Iran's Disputed Election - Photos - The Big Picture - Boston.com Iran's Disputed Election Following up from last Friday's entry about Iran's Presidential Election , Tehran and other cities have seen the largest street protests and rioting since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Supporters of reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, upset at their announced loss and suspicions of voter fraud, took to the streets both peacefully and, in some cases, violently to vent their frustrations. Iranian security forces and hardline volunteer militia members responded with force and arrests, attempting to stamp out the protests - meanwhile, thousands of Iranians who were happy with the election outcome staged their own victory demonstrations. Mousavi himself has been encouraging peaceful demonstrations, and called for calm at a large demonstration today (held in defiance of an official ban), as Iranâs supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has just called for an official inquiry into accusations of election irregularities. (Update: several photos of injuries from gunshots at today's rally added below) ( 38 photos total (plus 3) ) A supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi shouts slogans during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009.

Hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner by a landslide in Iran's hotly-disputed presidential vote, triggering riots by opposition supporters and furious complaints of cheating from his defeated rivals. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/AFP/Getty Images) 3 Protestors set fires in a main street in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday 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 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP Photo) # 5 A riot-police officer strikes a man with a baton near Tehran University on June 14, 2009. Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said on Sunday he has asked the powerful Guardians Council to cancel the result of the presidential poll, while urging his supporters to continue peaceful protests.

(STR/AFP/Getty Images) # 21 Thousands of supporters of Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave national and other coloured flags during a massive rally to celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Tehran's Valiasr square on June 14, 2009. Ahmadinejad defended his June 12 re-election but his defeated rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, demanded the result be scrapped, setting the stage for further tense confrontations after the authorities cracked down on opposition protests. (ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) # 25 Iranian riot policemen kick a man in Zartusht street close to the Interior Ministry, as supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi started to gather on the streets protesting the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (AP photo/STR) # 30 Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009.

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis) # 31 A protester holds a stone during clashes with police in Tehran June 13, 2009. Thousands of people clashed with police on Saturday after the disputed election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked the biggest protests in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. (REUTERS/Ahmed Jadalla) # 33 A poster of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen on the broken-down door of a room in Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. Overnight, police and militia stormed the campus at the city's biggest university, ransacking dormitories and arresting dozens of students angry over what they claim was election fraud. (AP photo) # 34 An image of Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen (lower left), fixed to a desk with a smashed computer monitor in a room in a Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009.

(AP photo) # 35 A man paints over campaign slogans near the headquarters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Mousavi's name is written in green while Ahmadinejad's name is written on top of it (left) in black. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/AFP/Getty Images) # 36 On Monday, June 15, 2009, Iranian opposition demonstrators protest in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, in Tehran. Opposition supporters defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran in protest at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide election win, as Iran faced a growing international backlash over the validity of the election and the subsequent crackdown on opposition protests. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) # 37 Defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi (center) raises his arms as he appears at an opposition demonstration in Tehran on June 15, 2009, appearing in public for the first time since an election that has divided the nation.

(BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) # Mir Hossein Mousavi | Iranian.com Mir Hossein Mousavi Presidential candidate Washington Post -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main opponent in the upcoming presidential election said Monday that he wanted to increase freedoms for Iranians, in part by curbing the so-called morality police who enforce strict interpretations of Islamic laws, such as those requiring women to cover their hair in public. Former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, speaking at his first news conference since announcing his candidacy for president in the June election, attacked Ahmadinejad's government over its handling of the economy, the "extremism" of the president's rhetoric and the strictures that have been imposed on daily life and public discourse >>> Ahmadinejad's Main Rival for Iranian Presidency Calls for Increased Freedoms washingtonpost.com > World > Middle East Ahmadinejad's Main Rival for Iranian Presidency Calls for Increased Freedoms Iranian presidential hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed to stop morality police restrictions on clothing and to allow greater freedom of speech.

(By Hasan Sarbakhshian -- Associated Press) TOOLBOX Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, April 7, 2009 TEHRAN, April 6 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main opponent in the upcoming presidential election said Monday that he wanted to increase freedoms for Iranians, in part by curbing the so-called morality police who enforce strict interpretations of Islamic laws, such as those requiring women to cover their hair in public. Former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, speaking at his first news conference since announcing his candidacy for president in the June election, attacked Ahmadinejad's government over its handling of the economy, the "extremism" of the president's rhetoric and the strictures that have been imposed on daily life and public discourse. Mousavi gave no indication that he would seek to change Iran's foreign or nuclear policies, matters largely controlled by the country's unelected supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a National Security Council that includes dozens of political leaders. Mousavi said the current government had caused harm to Iran's international position. "Extremism has damaged us greatly. We have to actively work to earn trust at the international level," he told reporters.

