Iran's Victory Party (pics)

[sumi]

exactly what i was going to say, ilovethisdeen. and right, vari. a lot of people, and i mean A LOT, have started "disappearing."

[Variable]

Just for my two cents... I think any thought of 'counter' revolution should be out of the question. The people who want to change the status quo should be looking for ways to increase their rights and loosen the grip of the council in non-violent ways. They can also continue to campaign to persuade others to their cause.

Assuming the election results are more or less correct (and at this point I'd say we have to), it seems as though the base of support for the reform movement has some growing to do before they can claim they're the best source of legitimacy.

[ChotooMotoo]

As per the comments about announcing election results before the ballots are counted... we in the US can't really say anything about this, because we do it EVERY ELECTION.

Oregon, for example, is a vote-by-mail state. Ballots are counted whenever they are received so long as they are post-marked no later than election day. Yet in almost every presidential election, results are called by 9pm Pacific time for Oregon ON election day. Only something like 2% of the ballots are counted and the result is called based on exit poll data only. Most states in the US are still using paper ballots (though some machine counting) and the results are certified by midnight.

For us to whine about "How could they have called the election before every single ballot was counted" is incredibly disingenuous. It is fair for us as a country to call for a monitored re-count of ballots cast, but we can't get all up in arms about something we do ourselves.

If they re-count the votes (and someone from Mousavi's camp and Ahmedinijad's camp) is there to monitor the process, and the vote STILL comes back that Ahmedinijad in fact one, then we need to accept the results and move on. I was listening to some stuff on NPR yesterday and a caller made and excellent point:

"What if, after this last election, some of John McCain's supporters had taken to the street to protest in the way that Mousavi's supporters have come out? How do you think the American police would have responded"

Oh, and I apologize for my bad spelling.

[ilovethisdeen]

Variable said

That makes more sense. Though apparently they have been punishing the crowds through something called the Basij(sp?)... identifying people during the daytime protests and then dealing with them later that night. -so some reports say coming out of Iran anyway. (I know this probably isn't news to anyone but me )

Yes, Basij is the correct spelling. The Basij work for the Supreme Guardian and have the responsibility of keeping morals in check. They don't always wear a uniform. They usually stop people on the street randomly. One once put a gun to my mother's head and said to cover her hair properly (her veil was loose) but to her defense - she was carrying both me and my twin sister in her arms. This was in the 80s. More recently, my half Iranian-American friend was visiting Iran and was walking with her cousin and the Basij stopped them to ask if they were related and why they were walking out late.

[Variable]

ilovethisdeen said

Yes, Basij is the correct spelling. The Basij work for the Supreme Guardian and have the responsibility of keeping morals in check. They don't always wear a uniform. They usually stop people on the street randomly. One once put a gun to my mother's head and said to cover her hair properly (her veil was loose) but to her defense - she was carrying both me and my twin sister in her arms. This was in the 80s. More recently, my half Iranian-American friend was visiting Iran and was walking with her cousin and the Basij stopped them to ask if they were related and why they were walking out late.

A gun to her head when she was carrying children?? Because her hair was showing. Way to steer clear of those negative stereotypes.

I hope it ends sooner rather than later... I just hope it happens without another violent revolution.

[sumi]

this video was interesting. thought i'd share.

*BBC *فارسی‬ - *ايران‬ - *درگیری های روز شنبه تهران‬

[photon]

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran election annulment ruled out

Iran's legislative body, the Guardian Council, has said there were no major polling irregularities in the 12 June election and ruled out an annulment.

Opposition supporters called for the vote to be set aside and the elections re-run amid claims of vote tampering.

Iran has also condemned UN chief Ban Ki-moon for "meddling" in its affairs.

It comes after Mr Ban urged the authorities to respect fundamental civil rights "especially the freedom of assembly and expression".

Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhoda'i said there was "no major fraud or breach in the election".

i dont think that comes as a surprise.

i'm in the middle of watching of this documentary on ahmadinejad. it was made before the elections but its v. interesting, a must see:

YouTube - Revolution in motion - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

YouTube - Revolution in motion - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad