Iran validates its presidential election

As Iran’s highest electoral authority ,the Guardian Council ,on June 30,2009 validated the “Vote” for the country’s Presidential election with its spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai emphatically declaring “From today the file on the presidential election has been closed",the verdict draws a final curtain over the recent happenings in Iran .This proclamation followed after a “randomly selecting and recounting of 10 percent of nearly 40 million ballots”. Recalling the special features and aspects of this particular election that eventually led to the mistaken notions of massive electoral support in the minds of the defeated candidates and their supporters,days ahead of these elections, groups of youngsters started staging dance shows on the streets of Tehran to build support for their respective candidates. These images were soon picked up and flashed across various websites. Bloggers further enhanced the media hype.The atmosphere was considerably romanticized and one of the candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi even carried on his canvassing for votes accompanied by his wife. But as the opposition candidates stood defeated in the results of the election, the youngsters and supporters of various defeated candidates began organizing protest rallies .According to authorities these youngsters indulged in violence at some places but the foreign media deliberately showed it as a stand off between the protestors and the security forces thereby further enraging the public .Iran authorities allege that foreign media and some foreign elements thereafter exploited the situation to create lawlessness. “Suspicious” death of a young Iranian women Neda Agha-Soltan made her an icon of the opposition protests. Ahmadinejad has, however, sent a letter to the judiciary chief Ayotollah Hashmi Shahroudi for a probe into this death and identify “the elements” behind her killing.Nine local employees of the British embassy were arrested to investigate the suspected role of British embassy staff but five of them were later let off.The results of detailed investigations by Iran’s authorities can only clarify the extent of role by foreign elements in these happenings . The West has already been showing a somewhat hostile attitude towards Iran and particularly towards Ahmadinejad being a known hardliner .Mac Cain the Republican rival of Obama in the recent presidential elections thus openly accused him of missing the opportunity of putting Iran in a tight corner over this issue.The aim was obviously to hit at the national pride of Iran .Though Obama whose diplomatic challenges already extend from Iraq, Afghanistan to Af-Pak area and Palestinian issue was treading very cautiously necessitated by delicate handling of situation in the area but the Iranian authorities allege that he did later fall into the trap in a press conference. Iran’s predicament lies in carrying out the developmental efforts in the face of economic sanctions and a hostile “foreign” media while Obama has to display the skills of bringing about improvement and amicable relations among various countries in the mid-east
Updated : Thursday, 30 Jul 2009, 16:03 [IST]