Ahmadinejad scores big win in Iran vote

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad resoundingly won Iran's election, preliminary official results showed on Saturday, but his moderate challenger alleged irregularities and claimed victory for himself.

The level of the incumbent's support, roughly twice as many votes as former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi with most ballots counted, confounded analyst predictions of a tight race.

A bitterly fought campaign generated intense excitement inside Iran and strong interest around the world, with policymakers looking for signs of a change in Tehran's approach in a long-running row with the West over its nuclear ambitions.

Listing several complaints before official results were announced, Mousavi said many people had not been able to vote and that there had been a lack of ballot papers.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSEVA14340720090613

---

Ahmadinejad 'set for Iran victory'

Source: Al Jazeera English

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's incumbent president, has taken a commanding lead in his bid for re-election with more than two-thirds of ballot boxes counted, Iran's interior ministry has said.

Ahmadinejad is currently ahead with 65.2 per cent of the 28 million ballots counted against 31 per cent for Mir Hossein Mousavi, his main rival, according to results released early on Saturday.

IRNA, Iran's official news agency, announced that Ahmadinejad had won re-election.

"Doctor Ahmadinejad, by getting a majority of the votes, has become the definite winner of the 10th presidential election," it reported.

Al Jazeera's Teymoor Nabili, reporting from Tehran, said: "The state media have declared victory for Ahmadinejad and he not only won, he blew Mousavi away."

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/2009612195749149733.html

-- --- --

To say this is a dissapointment would be an understatement. Kind of reminds me of when another whackjob got re-"elected" in 04.

[EFerrari]

1. I take it there were no international monitors.

Isolating Iran wasn't a good idea.

[alsame]

44. I was watching CNN last night and

Christiane Amanpour was reporting from Tehran...she was asked about monitors and she said no one was monitoring except some Iranian Interior Ministers. No international agencies had been granted access.

[lapfog_1]

2. Wow... he's got some brass ones...

Here, I've always said that they can't steal unless the real margin is within 8 points or so... preferably set the vote counting software to show a 53 - 47 win... enough to be within the 48 - 52 (+/- 5) margin of error.

He just goes right out and nails down a 65 - 31 "win".

I guess he didn't really learn from Rove... more like Stalin.

[Billy Burnett]

4. It's only a "clean" election when it suits American interests.

So, this is probably a "clean" election (at least as clean as a US election).


Edit - added the quotations.

[Turborama]

5. Trita Parsi, president of Washington-based National Iranian American Council, expressed disbelief

Trita Parsi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, expressed disbelief at the wide margin in Ahmadinejad's favor.

"It is difficult to feel comfortable that this occurred without any cheating," Parsi said.

--- -- ---

Edited to add the above quote from the original article and to add that I share his disbelief.

I still contend that we're not in any position to judge others' elections against our own very flawed system. A flawed election is a flawed election, wherever it is.

[Billy Burnett]

6. Oops. Forgot the "air quotes". I'll correct the post.

Thanks.

[lapfog_1]

8. Actually, according to some folks,

either of the two leading candidates suit some faction of "American interests".

Apparently, our neocon "friends" here wanted this outcome, while the Obama folks would have preferred it went the other way (well, the official outcome that is).

Either way, American "interests" are served. The real question is more for the Iranians.

Just like our election in 2000.

[cali]

12. sorry, bush isn't president anymore and Obama hardly responds to Iran in

the manner bush did.

[bigjohn16]

3. With numbers like that I don't think he'll be softening his agenda any time soon. nt

[bluestateguy]

7. He did not win. He should not be recognized as the president of Iran,

And the lazy media with their claptrap is acting as if he really won.

[Turborama]

9. Who runs IRNA?

If it's the 'official' Iranian news agency then it's game over, surely.

I always thought that the election would be 'won' by whoever the Ayatollahs wanted to 'win'.

