The Latest from Iran (30 June): Opposition, It’s Your Move
Posted by Scott Lucas in Middle East & IranThe Latest from Iran (1 July): The Opposition Regroups
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The Latest from Iran (29 June): The Challenge Survives
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1925 GMT: Now Presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi has reacted to yesterday’s Guardian Council verdict: “This government is not legitimate.I’ll continue fighting in any condition and with any means.”
So, of the leading opposition challengers, only Mir Hossein Mousavi has been silent today. We think we know the reason but will wait until the morning to see if our analysis is right.
1900 GMT: In the category of “Well, He Would Say That, Wouldn’t He?”, President Ahmadinejad is quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency: “This election was actually a referendum. The Iranian nation were the victors and the enemies, despite their … plots of a soft toppling of the system, failed and couldn’t reach their aims.”
The significance is not in Ahmadinejad’s words, but in their low-key presentation. Both in a national broadcast the night after the election and in a press conference the day after that, the President was loudly celebrating his win, even taunting the opposition as “dust”. Now, the day after the Guardian Council has re-affirmed his victory, his public appearance is limited to a brief statement repeating the “foreign threat” theme.
Interpretation? After his over-enthusiasm in the first 48 hours beyond the vote, Ahmadinejad has been reined in by other leaders. The President’s “victory” is looking decidedly Pyrrhic in the wider context of the Iranian system.
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