Mousavi was referring to tensions that have arisen with Western countries over Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust as well as his anti-Israeli and anti-Western rhetoric. Mousavi did not say what he would do differently. The candidate accused the government of sometimes acting in an extreme way and then backpedaling. "Extremism has reached such levels that in order to even it out, they have to write useless letters which get no results and only waste our national standing," he said. Ahmadinejad often denounces U.S. policies, but in November he wrote a letter of congratulations to Barack Obama, then president-elect. Asked if he was ready to negotiate with President Obama, Mousavi said he was hearing a different tone from the United States. "We would benefit from having peaceful and cooperative relations with any country, and the more powerful and the bigger that country, the more we would benefit. But this cannot be at the price of our values and principles. We cannot pay unbearable costs for such relations," he said. Mousavi was prime minister from 1981 to 1989, serving under then-President Khamenei.

Mousavi is admired for the way he managed the country during the Iran- Iraq war, which crippled the Iranian economy. The post of prime minister was abolished after his term. He is considered a problem-solver and is a strong backer of Iran's system of government, in which Shiite Muslim clerics oversee the policies of elected officials. But Mousavi represents a current in the Iranian leadership that thinks the government's influence on personal matters can go too far. Mousavi vowed that he would stop controversial morality police restrictions on clothing deemed un-Islamic and allow greater freedom of speech. Social controls are the domain of people, not the government, he said. "Can a security patrol save our youths?" Mousavi said of sharply increased police operations meant to prevent women from allowing their hair to show in public. "Or can they be saved by the words of a grandfather who talks to his granddaughter?" he asked rhetorically. "I believe in the latter." The patrols, part of what is known here as the "social security plan," began after Ahmadinejad became president, although his government denies responsibility.

Mousavi also vowed to implement Iran's constitution, which he said was now being "violated and undermined." "We must create the constitutionally mentioned freedoms -- freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of print, freedom of media and press -- all of course within the framework of our laws." © 2009 The Washington Post Company A Guide to Iran’s Presidential Election - The New York Times The New York Times Middle East |A Guide to Iran’s Presidential Election Search A Guide to Iran’s Presidential Election By THE NEW YORK TIMES JUNE 13, 2013 Supporters of cleric Hassan Rowhani. Credit Newsha Tavakolian for The New York Times How many candidates are there? When Iranians vote on Friday, they will be selecting from six candidates, all drawn from Iran’s alliance of Shiite Muslim clerics and Revolutionary Guards commanders, known as the traditionalists. All say they are ready to fix the economy by using a “revolutionary mind-set” and to solve the nuclear dispute with the West by convincing them that Iran’s position is just. Photo A supporter of Saeed Jalili. Credit Newsha Tavakolian for The New York Times Who are considered the three main candidates?

Saeed Jalili Known as Iran’s unyielding nuclear negotiator and a protégé of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Saeed Jalili has emerged as a front-runner, an unsettling prospect for future relations with the West. Mr. Jalili, 47, who many analysts say has long been groomed for the top position in Iran, is by far the most outspoken hard-liner among the candidates approved to participate in the election. Opposing “détente a hundred percent” and promising no compromise “whatsoever” with the West over matters like Iran’s nuclear program and its involvement in Syria, Mr. Jalili seems set to further escalate Iran’s standoff with the United States and its allies. Photo Supporters of Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf. Credit Newsha Tavakolian/for NYTimes Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf Mr. Ghalibaf, who comes from the hard-line Islamic Revolution tradition, is Tehran’s mayor. Once a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards , he lost the 2005 presidential election to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His supporters applaud his management style and efforts to improve public transportation, parks and highway overpasses in Tehran.