[bushmeister0]

10. Well it looks like the Iranians and the Isrealis can agree on something. n/t

[regnaD kciN]

11. These results go WAY beyond "suspicious"...

As is being pointed out at the Foreign Policy magazine website, results of Iranian elections have always come in quite slowly. This time, the state-run news agency announces 40% of the vote count hours before the first fragmentary returns normally come in, and give Ahmadinejad a greater than two-to-one margin. Supposedly, complete results from one of Mousavi's strongholds came in quickly, and went to Ahmadinejad by a three-to-one margin.

:wtf:

Guys, this isn't an American-style stolen election, with voting machines being tweaked to skim a small but decisive margin for one side. This is a strongman-style stolen election, where the government, representing the incumbent and unchecked by outside observers, simply collects the ballots, destroys them, and announces the result they had decided on beforehand.

Next up, watch for a harsh crackdown on opposition supporters should they dare to go to the streets to challenge the results. Think Tienanmen Square, or what happened in Chile after Pinochet's coup. I'll be surprised if Mousavi is allowed to live; at the very least, I'd expect him to be "disappeared" into a prison somewhere. The hard-liners realize they almost let this one slip out of their grasp, and are going to make sure they don't face the same risk again.

[dipsydoodle]

14. Maybe not a good idea to mention Pinochet

who became Kissenger's choice after Rene Schneider wouldn't play ball. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Schneider

Pinochet's antics were wholly attributable to the USA's foregn policy with regard to Latin America. So much for fucking democracy.

As far as I'm aware there's still an arrest warrant out on Kissinger in Paris.

[regnaD kciN]

45. Why not...?

:wtf:

[PatrynXX]

13. Well I assume there'll be a civil war in that country now.

We certainly didn't fare all that well when someone pulled a coup in 2000 and became a role model for the idiot in Iran. Then in 2004 Bush won by intimidation. There's no way oinky won by a landslide. But there's probably no way to prove that.

[cosmicone]

15. In other news ....

Norm Coleman heads to Tehran to orchaestrate a Mousavi challenge and recount.

[BunkerHill24]

43. ROFLMAO

:rofl:

[Enthusiast]

16. I expected them to rig it. nt

[mattvermont]

24. By them...

I expect you mean the US/CIA? I think it is we who control most of these elections to serve our purposes.

[Mudoria]

17. While I can't say I'm surprised Ahmadinejad won..

because he does have a lot of support among poorer Iranians (I have no idea why), I am completely surprised by this large a margin of victory. Mousavi seemed to have all the momentum going into the election and I expected a close result with either winning. This does smell funny to me. I guess the man will be even more obnoxious now unfortunately.

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. Or so the Western news agencies kept telling us

:rofl:

[SkyDaddy7]

18. THE FIX IS IN!!!!!!!!

This SUX! The Republicans got their choice! A Persian BUSH for 4 more years!

[ohio2007]

22. the fist remains clenched

by order of the mullahs. Guess they have decided to wait out Barack to see if he gets another four years before they make or allow any real change....

lol

:sarcasm:

[sisters6]

19. not good at all

[Strong Atheist]

40. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Turborama]

20. Live announcement of the result on AJ English right now

Link in my signature line below...

[Christa]

21. Just as unbelievable

As Bush's second term win.

[Turborama]

23. Iran poll result 'harms US hopes'

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in Iran's presidential election is likely to be a blow to hopes for US rapprochement with Iran.

Washington has had no official ties with Tehran since shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979, but Barack Obama, the US president, has expressed his openness to dialogue since coming to power in January.

Analysts said on Saturday that victory for Ahmadinejad, who has crossed swords repeatedly with the West over Iran's nuclear ambitions and his criticism of Israel, could stall any attempts at improving relations.

