Thousands take to streets to protest Iranian election results

[babylonsister]

Thousands take to streets to protest Iran poll

Posted 14 minutes ago


Thousands of angry supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have massed in Tehran to protest at the election result, with some pelting stones at baton-wielding police.

"Down with the dictator!" shouted the crowd as they streamed into one of the capital's main squares after latest results showed incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had secured a landslide win.

Hundreds of other people also gathered near the interior ministry in central Tehran, shouting: "Death to the dictator!"

The crowd rose in numbers after Mr Mousavi said in a statement that he would not bow to the "dangerous scenario" created in Iran by the results of the closely fought election.

Mr Mousavi said he "protested vigorously against the numerous and blatant irregularities" in Friday's vote after officials said Mr Ahmadinejad had secured about 63 per cent of the vote with counting in most districts over.

Latest results showed Mr Mousavi with 11.7 million votes against 21.8 million for Mr Ahmadinejad.

The former premier said it was his "national and religious duty to reveal the secrets of this dangerous process and to explain its destructive consequences for the future of the country".

more...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/13/2597503.htm

[vaberella]

1. Damn...it's dangerous times we live in. Sometimes I wish it was like Laura Ingalls time--

but then that wouldn't be good for me. I'd probably a slave being raped by a white plantation owner with a muzzle on. Huh...that always manages to sober me up, quickly.

[invictus]

2. K&R

[bdamomma]

3. their election was stolen just like ours.

you can't tell me with a record number of voters voted that man in again. Young students are protesting, Ahmadinejad stole the election, and Mr. Mousavi is held up in his house.

[grantcart]

4. In the 2005 elections Ahmadinejad got only 17 million votes

Everyone knows his popularity has declined, yet they show an increase in his votes.

Ridiculous.

[Liberal Gramma]

5. Hmmm. Civil war in Iran?

A stolen election didn't result in civil war here, but it could devolve into one in Iran.

[bvar22]

6. If Iran's next door neighbor...

...was not militarily OCCUPIED by a hostile foreign army, the hard liners would not be In Power in Iran.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. And if Bush hadn't put them on the axis of evil they probably wouldn't be either...

That said it looks like the Iranian people still want to reject the hard-liners and they now have to rig the vote to keep their mouthpiece in power.

[timeforpeace]

7. Once it gets to millions

then it will mean something.

[DLnyc]

8. Quite a discrepancy between this article and reality.

ABC says:
". . . Up to 2,000 Mousavi supporters took part in the sit-in in the middle of the road, chanting: "Mousavi take back our vote! What happened to our vote?"

Hundreds of his backers later gathered in side streets near Vanak, chanting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans and bringing traffic to a standstill.

The crowd rose in numbers after Mr Mousavi said in a statement that he would not bow to the "dangerous scenario" created in Iran by the results of the closely fought election. . . . "

implying weak opposition. My 'lying eyes' tell me different -- I see easily 10,000 demonstrators, probably 20,000 or more, in this just this one video (based on experience being in demonstrations and counting people). Look around 1:57 to 2:13, see what you think.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=324054

Some news organizations are perhaps inclined to play down the power of people to resist dictatorship.