He received a public endorsement on May 28 when 120 members of Iran’s Parliament signed a declaration of support for his candidacy. He has long presented himself as a technocrat, but last week boasted publicly of having beaten protesting students as a police commander. Photo A supporter of cleric Hassan Rowhani. Credit Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press Hassan Rowhani Only one of the candidates, the cleric Hassan Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator, has even slightly different stances from the traditionalists, thus attracting some of the veterans of the now silenced Green movement. A close ally Photo President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. Credit Lynsey Addario for The New York Times of a former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was barred from the race by the conservative Guardian Council, he is one of a few prominent politicians proposing better relations with the outside world. Mr. Rowhani, who led the first rounds of negotiations with Western countries after the 2002 disclosure of Iran’s secret nuclear program, now finds himself mocked by the Jalili camp, which cites those talks as an example of ignorance and weakness.

Photo Supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi on June 13, 2009 Credit Olivier Laban-Mattei/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Advertisement Continue reading the main story What kind of powers does the president actually have? The exact dimensions of presidential power in Iran are complicated, as shown by this graphic from the 2009 election. The presidency has evolved, starting out weak in the early years of the revolution but taking on greater importance after the abolition of the office of prime minister in the late 1980s. Once in office, presidents now create their own power bases, often clashing with the very people who backed their rise to power. All political struggles in Iran are typically waged under the watchful eye of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ultimately decides the winners and losers, carefully balancing competing interests, to make sure no faction amasses too much power. Photo Mehdi Karroubi on June 9, 2009. Credit Raheb Homavandi/Reuters How easy is it to predict who will win? Iran’s presidential elections, lacking independent opinion polls and subject to manipulation, are notoriously unpredictable.

In 2005, Mr. Ahmadinejad came out of nowhere to win. In 2009, millions of people took to the streets to protest what they said was widespread fraud in the voting that returned Mr. Ahmadinejad to office over the opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi. How is this election different from the 2009 vote? Iran’s 2009 presidential election was an exciting spectacle that aroused a powerful surge of optimism in the populace but ended with the trauma of a violent crackdown. This year’s vote, taking place under starkly different circumstances, promises to be far more subdued. Instead of election posters coloring the streets, plainclothes police officers make sure there are no spontaneous gatherings. Wary of the raucous street demonstrations that erupted during the last election, the government decreed that this year’s campaign would consist of rallies in predetermined spaces and a series of tedious, four-hour debates that many Iranians dismissed as more like a pointless quiz show than a discussion of real issues. Where are the opposition leaders from 2009? Many have fled the country, been silenced or jailed. The two main reformist candidates in that election, Mr.

Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, remain under house arrest. What kind of censorship is at play? Technically, all Iranians are free to participate in elections, but Iran’s powerful Guardian Council , which vets candidates, decides who is allowed to run. Once candidates are vetted they are still cautious about offending the governing establishment of conservative clerics and Revolutionary Guards commanders. The Iranian government is known to restrict digital communication in various ways. Google said Wednesday that it had uncovered a vast Iranian spy campaign that had been targeting tens of thousands of Iranian citizens over the past three weeks. Thomas Erdbrink will be Tweeting about the election from Tehran on Friday @thomaserdbrink . You can find all his reporting on Iran here. Iran's Disputed Election | Why We Protest | Anonymous Activism Forum DanX Member Iran's Disputed Election. PLZ UPLOAD PICTURS A supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi shouts slogans during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner by a landslide in Iran's hotly-disputed presidential vote, triggering riots by opposition supporters and furious complaints of cheating from his defeated rivals.

Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi march through Valiasr Street during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Protestors set fires in a main street in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday 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 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Young men run past a burning bus during a riot in Tehran on June 13, 2009. DanX Member A riot-police officer strikes a man with a baton near Tehran University on June 14, 2009.

Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said on Sunday he has asked the powerful Guardians Council to cancel the result of the presidential poll, while urging his supporters to continue peaceful protests A man is detained by Iranian riot-police in front of Tehran University during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009 Iranian students, supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, try to keep clear of tear gas being lobbed back and forth at the main entrance of Tehran University during riots on Sunday, June 14, 2009 Students, supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate at the main entrance of Tehran University during riots on Sunday, June 14, 2009 DanX Member Iranian supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi gather on the streets protesting the results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009 Members of the Iranian hardline volunteer Basij militia begin to enter Tehran University where supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi were protesting against the latest election's results at Tehran's University on June 14, 2009 Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and members of the Bas

ij militia hurl stones towards supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi who are inside Tehran University on Sunday, June 14, 2009 Backers of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi are beaten by government security men during riots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009 DanX Member Iranian riot policemen kick a man in Zartusht street close to the Interior Ministry, as supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi started to gather on the streets protesting the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009 A riot policeman hits a motorcyclist with a baton during a protest against the election results in Tehran June 14, 2009 A riot-police officer sprays tear-gas at a supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is attacking him with a police stick during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009 Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi try to calm down fellow demonstrators as they rescue a bloodied riot policeman (center) who was beaten during a protest in Valiasr Street in Tehran on June 13, 20

