Results tagged “iranianelection”

In spite of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's warning that opposition leaders would pay for any "bloodshed and chaos" from protests over the Iranian presidential elections, thousands of protesters, supporting opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi who disputes his loss to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, took to the streets in Teheran. (Khamenei has endorsed Ahmadinejad as winner of the election, with 63% of the vote.) Witnesses tell the AP that militia used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters. The NY Times reports, that so far, "the Obama administration has fended off pressure from both parties to respond more forcefully... But if Iranian authorities carry out their latest threat of a more sweeping crackdown, the White House would reconsider its carefully calibrated tone." Today, there is a gathering to protest the elections today at 2 p.m. outside the U.N.

Hundreds of demonstrators, alerted through Facebook and Twitter, gathered for a rally in Union Square last night in solidarity with Iranian opposition groups who have been protesting the results of last week's presidential election. According to this video, the peaceful rally seems to have gone off without incident, unlike in Iran, where some demonstrators have been beaten and killed after taking to the streets. Today in south Tehran, an estimated one million Iranians are marching to protest the election, which handed victory to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's authoritative Guardian Council has now offered to meet with reformist candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi, as well as the two other main opposition candidates, but it's unclear whether that overture will placate the increasingly enraged protesters. Here in New York, rally organizer Amid Amidi told Voice of America, "They are out there now fighting for democracy and reform, and I just want to say that people here in New York hear you. We hear your struggle and we are 100 percent behind you."

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared his re-election "real and free" and compared the violent protests that broke out after his victory to "passions after a football match." While his opponent, Mir Hossein Moussavi, claimed ballot irregularities, noting how polls showed he was leading over incumbent Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad said of the unhappy reactions, "It doesn't matter. Some people are sentimental and become excited...Their team has not won in the match." He also blocked access to web sites and text messaging. In Europe, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Hague in the Netherlands to dispute the results (the EU said it was "concerned about alleged irregularities") and NY1 reports that dozens of Iranians in the city, who were allowed to vote in the election at polling centers in Manhattan and Queens, protested outside the consulate yesterday. One said, "Many people went and voted in Iran for a change, and the results of our votes are not being respected in an unprecedented way in Iran."