Despite reports that the race would be close, state officials are reporting that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won a landslide reelection in Iran. The Obama Administration has said it is skeptical of the results, citing among other things the fact that Mousavi apparently lost the vote in his hometown, and in The Nation dissident Ibrahim Yazdi outright calls it a coup. A chart from Andrew Sullivan (right) also gives reason to be suspicious.
There are now protests in the streets of Tehran and elsewhere. Mousavi has not conceded.
Mousavi, who became the hero of a powerful youth-driven movement, had not made a public address or issued messages since declaring himself the true victor moments after polls closed and accusing authorities of "manipulating" the vote.
"I'm warning that I won't surrender to this manipulation," said the Mousavi statement on the Web on Saturday. "The outcome of what we've seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran sacred system and governance of lie and dictatorship."
He warned "people won't respect those who take power through fraud" and called the decision to announce Ahmadinejad winner of the election was a "treason to the votes of the people."
Image via the MeFi thread.
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