09 DanX Member A backer of Mir Hossein Mousavi helps evacuate an injured riot-police officer during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009 Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009 A protester holds a stone during clashes with police in Tehran June 13, 2009.

Thousands of people clashed with police on Saturday after the disputed election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked the biggest protests in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution Armed with handguns, members of the Iranian security force, in civlian clothes, fire warning shots to disperse supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi in central Tehran on June 14, 2009 DanX Member A poster of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen on the broken-down door of a room in Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009.

Overnight, police and militia stormed the campus at the city's biggest university, ransacking dormitories and arresting dozens of students angry over what they claim was election fraud An image of Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen (lower left), fixed to a desk with a smashed computer monitor in a room in a Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009 A man paints over campaign slogans near the headquarters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Mousavi's name is written in green while Ahmadinejad's name is written on top of it (left) in black On Monday, June 15, 2009, Iranian opposition demonstrators protest in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, in Tehran.

Opposition supporters defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran in protest at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide election win, as Iran faced a growing international backlash over the validity of the election and the subsequent crackdown on opposition protests DanX Member Defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi (center) raises his arms as he appears at an opposition demonstration in Tehran on June 15, 2009, appearing in public for the first time since an election that has divided the nation efying an official ban, hundreds of thousands of Iranian supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate in Tehran on Monday, June 15, 2009 A man lies on the back of a taxi, after being seriously injured by gunfire in an area where pro-government militia were firing shots near a rally supporting leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 15, 2009 A man lies the back of a truck after being seriously injured by gunfire in an area where militia were firing shots at a rally supporting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's top opponent on Monday, June 15, 2009 Richard in California USA Member Unregistered;6797

 said: What is the point of the destabilization of the Iranian government?

After the stolen elections of the Karl Rove/Bush era, why does the US think it must overthrow the Iranian government because of allegations that Ahmadinejad stole an election? That sure doesn't look like the US out there protesting in the streets to me. Yes, the U.S. would like to see a new leader in Iran...maybe one who isn't dead set on getting his country into a war that it doesn't need to be in. For that matter, I would think that most of the world would like a new president in Iran. Mir Housein Mousavi -- WHAT"S HIS LIFE EXPECTANCY? 3 Days? A Month? Place Your Bets ... - Google Groups Mir Housein Mousavi -- WHAT"S HIS LIFE EXPECTANCY? 3 Days? A Month? Place Your Bets ...

Showing 1-12 of 12 messages His final exit will be via: a.) Plane crash c.) Outright assassination by firearm(s) d.) Poison g.) Induced heart attack or stroke h.) Unsolved disappearance "Iran Supreme Leader Orders Probe of Election Fraud" "Mousavi Asks That Vote Be Nullified; President Calls Demonstrators 'Weeds' " Monday, June 15, 2009 7:56 AM TEHRAN, June 15 -- Iran's supreme leader on Monday ordered a probe of Friday's presidential election, as protests over alleged voter fraud continued for a third straight day. But since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already congratulated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his apparent reelection, some observers dismissed the investigation as an attempt to diffuse the anti-government demonstrations. Pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and another candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, were planning to attend a large rally at Revolutionary Square Monday afternoon and to appeal for calm, aides said. Mousavi is the leader of an opposition movement whose supporters appeared to turn out in force in Iran's urban areas to vote for a change in leadership.

