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In what was predicted to be a tight election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been re-elected as president of
Iran, allegedly winning a resounding 63% of the vote. A huge turnout of voters cast their ballots on Friday 12 June, and as official results came out over the weekend, reformist supporters of the opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi led street protests in the capital city of Tehran claiming that the results had been rigged. The protests were stifled by riot police and 170 arrests were made over the weekend. Police hit protestors with batons and charged them with motorbikes.
Then on Monday 15 June a large protest was held in Tehran in which seven people were killed by armed police and several more injured. The protest had been banned by the interior ministry but it occurred anyway with Mousavi making an appearance.
Mousavi has challenged the results himself and called for them to be annulled. Ahmadinejad countered that the vote had been fair. In a surprise move, Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had called for an investigation into the elections results, reversing a previous declaration that the vote was fair. A few days later he backed down and called Ahmadinejad "the elected president." Then on Friday 19 June he made his first public remarks in which he fully backed Ahmadinejad and claimed that there was no fraud in the vote.
Various foreign leaders have also questioned the results - among them are U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French and German foreign ministers. However, US President Obama and UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband have stressed that Western nations should not take sides and that the will of the Iranian people should be respected above all. Ahmadinejad received congratulations from the presidents of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Venezuela.
Anger is mounting however, and protests are expected to continue, contributing to a state of unrest and instability. On Thursday 18 June there was a large demonstration mourning those who died in the post-election turmoil. There have also been protests at various cities around the world including London, Brussels and Berlin.
Religious freedom groups such as Christian Solidarity Worldwide have regularly express concern over the persecution of Christians in Iran, and the current state of unrest following the elections does not bode well for the cause of general reform and freedom in the country. During his campaign, Mousavi had promised more religious freedom in Iran. Open Doors has interviewed Christians in Iran who dispute the elections results. For more information on these two organisations please visit their websites.
The Church of England has also published a prayer for Iran during these times.
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News links
BBC: Ayatollah backs election result
Times: Khamenei tells Mousavi to toe the line over election or be cast out
BBC: New protests over Iran elections
Guardian: Fresh protests planned as regime rules out recount
Telegraph: Obama refuses to meddle in Iran elections
Christian Today: Iranian Christians dispute election results
Telegraph: Seven die as Iran gripped by greatest protest since Islamic revolution
Independent: Britain 'must not take sides' over Iran poll
Times: Ahmadinejad's disputed victory crushes reform hopes in Iran
Guardian: Iranian interior ministry bans opposition to protest rally
Times: Iran faces international backlash over vote-rigging claims
AFP: Ahmadinejad defiant as defeated rival protests vote
Independent: Ahmadinejad whips crowd into frenzy as opposition muzzled
Reuters: EU urges Iran not to use violence against protests
Guardian: Khamenei orders investigation into claims of vote-rigging
Guardian: Iran's president hails new era of hope despite beatings and arrests
Times: Iran's Supreme Leader orders probe into election as opposition defies rally ban
Comment links
Times comment: Ahmadinejad's hold on power is weak
Times comment: US should raise the stakes with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
BBC: Unrest challenges Iran's republic
Times comment: They want freedom, just like us
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