June 17th

I am tired and emotionally stirred up. I am just going to write down a few thoughts and try to keep a cool head:

All started with the accusations of rigged elections – see Why our votes were stolen. If there was a neutral oversight of the counting (I am not talking about international observers. It was possible to organize one using local observers) much of these claims could have been kept away.

Now that we are here, much of the turmoil could have been avoided by an immediate application of existing laws on such claims.

Let’s assume that the announced results prove to be correct, it is safe to state that a section of 15 millions of the eligible voters have expressed their frustration. Calling them thugs, trash or bad losers does not help. This large section of society should feel integrated in the public life.

The current events are also the revival of what we call the Khatami era. During and after two presidential mandates, Khatami has been harshly blamed for having failed to deliver what he promised. Now he and other reformists have joined the camp of Moussavi, trying to make up for what they were not able to accomplish in the past.

I sincerely hope that all could come together as soon as possible and find a plausible compromise and thus avoid to further radicalize the population and minimize risks of malevolent foreign meddling.

A few interesting links:
Is the election pitting the poor vs. the middle class? A glance at the demographic economy of the voters
Rafsanjani’s gambit backfires. Looking into the game of the main political figures
and Khamenei rides a storm in a tea cup by M K Bhadrakumar

• Progressive observers are extremely suspicious of the motives and intentions behind the newfound concern for the Iranian people. See:

The “Bomb Iran” contingent’s newfound concern for The Iranian People
More articles in Iran category at P U L S E
See also here