalize the national wealth among his people have more appeal than a 70-year old billionaire mullah who has had 8 years or more in high office to earn the rejection of his people?
If we truly believe in democracy and freedom, we would not militarily attack Iran to change its government. Aggression is never right. In this case, it is totally uncalled for.
lo yeeOn ========
Hardline Mayor Wins Iran Presidential Race
By KATHY GANNON, buttociated Press Writer 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
buttociated Press correspondents Brian Murphy and Ali Akbar Dareini contributed to this report from Tehran.
TEHRAN, Iran - The hardline Tehran mayor steamrolled over one of Iran's best-known statesman to win the presidency Saturday in a landslide election victory that cements conservative control over the nation's political leadership.
The outcome capped a stunning upset by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who many reformers fear will take Iran back to the restrictions imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Interior Ministry gave Ahmadinejad 62.2 percent of the vote over his more moderate rival, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had nearly 35.3 percent. The ministry posted a notice in its headquarters declaring Ahmadinejad the winner of Friday's runoff. The rest of the ballots were deemed invalid.
The figures were based on more than 90 percent of the estimated 26 million votes cast, or nearly 55 percent of Iran's about 47 million eligible voters. In last week's first round of the presidential election, the turnout was close to 63 percent.
The victory gives conservatives control of Iran's two highest elected offices -- the presidency and parliament -- and gives a freer hand to the non-elected theocracy, which holds the final word on all important policies.
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"With the conclusion of the elections in Iran, we have seen nothing that sways us from our view that Iran is out of step with the rest of the region in the currents of freedom and liberty that have been so apparent in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon," Moore said.
Ahmadinejad, the 49-year-old mayor of the capital, campaigned as a champion of the poor, a message that resonated with voters in a country where some estimates put unemployment as high as 30 percent. He struck the image of a simple working man against Rafsanjani, a wealthy member of the country's ruling elite.
. . . for many Iranians, the biggest issue was an economy that has languished despite Iran's oil and gas riches. Iran's official unemployment rate is 16 percent, but unofficially it is closer to 30 percent -- and the country has to create 800,000 jobs a year just to stand still. In the fall, another million young people are expected to enter the work force.
Ahmadinejad, the son of a blacksmith, presented himself as the humble alternative to Rafsanjani, whose family runs a large business empire. He has promised Iran's underclbutt higher wages, more development funds for rural areas, expanded health insurance and more social benefits for women.
"Every vote you cast is a bullet in the hearts" of the United States, said Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council and considered a leading supporter of Ahmadinejad.
"The real nuclear plant that Iran has is its unemployed young people," said Ali Pourbuttad, after casting his vote for Ahmadinejad at a polling station set up in the courtyard of a mosque in the middle-clbutt south of Tehran. "If nothing is done to create jobs for our young people, we will have an explosion on the streets."
But Ahmadinejad also vowed to return Iran to the principles of the Islamic Revolution more than a quarter-century ago. Such comments and reports about his inner circle of supporters -- members of the Revolutionary Guard, the vigilantes who enforce public dress codes and some of the most hard-line clerics in Iran's theocracy -- frightened Iran's reformers.
Ahmadinejad (pronounced "Aah-MA-dee-ni-JAHD") had not been expected even to make the runoff.
TEHRAN, Iran
Iran's new president spoke Saturday of making Iran a "modern, advanced, powerful and Islamic" model for the world, borrowing the style of the hard-line ruling clerics that backed him in his landslide victory.
It was an ironic twist that Iran's first non-cleric to reach the country's highest elected office since the 1979 Islamic Revolution was more religiously unyielding than the cleric he defeated, former president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.
"My mission is creating a role model of a modern, advanced, powerful and Islamic society," he said in the message broadcast shortly after the announcement of final results sealed his stunning defeat of the self-proclaimed moderate Rafsanjani.
The victory gives conservatives control of Iran's two highest elected offices -- the presidency and parliament.
The results, announced on state television, gave Ahmadinejad 61.6 percent of the vote to Rafsanjani's 35.9 percent. The rest of the ballots were deemed invalid.
Turnout among Iran's approximately 47 million eligible voters was more than 59 percent. In last week's election, the turnout was close to 63 percent.
The president-elect has said he is in no hurry to re-establish relations with the United States, which cut diplomatic ties with Iran after its embbutty was besieged for 444 days and 52 employees held hostage in 1979. As a student, Ahmadinejad (pronounced aah-MA-dee-ni-JAHD) joined an ultraconservative faction of the Office for Strengthening Unity, the radical student group that staged the embbutty's capture.