But hours after the polls closed, the Iranian government announced Ahmadinejad had been re-elected by a landslide. Protests ensued, and Mousavi asked Iran's influential Guardian Council to declare the election null and void because of fraud and irregularities. On Sunday, Mousavi met with Khamenei, a Shiite cleric who holds ultimate political authority in Iran. Ali Reza Adeli, a top aide to Mousavi, said Khamenei told Mousavi to use legal avenues to question the election outcome. The two leaders then jointly appealed for calm, Adeli said. Khamenei later asked the Guardian Council to examine the election and the allegations of wrongdoing, and issue a report within seven to 10 days. The council is a 12-member commission that must validate the election before an official winner can be declared. Council members are appointed by Khamenei and the head of the judiciary. The council vets candidates and has the power to veto laws deemed inconsistent with Islam. Although it has not yet acted to affirm the election results, state media have pronounced Ahmadinejad the victor, and Khamenei issued a statement congratulating him -- making a reversal extremely unlikely, according to many here.

Mousavi complained to the council about interference from security forces and the use of irregular procedures in the election. In asking the Guardian Council to nullify the election, Mousavi wrote on his Web site, "I believe this to be the only way to return the general trust and support of the people for the government." The site is now blocked in Iran. Riots erupted on Sunday for a second day, with gunshots heard in several locations in Tehran and unrest in the Caspian Sea city of Rasht and the central Iranian city of Shiraz, witnesses said in phone interviews. On Sunday, Ahmadinejad led a victory rally near Vali-e Asr square attended by tens of thousands of people waving Iranian flags, which his campaign adopted as its symbol. At an earlier news conference, he declared the Iranian election a "true manifestation of people's right to decide their own destiny." "Some . . . say the vote is disrupted, there has been a fraud," he said at the rally. "Where are the irregularities in the election?" Young members of Iran's voluntary paramilitary force, the Basij, carried batons as they roamed the streets in groups on motorcycles, many wearing black helmets and green vests.

Ahmadinejad said the demonstrators were "a few weeds that are making problems." To cheers, he said there would be no more place for them in Iran. On his Web site, Mousavi wrote that "those who with great violations have issued results unbelievable for the Iranian nation are now trying to stabilize those results and start a new era in the history of our nation." He added that the protests over the results were not about him personally. "They are because of worries over the new method of political life which is being forced onto our country," he wrote. During the campaign, Mousavi recalled, he warned many times of what he called illegal behavior by the Ahmadinejad government. "I stressed that such a method might result in despotism and dictatorship, and today our nation is at a point that it sees this fate looming," he said. He urged the authorities to issue a permit for "massive" demonstrations in Iranian cities, writing that this would be the best way to stop the riots. "People will have a chance to show their protest and opposition to the method of the holding of the election and its result," Mousavi wrote, urging his supporters to continue using the color green, his campaign's signature color, in their protests.

Cellphone service was cut for the second day in a row Sunday in an effort to quell riots. Mousavi urged police forces not to use violence against protesters: "These people have come on the scene to acquire their rights and your rights and are your brothers and sisters. The power of our police and military forces has always been in their unity with the people, and it will remain so in the future." Many people have been severely beaten by special riot police and members of the Basij. For the second night, fierce clashes broke out in Tehran and a growing number of other cities. Official security forces as well as members of the Basij attacked demonstrators and bystanders. Cars were burned in West Tehran, and shots were heard in the northwestern parts of the city. Iran's judiciary has said it will bring demonstrators swiftly to court. Around 9 p.m. Sunday, people in many neighborhoods went to rooftops and balconies and chanted "God is great" in support of Mousavi. The rallying cry is the same one protesters used in the weeks leading up to the 1979 revolution that ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The Fars News Agency, which is close to the government, reported the arrest of dozens of political dissidents in Tehran, most of them supporters of Mousavi. Witnesses reported that students had broken out of a university that was surrounded by security forces, a student named Keyvan, who would not give his family name, said in a phone interview. In Rasht there were reports of casualties, Amir, an engineer, said in a phone interview. During a news conference earlier Sunday, Ahmadinejad lauded the "epic" election. "This election was so free that you could say it was complete freedom," he said. But he added that the time had come to move on. "The election is gone and done. It is time for friendship, coalition and building the country." When asked about protests and complaints, Ahmadinejad said that it was important to ask the opinions of "true Iranians" on the election. "Like the people you meet at my rallies," he said. He described the protesters as soccer hooligans who were disappointed that their team lost the match. "This is not important," he said. "We have full freedom in Iran." His supporters showed up by the tens of thousands at a central Tehran square.