"In Washington there was a severe wish to make sure Mousavi would be the winner because of the atmospherics and the comfort level in not dealing with Ahmadinejad and dealing with him," Trita Parsi, the president of National American Iranian Council, told Al Jazeera.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/200961384325204144.html

[AverageJoe5]

27. Why do the news media describe Ahmadinejad as "hard-line"?

Almost every mention of Ahmadinejad is preceded by the label of "hard-line," probably because he puts his country's interests first and foremost rather than bowing to the dictates of other countries.

Why didn't the news media describe former president George W. Bush as "hard-line" on the basis of his defiance of world opinion when he illegally and unjustifiably ordered the invasion of Iraq?

By strongly defending Iran's inalienable right to develop and use nuclear technology, Ahmadinejad proved to Iranians that he is a worthy leader and deserves to be re-elected as their president.

Western news media should stop whining because their favored candidate didn't win.

[Turborama]

30. Al Jazeera English isn't "Western news media"

Just sayin'.

[Strong Atheist]

41. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[davidpdx]

25. This sucks ass! Ahmadinejad has stolen the election

and now will repress (or continue to repress) people who dare challange it. I agree with what someone else said about Mousavi turning up dead or missing. It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Maybe Iran has just elected its leader for life...

[pjt7]

26. Fact is, there is a hard-liner in Israel

& a hard-liner in Iran.

[Bandit]

28. It really doesn't matter neither would actually run the country

The Ayatollah runs the country. The President is ONLY a figurehead.

[panzerfaust]

29. As Uncle Joe said ...

"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."

No more or less true in America, Iran, or the USSR.

[LeftishBrit]

31. Yes, I was thinking of that saying (deep sigh)

[peace_to_world]

32. It is difficult for Americans..

..to accept victory of enemy..

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. It "must be" stolen!!!!

Americans are suckers, as are most people on this board. The news says something (Mousavi has a chance) enough, and everyone beli3eves it, even though everybody pretends to be "skeptical" of the press. The press has actually pulled off the hardest trick: they con people while also convincing them that they can't be conned.

So now you have a bunch of know-nothing idiots on thgis board running around screaming that the election must be stolen, because they just *know* that Mousavi had "all the momentum" and the "popularity." Never mind that these same know-nothing idiots don't know jackshit about Iran, Iranian elections, Iranian culture, or Iranian politics except what they hear on the Western news! But they're also "very critical readers" of the press, they say.

What a comedy of errors on this board.

[Swamp Rat]

37. Yes, there is often a lot of hyperbole.

I often find this very entertaining, in an Indigo Child-ish way. :D

However, if Americans are suckers, regarding election theft, then so are Asians, Europeans, Latin Americans, Pakistanis, Persians, ad infinitum.

[wildeyed]

38. It might be stolen.

Nobody expected an Ahmadinejad landslide. Something I read said that Ahmadinejad led, even in strongly pro-Mousavi areas. This is suspect. The government shut down all text messaging (a popular way for Mousavi supporters to communicate) in the country and blocked some pro-Mousavi websites last week. So they clearly had an agenda.

On the other hand, Mousavi's support is recent and disorganized. Supporters call him their Obama, but really, he seems more like their Kerry. A less than charismatic speaker whose urban and highly educated supporters are more anyone-but-Ahmadinejad than pro-Mousavi. I can see that Mousavi may not have had the organization or the wide appeal to win. Also, I know nothing Iran's demographics, i.e. urban versus rural population, education levels, the percentage of voters who are highly religious. You really have to know these things to make any kind of definitive statement. I will be avidly watching the news for the next few weeks to figure this out. Sadly, the Iran election is not getting as much play in our media as I would like, so it is difficult to get good in depth info.

Regardless, I am pleased to see the demonstrations. Change may not come to Iran this week, but the citizens there are awake and active. It is a good thing.

[Turborama]

35. It is difficult for anyone..

..to accept "victory" of a whackjob.

Fixed.

[Swamp Rat]

36. Wow! You gave up too soon.

For your information: Americans, in general, are not "quitters."

[Strong Atheist]

42. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Jefferson23]

39. No fucking way he won those votes!