Imma Let You Finish Afghanistan, but Iran Had the Craziest Election of All Time

In what we can only imagine as a scene out of Michael Jackson's Bad, clashing rallies erupted in Iran.  Today, in Iran, is Quds Day which is a major day for the Iranian regime (not unlike ten cent wing day).  It is an occasion for people to show their support for the Palestinians and opposition to Israel.  This rally by the opposition is the first major one since July and there have been reports that former president Mohamad Khatami was attacked by the paramilitary group the Basij. 

Update: Iran Still Pissed About Election

Well, it looks like the rage of 1000 Suns in Iran over last month's election is still smoldering.  Top cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticized the hard liners in the Iranian government and called for the release of those arrested in the aftermath of the election.  He also said that doubts over the election have been raised and those doubts need to be resolved in order for this issue to be settled.  Since the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decreed that the election was valid, raising the spectre of doubts over the election is tantamount to challenging him.

Iran Protests: What Do You Love About Your Police State?

While admitting (and then denying) election fraud has quickly become passé, crackdowns, beatdowns, and shutdowns are the new rage in Iran.  Today protests were stopped by masses of riot police and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated that Iran will not yield to the pressures of the protests.  All this got us at Puggling wondering just what are the best things about living in a police state?

Iran Still Going Apeshit; Pakistan Jealous

In a not so shocking development, the Guardian Council of Iran has stated that no voting irregularities occurred before the election not during or after.  They have also stated that there was not enough evidence of voter fraud to overturn the election results and Ahmadinejad will be re-sworn into office sometime between July 26th and August 19th.  All the while, leaders of the opposition and people with ties to candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi are steadily being arrested and detained. 

Iran Election: They Admitted It!?!?!

In a flash of stupidity, the Iranian Guardian Council stated that more people voted than were eligible in at least 50 regions.  However they claim that the discrepancy is not enough to affect the outcome of the election, but admitting that there were shenanigans in the election will likely not placate the protesters.  Too many votes were cast?  Apparently the voting in Iran is run by this guy →.  The Iranian regime could at least have stuck to its story.  There are middle school cheating rings with greater message discipline. 

Iranian Election: We Call Shenanigans

Just in case you haven't been paying attention, something smells funny in Iran and it's not just the thousands of people in the desert heat.  In the recent Iranian election, there was a reported 85% turnout and incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a surprising 62.6% of the vote.  While this might not be in itself a strange result, the fact that his victory was announced before some of the polls closed, and before many of the millions of paper ballots could possibly have been counted.

This week the Ayatollah went on national television to declare that the vote was not rigged.  Thousands of Iranians are still planning on protesting on Saturday despite the despotic decree that protesters be "held responsible" if these protests continue which sounds like code for "crackdown."  In something eerily out of the plot of V for Vendetta, Iran is blaming outside threats for the internal turmoil and is basically threatening violence on the populace if they don't stop expressing their dissent.  Hell, Iran has its own secretive shock troops called the Basij.

So, when the crowd shows up looking like this → the Iranian regime will need to run for the hills.  While the approach the protesters are taking is mirroring that of Ghandi, the power of peaceful protest is still great and it is doubtful that the Iranian country would react well to a crackdown on peaceful protesters.  The longer these protests continue, the greater the threat to the Ayatollah and the mistake of effectively giving the election to Ahmadinejad could be the turning point and potentially bring about change in the country.

Iranian Protests: Twitter Now Used for Something Other than Talking About Your Cat

The spotty reports coming out of Iran are showing what appears to be a massive protest against the recent elections.  Many of these reports are coming through on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook.  The Iranian regime is attempting to block access to these sites with very limited success.  There have been thousands of posts on Twitter of video and photos of the protests as well as the violence that has accompanied some of these.  The normal usage of Twitter, blabbing about your stupid cat, is being overshadowed as the amount of these posts grows. 

Much of the organization of these protests is being run through Twitter and today a massive rally was organized in Iran's capital, Tehran, by the opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi.  If these protests continue to gather strength, this will force the regime into a corner and the reaction will likely not be pretty.  The real power in Iran does not rest within the president or with the prime minister, but with the supreme leader, the Ayatollah.  Think of him as one of the crazy cat people on Twitter.  He's getting madder and madder that his tweets aren't being heard over the din of the protesters.  Once he is threatened enough, he is likely to use force to quell this movement. 

Once it gets to the point of force, the situation can become very destabilizing to the entire country.  This will become a power struggle and the entire country could very easily delve into a civil war.  However, if these protests slowly peter out, it is likely not much will change in Iran, and this is how the regime would like this all to end.