Boys wearing tight T-shirts and women in traditional head-to- toe black chadors held up Iranian flags. "We are here to support our president," said Massoumeh Nazemi, who was sitting in the grass with her husband, Ali, and their daughter, Nargess, as Ahmadinejad spoke in the distance. "The police and security forces must deal very harshly with the demonstrators," Nazemi said. "They can't accept the victory of the Iranian people. They are hypocrites," she said, using a term commonly directed at those perceived to be enemies of the Islamic revolution. "To those who say I create problems, I want to say that I am only a small drop in the ocean of the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad declared, his voice amplified by loudspeakers. "You are against the nation," he said to his opponents. "There is no other choice than to surrender." Crowds of mostly lower-class families cheered as Ahmadinejad again spoke of a corrupt Iranian ruling class that he said he was determined to bring to justice. "You think you are of the elite? That you are above the people?" he said, referring to a group of 200 people who he said were forcing themselves upon Iran.

He again mentioned the children of prominent clerics, saying they were corrupt. "The society must be purified of these people," he said. Ahmadinejad asked his supporters to be patient, explaining that such a purge would not happen overnight. "They will try to stop me," he said, "but I will expose them to the great nation of Iran." [Special correspondent Kay Armin Serjoie contributed to this report.] By Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty Monday, June 15, 2009 THE ELECTION RESULTS IN IRAN may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin -- greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election. While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead. Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare.

Typically, preelection polls there are either conducted or monitored by the government and are notoriously untrustworthy. By contrast, the poll undertaken by our nonprofit organizations from May 11 to May 20 was the third in a series over the past two years. Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The breadth of Ahmadinejad's support was apparent in our preelection survey. During the campaign, for instance, Mousavi emphasized his identity as an Azeri, the second-largest ethnic group in Iran after Persians, to woo Azeri voters. Our survey indicated, though, that Azeris favored Ahmadinejad by 2 to 1 over Mousavi. Much commentary has portrayed Iranian youth and the Internet as harbingers of change in this election. But our poll found that only a third of Iranians even have access to the Internet, while 18-to-24- year-olds comprised the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad of all age groups.

The only demographic groups in which our survey found Mousavi leading or competitive with Ahmadinejad were university students and graduates, and the highest-income Iranians. When our poll was taken, almost a third of Iranians were also still undecided. Yet the baseline distributions we found then mirror the results reported by the Iranian authorities, indicating the possibility that the vote is not the product of widespread fraud. Some might argue that the professed support for Ahmadinejad we found simply reflected fearful respondents' reluctance to provide honest answers to pollsters. Yet the integrity of our results is confirmed by the politically risky responses Iranians were willing to give to a host of questions. For instance, nearly four in five Iranians -- including most Ahmadinejad supporters -- said they wanted to change the political system to give them the right to elect Iran's supreme leader, who is not currently subject to popular vote. Similarly, Iranians chose free elections and a free press as their most important priorities for their government, virtually tied with improving the national economy. These were hardly "politically correct" responses to voice publicly in a largely authoritarian society.

Indeed, and consistently among all three of our surveys over the past two years, more than 70 percent of Iranians also expressed support for providing full access to weapons inspectors and a guarantee that Iran will not develop or possess nuclear weapons, in return for outside aid and investment. And 77 percent of Iranians favored normal relations and trade with the United States, another result consistent with our previous findings. Iranians view their support for a more democratic system, with normal relations with the United States, as consonant with their support for Ahmadinejad. They do not want him to continue his hard-line policies. Rather, Iranians apparently see Ahmadinejad as their toughest negotiator, the person best positioned to bring home a favorable deal -- rather like a Persian Nixon going to China. Allegations of fraud and electoral manipulation will serve to further isolate Iran and are likely to increase its belligerence and intransigence against the outside world. Before other countries, including the United States, jump to the conclusion that the Iranian presidential elections were fraudulent, with the grave consequences such charges could bring, they should consider all independent information. The fact may simply be that the reelection of President Ahmadinejad is what the Iranian people wanted.

Ken Ballen is president of Terror Free Tomorrow: The Center for Public Opinion, a nonprofit institute that researches attitudes toward extremism. Patrick Doherty is deputy director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation. The groups' May 11-20 polling consisted of 1,001 interviews across Iran and had a 3.1 percentage point margin of error. "Elements of 1960 CIA Report Hold True Today" By Walter Pincus "WE DO NOT believe that Israel will embark on the development of nuclear weapons with the aim of actually starting a nuclear war," reads the declassified 48-year-old CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate.