"The United States was free to cut its ties with Iran but the Iranian government is free to decide about restarting its relationship with the United States as well," Ahmadinejad said on his Web site. "This decision will be made when Iran has the guarantee that its interests will be secure in any new relationship."
Governments of Muslim countries offered cautious congratulations in response to the election, while several Western countries -- including the United States -- sharply criticized the vote Saturday. There were complaints that the candidates allowed to run for president were decided by the powerful Guardian Council, made up of clerics, who disqualified upward of 1,000 contestants, including 50 women.
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri said Saturday the United States was concerned about the fairness of the elections.
"We strongly support free and fair elections through which the Iranian people can express their will," Tamburri said. "We have expressed our clear concerns about the recent elections where over 1,000 candidates were disqualified from running, and there were many allegations of election fraud and interference."
Ahmadinejad, who currently is Tehran's mayor, has not revealed the makeup of his Cabinet, but his deputy campaign manager told The buttociated Press that a 200-member team cobbled together during the presidential campaign has been poring over names and resumes.
"The only requirement is a willingness to serve the people," said Abdulhasan Faqih, 32, a soft-spoken doctor who helped steer Ahmadinejad's campaign.
Faqih named only two within the current administration who could qualify to keep their posts: Mehdi Chamran, a deeply conservative Tehran Municipal Council chairman, who is the brother of one of Iran's cherished war heroes and has close ties to the Revolutionary Guard; and the 60-year-old speaker of the Parliament, Ghulam Ali Haddad-Adel, described as a moderate conservative with good relations with both the hard-line and the reformist movements.
Faqih said there would be no review of Iran's nuclear policy.
"Our nuclear technology is homegrown and no one will stop our nuclear development," Faqih said.
But he said a military application of Iran's nuclear development was not under consideration. The United States accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, something Iran denies.
Ahmadinejad's campaign headquarters, a modest two-story concrete house tucked away in a narrow alleyway in central Tehran, had the unbuttuming and humble appearance that reflected the image cultivated by the new president.
"God willing, things will be better with Ahmadinejad," said Tala Shabani, a woman who works at a welfare organization in the city. "I'm the only one earning for my family. Ahmadinejad is a humble man. Let's see what he can do."
AFP Ahmadinejad: Iran's fundamentalist 'street sweeper'
Fri Jun 24,10:24 PM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Mahmood Ahmadinejad, the fundamentalist Tehran mayor and self-styled "street-sweeper" nostalgic for revolutionary moral values, has been granted the chance to impose his vision on the entire country.
In the greatest upset in Iranian political history, Ahmadinejad has come from nowhere to thrash Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and win an election that gives hardliners control of every one of the country's insbreastutions.
He will become the first non-cleric to hold Iran's presidency since 1981, a fact of little meaning to those who fear he will take away the greater social liberty of the past eight years and put Iran on a collision course with the West.
"Today is the beginning of a new era in the political life of the Iranian nation... that will carry us to the zenith of progress," he said as he cast his vote on Friday, mouthing a scarcely audible prayer.
Never able to resist a chance to play up his image as the humble municipal official in a cheap suit, the father of three added: "I take pride in being the Iranian nation's little servant and street sweeper."
A complete political unknown on a national stage who proudly extols his humble means, the question now is whether a president Ahmadinejad will confirm fears that he is a fearsome puritan and eager killjoy.
Reformers point to changes in Tehran since he became mayor in 2003 -- after an election with a record low turnout -- as examples of what might be about to happen on a nationwide scale.
He has clamped down on the cultural centres that flourished when the city was run by reformists in the 1990s. In another measure, street advertisements fronted by football star David Beckham were taken down in the city.
Meanwhile Islam has been promoted tirelessly -- in line with the wishes of hardliners close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- with a new mosque popping up in symbolic proximity to a major theatre and Shiite religious festivals taking on a new scale.
"In our democratic system, liberty is already beyond what could be imagined," he told a victorious news conference after the first round vote, earlier this month, that began with a long reading of the Koran.
Women, whom Ahmadinejad describes as "responsible and precise", have also expressed fears of a crackdown on their rights.
Economists are also worried, fearing that Ahmadinejad will shut down the stock exchange and wind back cautious market reforms.
And it is not just Iranian reformers who are nervous. European governments also shrink from Ahmadinejad's promises of more buttertive foreign policy and France's foreign minister has already said sensitive nuclear talks were "at stake" in the election.
