No Peace in Iran; The Divide Worsens

by LiveSteeze Staff

Iran to recount disputed election votes.

Protesters took to the streets of Iran to dispute the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labeling the "landslide victory" as fraudulent.

Mir Hossein Moussavi, the president elect's opponent, has disputed the results. His supporters have rallied in the streets every day, often physically fighting with police and Ahmadinejad supporters.

In his first press conference since the Friday re-election, the President said in reference to his victory, "In Iran, the election was a real and free one. The election will improve the nation's power and its future," reports the Associated Press.

Moussavi, and Iranian voters, who turned up in massive numbers on election day, believe Ahmadinejad somehow rigged the election in his favor. Since the announcement, young Iranians threw stones, set trash bins, tires and banks on fire, unrelenting to the blows of police batons.

But Moussavi requested that his supporters forfeit Tuesday's demonstration to avoid a potential conflict with Ahmadinejad's backers, an official said. Iran's government is forbidding foreign media from covering and reporting the protests.

In the press conference reporters asked the President his thoughts on the accusations of voter fraud, his nonchalant response compared angry voters to disappointed sports viewers.

"Some believed they would win, and then they got angry. It has no legal credibility. It is like the passions after a football match. It is not important from my point of view," he said.

He added, "The margin between my votes and the others is too much and no one can question it."

Earlier Tuesday, Iran's Guardian Council, which is comprised of top clerics and judges, said it will recount votes that the opposition questioned in Friday's race. Moussavi, on the other hand, disapproves the recount and has requested a new election.

An official, who prefers to remain anonymous, said a recount would only make way for the government to manipulate the results.

Seven people were killed on Monday night in the capital, Tehran, after they allegedly rampaged a military post, government-funded Press TV said. The site was the same one where, in his first appearance sine the election, Moussavi appealed to his thousands of supporters.

"You are not breaking glass," he said. "You are breaking tyranny."

The rallies were, for the most part, peaceful until shots were fired into the crowd.

"I could hear gunshots coming from the right-hand of the square," said Rana, a 25-year-old. "The people were terrified, because the gunshots would not stop."

President Obama said he is "deeply troubled" by the violence that has erupted, but said ultimately it is up to the Iranians to choose their leaders.