The estimate, publicly released June 5 by George Washington University's National Security Archives, continues, "Possession of a nuclear weapon capability, or even the prospect of achieving it, would clearly give Israel a greater sense of security, self-confidence and assertiveness." "In any public announcement concerning their nuclear reactor program, the Israelis would almost certainly stress the peaceful nature of their efforts, but they would also, as time goes on, make plain that henceforth Israel is a power to be accorded more respect than either its friends or its enemies have hitherto given it," reads the estimate. The December 1960 intelligence analysis, which still has elements redacted, is interesting in today's context as the Obama administration confronts the nuclear weapon ambitions of North Korea and Iran. Does the understanding of why a friendly country seeks a nuclear weapon apply when the analysis involves two countries that are potential U.S. enemies? No, is the safe bet when public reaction is considered. But shouldn't intelligence analysts recognize that friends -- and potential foes -- may have similar reasoning for nuclear ambitions: to deter potential invaders and to promote their standing among allies and enemies alike? Wouldn't that be worth understanding even in unpredictable and potentially unstable governments?

It might when trying to talk them out of it -- though it has to be noted that it didn't help with Israel, a stable ally. The authors of the 1960 estimate suggest the possession of a nuclear weapon -- in this case, Israel's -- would be used to deter others from attacking it. "It probably would make it increasingly clear that an Arab attack on Israel would be met with nuclear retaliation," reads the estimate. On the diplomatic side, however, the analysts saw that a nuclear weapon could also make a country more of a challenge. The estimate noted: "Israel would be less inclined than ever to make concessions and would press its interests in the area more vigorously." That certainly rings true today for North Korea and Iran. In another ironic twist, the estimate said Israel's enemy, the UAR [United Arab Republic, the then-combination of Egypt and Syria] "as a last desperate resort . . . might try to destroy the Israeli program through preventive military action." U.S. military experts today have argued that any Israeli attempt today to knock out Iran's nuclear program would fail and create havoc.

Back in 1960, American intelligence analysts believed that the main Arab leader attempting such an effort against Israel also would have been counterproductive. "Given present relative military capabilities," the estimate said, Gen. Gamal Abdel Nasser, UAR president, "would almost certainly realize that such military action would precipitate a war which he is likely to lose." Analysts 48 years ago saw Moscow probably reemphasizing "a former appeal for a nuclear free zone in the Middle East." The same is true today. In 1960 the intelligence analysts said the UAR would look to Moscow "for countervailing military aid" and demand Soviet assistance "in achieving nuclear capability." Moscow did supply Nasser with conventional arms, but as the analysts predicted, the Soviets "would almost certainly not provide nuclear weapons to the UAR nor assistance in developing a capability for the production of fissionable material." Matters came close in 1973, when Arabs invaded Israel. Israel's conventional forces not only repulsed the invading troops, but its military crossed the Suez Canal into Egyptian territory. In late October 1973, a U.S.

intelligence report, "Soviet Nuclear Weapons in Egypt?," noted that equipment associated with Soviet medium-range Scud missiles "were already in Egypt." Presence of the missile equipment "adds seriousness to the evidence that Moscow introduced nuclear weapons into the Middle East," according to the document, which was also released earlier this month by the National Security Archives. The 1973 crisis ended without an open nuclear confrontation, but as the newly released intelligence document reasoned, the Soviets may have thought "the presence of [Moscow] nuclear weapons in Egypt could balance the possibility that an Israeli nuclear capability might be brought into play, either psychologically or in actual use." In more recent times, Moscow has become a supplier to Iran of nuclear technology, primarily with the nuclear reactor in Bushehr. But the Russians have joined the United States and European nations in working to prevent Tehran from achieving nuclear weapon capability. An awkward part of the U.S.-Israel relationship arises out of a still- secret September 1969 understanding between then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and then-President Richard Nixon.

