Washington Times: The world has been shocked, shocked to learn that Iran’s presidential elections, of which the first round took place on June 17, were a sham. Did anyone really, seriously believe they would be anything but? Real power in Iran resides with the Mullahs, who did not hesitate to use that power to ensure that whoever is the next president of Iran, it
will not be someone who attempts to challenge them.
Iranian elections
Iran Seizes Candidate’s Election Material
Washington Post: Iranian security officials on Tuesday confiscated more than half a million wallet-size cards and posters endorsing Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for president from a printing house in Tehran, according to employees of the shop. Employees said the posters and cards contained the words “repression,” “terrorizing,” “freedom” and “democracy.”
In Iran, voting isn’t really democracy
Rocky Mountain News – Opinion: While blasting President Bush for questioning the honesty of last Friday’s elections, Iran’s ruling clerics were busily trying to fix the outcome of this Friday’s runoff. On the eve of last Friday’s ballot, Bush issued a statement saying, accurately, that power in Iran “is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy.”
Cliffhanger in Iran
New York Times – Editorial: What a surprise: in the race for the mostly meaningless position of president of Iran, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the conservative hard-line mayor of Tehran, came in second place, and will be in a runoff on Friday with Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former two-term president. Mehdi Karroubi, the former speaker of Parliament who was the closest thing to a reformist in Iranian politics, accused hard-liners of rigging the election.
Iran election digest
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 21 – Action will be taken against SMS advertisers
Pro-Rafsanjani website says Supreme Leader prays for election frontrunner
Khatami implicitly backs Rafsanjani
Interior Ministry warns of further vote-rigging
Daily suspended indefinitely
Defeated conservative candidate backs Rafsanjani
Yazd election chief resigns to campaign on behalf of Rafsanjani
Iran election digest
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 21 – Action will be taken against SMS advertisers
Pro-Rafsanjani website says Supreme Leader prays for election frontrunner
Khatami implicitly backs Rafsanjani
Interior Ministry warns of further vote-rigging
Daily suspended indefinitely
Defeated conservative candidate backs Rafsanjani
Yazd election chief resigns to campaign on behalf of Rafsanjani
Iran cleric Karroubi draws fire for divulging vote fix
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 21 – Recent comments by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi and his decision to go public with information about tampering of the polls have aroused the wrath of the ruling clerics, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports from Tehran indicated that members of the paramilitary Bassij had attacked Karroubis residence and threatened to lay siege to it, and an array of military and political institutions closely identified with Khamenei issued statements denouncing the clerics moves that only help the enemies of the Islamic Republic.
Iran cleric draws fire for divulging vote fix
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 21 – Recent comments by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi and his decision to go public with information about tampering of the polls have aroused the wrath of the ruling clerics, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports from Tehran indicated that members of the paramilitary Bassij had attacked Karroubis residence and threatened to lay siege to it, and an array of military and political institutions closely identified with Khamenei issued statements denouncing the clerics moves that only help the enemies of the Islamic Republic.
Iran cleric draws fire for divulging vote fix
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 21 – Recent comments by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi and his decision to go public with information about tampering of the polls have aroused the wrath of the ruling clerics, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports from Tehran indicated that members of the paramilitary Bassij had attacked Karroubis residence and threatened to lay siege to it, and an array of military and political institutions closely identified with Khamenei issued statements denouncing the clerics moves that only help the enemies of the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s Message: No More Nice Guys
The Wall Street Journal – GLOBAL VIEW: Whoever wins an electoral runoff and becomes Iran’s new president, the news won’t be good, either for Iranians or Americans and Europeans disturbed about the regime’s quest for nuclear weaponry. The country’s ruling mullahs blatantly displayed their muscle, and vote-rigging skills, in last Friday’s initial vote. That suggests that
they are no longer interested in creating even the illusion of
political moderation.