A former member of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Ahmadinejad has already accused Iran's nuclear negotiators of turning up at the negotiating table "terrified" and is set to take a far more aggressive line.
Any easing of tensions with the United States would also be unlikely. "The US administration cut off ties unilaterally to lay waste to the Islamic republic, " he argues. "They want to restore them today for the same reason."
But while liberal prosperous Iranians and foreigners take fright at Ahmadinejad's brand of devout conservatism, his image as an honest man who drives a standard home brand car has strong appeal for the country's poor.
His team has attempted to shake off the "extremist" tag, with Ahmadinejad rejecting claims he would ban the Internet, saying that his children use it so much he cannot pay his phone bills.
He has won praise for his efforts at resurfacing Tehran's bumpy roads and trying to sort out the traffic problems. Residents in poorer areas of the capital have also credited him with actually paying attention to their needs.
"My biggest buttet is huge -- it is my love for serving people, and nothing can compare to that, " he says, adding: "A revolutionary manager is not empowered by expensive office accessories and several secretaries."
His small stature belies a past as a special forces officer in the Revolutionary Guards -- reportedly engaged in covert cross-border operations against Iraq -- and a soldier eager to carry out the dirtiest of work.
However his entourage has denied allegations he has blood on his hands.
"Mr Ahmadinejad is an engineer. He could not have been a person working in the intelligence services, " said his aide Mehdi Chamran. Reuters Hardliner heads for big Iran presidential poll win
By Parisa Hafezi 31 minutes ago
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Hardline Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sweeping toward a stunning presidential election victory over veteran cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with the backing of Iran's religious poor on Saturday, officials said.
Political analysts say a win for Ahmadinejad, 48, could spell an end to fragile social reforms made under outgoing President Mohammad Khatami and harden Iran's foreign policy toward the West, particularly over its nuclear program.
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An official at the Islamic Republic's Guardian Council, which must approve the election results, said that with 12.9 million votes counted, Ahmadinejad had secured 61.0 percent.
The official said turnout was 22 million, or 47 percent, well down on the 63 percent of Iran's 46.7 million eligible voters who cast ballots in the first round on June 17.
Friday's vote exposed deep clbutt divisions in the oil-producing nation of 67 million people.
"Ahmadinejad is well ahead and it seems he is the winner," said an Interior Ministry official, who declined to be named. "Poor provinces have voted mbuttively for Ahmadinejad."
Ahmadinejad's humble lifestyle and pledges to tackle corruption and redistribute the country's oil wealth have appealed to the urban and rural religious poor, analysts say.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters, banned supporters from the two sides from holding victory celebrations after a fractious campaign marred by allegations of electoral irregularities.
"It is heard that the campaign staff of the two rivals are preparing to celebrate," he said in a statement. "Dragging people onto the streets ... under any pretext is against the interests of the country."
Earlier both camps had proclaimed victory.
INTIMIDATION ACCUSATIONS
Aides to Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997 and has cast himself as a reformer, accused the hardline Basij militia of trying to intimidate voters to back Ahmadinejad.
"We know mbuttive irregularities have taken place in steering votes toward a certain candidate in which the Basij has played a role," one aide, Mohammad Atrianfar, told reporters.
Officials at the Interior Ministry, dominated by reformists who back Rafsanjani, also complained of illegal election-day campaigning.
Rafsanjani, 70, has said he wants to improve ties with the West and would prevent "extremism" from monopolising power in the Islamic state. Ahmadinejad says restoring ties with Washington is unimportant.
President Bush's administration accuses Iran of backing terrorism and having a nuclear weapons program. Tehran denies the charges and says its nuclear program is solely for power generation.
Although Khamenei has far more power than the president, analysts say a hardline government would remove a moderating influence on decision-making.
"Whoever loses we are going to feel the reverberations," said Karim Sadjadpour, Tehran-based analyst for think-tank International Crisis Group. "Either of them are going to inherit a divided nation. Both of them are polarizing figures."
Voting was brisk in Ahmadinejad bastions of support such as south Tehran and the Islamic seminary city of Qom.
"I vote for Ahmadinejad because he wants to cut the hands of those who are stealing the national wealth and he wants to fight poverty ... and discrimination," said Rahmatollah Izadpanah, 41.
In wealthier north Tehran, Rafsanjani voters said they feared Ahmadinejad would reverse modest reforms made under Khatami that allow women to dress in brighter, skimpier clothes and couples to fraternize in public without fear of arrest.
"(Rafsanjani) will prevent society from going backwards and he will give us some freedom," said businessman Morteza, 46. "He also has more political experience."