As disclosed in 2006 by the National Security Archives' William Burr and Avner Cohen, "the president had emphasized to Meir that 'our primary concern was that the Israeli [government] make no visible introduction of nuclear weapons or undertake a nuclear test program.' " Thus, Israel would never publicly acknowledge it has nuclear weapons and the United States would play along, leaving Israel's nuclear weapons an unannounced certainty. According to recent estimates, Israel has approximately 200 nuclear bombs and warheads. TEHRAN, June 22 -- The Iranian parliament's judiciary committee raised the possibility Monday of legal action against opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, while government forces violently dispersed a crowd protesting alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election. After state news media took aim at Mousavi on Sunday, accusing him of supporting an illegal mass movement, Ali Shahrokhi, head of the parliamentary judiciary committee, suggested that the former prime minister was criminally liable for the recent unrest. "Mousavi's statements inflame public opinion and are thus criminal acts," Shahrokhi told the semiofficial Fars News Agency.

"The necessary circumstances for legal action against Mousavi are there." Mousavi's repeated calls to protesters to continue their demonstrations are intended to undermine Iran's political system, Shahrokhi said. "Unfortunately, Mousavi is using illegal marches and demonstrations and statements to exert pressure and bully the system," he said, adding, "If the system was going to give way to bullying, it would have done so with U.S. and imperialist pressure." Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Monday that it would crush further demonstrations over the disputed election. In a statement quoted by the semiofficial Mehr News Agency, the military organization said it strongly condemned the "illegal path" taken by "deceived elements" and demanded an end to "rioting and vandalism." If unrest continues, the statement said, protesters "should expect a decisive and revolutionary confrontation from the children of the Iranian nation in the Guard, the Basij militia and other police and security forces to end the mutiny and riots." Hours after the statement was released, more than 1,000 people turned out for a demonstration in Tehran's central Haft-e Tir Square.

They were met by several hundred members of the Revolutionary Guard, who broke up the crowd with tear gas and gunshots, assisted by members of the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary force under the Guard's authority, eyewitnesses said. Ambulances could be heard as security officials entered surrounding properties looking for demonstrators and people with cameras. On Friday, the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said protest organizers would be responsible for the "violence and bloodshed" that might follow if demonstrations were not stopped. Tehran's police chief, Gen. Azizollah Rajabali, issued a statement Monday saying there would be no surrender to "hooligans and rioters" and calling the elections "a great test" for the police. "The breakup of illegal demonstrations has left the police with numerous physical and mental injuries," he said. Fars News also reported the arrest of members of a foreign-based opposition group who had been accused of shooting people, including police. "This group fired blindly at the crowds of people and law enforcement personnel in the streets," Fars reported, saying that those arrested belonged to the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, an Islamist Marxist group that the United States has labeled a terrorist organization.

The group, which sided with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, has little support among most Iranians. Many eyewitnesses, however, have reported seeing gunmen they said were members of the Basij shooting at people, mainly from rooftops. Supporters of Mousavi, 67, have called for a national strike Tuesday and urged Iranians to wear black and carry black candles with green ribbons -- green being the signature color of Mousavi's campaign -- to commemorate those killed during demonstrations Saturday. On Monday, Iranian state television began advising citizens not to go out on the streets after 8 p.m., warning people to stay home "for their own safety." Mousavi supporters also urged people to drive with their headlights on during the afternoon rush hour Monday. Or you may visit our website, dedicated to Neda, whose death has become the rallying cry of a nation: If you know of anyone who may be interested in this cause, please feel free to forwad this e-mail to them. Thank you. With love and hope for the future of this world.

Aslan On Jun 23, 1:59 pm, "Kornet / Yaako Warrior from AUZ., Korea., Germany., RSA., USA, Sweden, Hong Kong, Canada, Russia, China, Denmark, UK, .........., the slayer of fecal stained moslems" <Mozlems_fuck_goats_like_false_prophet_mohamm...@pislam.shiit> wrote: > > This message was cancelled from within Mozilla. > > HOW TO BECOME A SHITSKIN MOSLEM - this is how: fuck goats, fuck your > mother (nikomak), molest children, wear a beekeepers outfit all the > time, never shower or bath, beat your wives, learn terrorist activities > at a maddrassa, wipe your ass with stones, sell the donkey you fucked to > a nearby village, marry a nine year-old , send your child off to an > indoctrination camp, practice thighing with little kids, Hijack a plane, > Hijack a ship, ............ Practice all those and you too could > become a prophet !! > Elif air ab tizak mohammad !!!! >

Question: Mir Hossein Mousavi was the beaten opponent in which country's presidential election?
Answer: Iran