Ahmadinejad victory rally.
Yesterday, I travelled to Tehran. We parked our car near where the rally was supposed to be, without much thought. We didn't realize that Mousavi's supporters had previously arranged to stage a demonstration in the area we were walking through.
This is where things get interesting.
Now, that previous night demonstrators had allegedly broken store front windows and lit cars on fire, so the riot police were on edge. As we were walking past to get to the Ahmadinejad rally, the two sides started clashing and we had to hurry through to make sure we wouldn't get caught in the middle.
I can't justify either the violent actions Mousavi's supporters have taken or all of the government's reactions to the Mousavi riots, but it has to be noted that the government has to keep the peace in the streets which Mousavi supporters were definitely violating.
And although I wasn't in Babol last night, I heard some students lit cars on fire and were rioting. As I had mentioned earlier, Babol is fairly conservative but there was unrest even here.
At the same time, it must be noted that while there is serious opposition to Ahmadinejad, he has also has huge support. The western media reports I've been reading seem to be only focusing on Ahmadinejad's opposition, which is obviously an important aspect to cover. However, it also has to be noted Ahmadinjead has very significant support in Iran, as evidenced by his victory rally's pictures below.
Overall, though, the situation here in Iran is very sensitive, and although I don't think there is much legitimacy in the claim that Mousavi won, Mousavi's supporters seem to genuinely think he did. I think the more important question to ask is not if there was foul play at the polls (although, that's obviously very important as well), but also why Mousavi's side feels so impassioned to take to the streets? Or why Mousavi supporters are lobbying and expending so much energy to get their voices heard?
I think Ahmadinejad's re-elected administration has to think hard about these questions. There are many people upset at Ahmadinejad, and these are not individuals who want regime change, as evidenced by their voter turnout, but rather Iranians who care about their country as much as Ahmadinejad's supporters do. Ahmadinejad's administration also has to try and create different channels for opposition to voice their discontent.
However, the biggest immediate challenge facing the Ahmadinejad administration will be to reconcile with the opposition, learn to compromise and not completely "have it their way." I don't doubt the tenacity of the Iranian people and hope the unrest will calm down soon, but there are some serious reconciliations and issues which have to be addressed. Although Ahmadinejad won the election, there was legitimate opposition which has to be paid more attention. Similarly, if it is proven there was no foul play, the opposition has to accept the votes of the Iranian people as legitimate and work through appropriate means to reconcile diffences.
Ahmadinejad's victory rally pictures:
See more of my photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39371713@N04/?saved=1
5 Comments
Megan Cottrell said:
Your blog is so fascinating! I can't wait to read more.
Denise M said:
Loving the blog so far. Very interesting and very evenly reported. Keep safe!
CityDweller said:
Great work, and I love the photos. Be safe and keep it up!
Charlie said:
"although I don't think there is much legitimacy in the claim that Mousavi won, Mousavi's supporters seem to genuinely think he did."
You seem to be sympathizing with the current leadership. Maybe that's why you blog so freely. It's pretty obvious they never bothered to count the votes. So how would anyone ever know who really won the election?
legalines said:
Charlie, What you are suggesting is that they made up over 8 million votes. To have Ahmadinejad winning by over 62% of the popular vote. Regardless, what is being shown in the media is a small percentage of the population of Iran.
I myself do not support Ahmadinejad,and voted for Mousavi.. but it's pretty obvious that Ahmadinejad won (although probably by a lesser margin than is reported). Please read the following article to get some insight into the situation. Hopefully it will clear a few things up: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1904953,00.html
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