visionary Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Victor wants 'modern Islamic' Iran TEHRAN, Iran -- In his first public statement since his landslide victory, Iran's President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he wants to create a "modern, advanced and Islamic" role model for the world. The Tehran mayor -- a hard-line conservative who has said Iran should embrace the principles of the 1979 Islamic Revolution -- was declared the winner of Iran's presidential election early Saturday, garnering almost 62 percent of the votes, the Interior Ministry said. His taped statement, broadcast on state-run radio and reported by The Associated Press, appeared aimed at easing worries that his ultraconservative views would clash with Iran's attempts to expand its economy and international ties. Ahmadinejad won 61.6 percent of the vote while his more moderate rival, former two-term President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, received nearly 35.9 percent, according to final results announced Saturday on state television. The rest of the ballots were deemed invalid. An estimated 23 million votes were cast, or nearly 49 percent of Iran's 47 million eligible voters. In last week's first round of the presidential election, the turnout was close to 63 percent, The Associated Press reported. The victory has put in doubt Iran's fragile social reform process, started by outgoing reformist President Mohammad Khatami, and raises questions about how Ahmadinejad will handle Iran's nuclear impasse with the West. CNN correspondent Matthew Chance said the election campaign exposed a deep rift in the nation of 67 million. Ahmadinejad, 48, won the backing of the religious poor to defeat Rafsanjani, who was supported by pro-reform parties and wealthy Iranians fearful of a hardline monopoly on power in the Islamic state. "Today is a day when we have to forget all our rivalries and turn them into friendships," Ahmadinejad said on state radio. "We are one nation and one big family. We should help each other to make a great society," he said. The election was also marred by allegations of voter fraud, Chance reported. On Saturday, an official with Iran's Interior Ministry accused Iran's Guardian Council of election fraud and said he was placed under arrest when he objected to voting irregularities, Iran's official news agency said. (Full story) But Ahmadinejad's landslide win over Rafsanjani, who was largely seen as the front-runner, marked a remarkable comeback. Ahmadinejad had not been expected to even make it into the runoff, but he managed to pull off a surprising second-place finish in last week's balloting, putting him into the showdown with Rafsanjani. Polls closed in the presidential runoff about 11:30 p.m. Friday (3 p.m. ET) after several extensions were issued to allow late voters to cast ballots. Many analysts say Ahmadinejad's victory will deal a blow to those throughout the country who have fought for democratic and economic reforms -- even if supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameinei has the last word in matters of state. The race between Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad set up a striking choice for Iranians. Rafsanjani had softened his stance in recent months, calling for improving Iran's strained ties with the West. But Ahmadinejad said relations with Washington were not a cure of Iran's ills. "This all but closes the door for a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran relations," Karim Sadjadpour, Tehran-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, told Reuters. Washington has had no formal diplomatic ties with Iran since the revolution and now accuses it of developing nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, denies the charges. Ahmadinejad called for embracing the principles of the revolution. He had the support of many vigilantes and popular militias, as well as many poor people. He has said he wants to turn some cultural institutions, created in recent years, into mosques. Following are recent comments by Ahmadinejad in key policy areas, compiled by Reuters news agency: U.S. relations "Relations with the United States are not a cure for our ills." "The Islamic Republic of Iran has no fear about restoring ties but ... how to carry it out must be studied so that the independence, pride and self-esteem of the Iranian nation will not be harmed." Nuclear program "Acquiring peaceful nuclear technology is the demand of the whole Iranian nation, and the rulers as representatives of the people must put all their efforts into realising this demand." "Those who are in negotiations are frightened and do not know the people ... A popular and fundamentalist government will quickly change the country's stance in favour of the nation." Social and political freedoms "We did not have a revolution in order to have a democracy." "People think a return to revolutionary values is only a matter of wearing the headscarf." "The country's true problem is employment and housing, not what to wear." Economy "Currently, the private banks have no positive or constructive role in the economy, rather a destructive one." "I will cut the hands off the mafias of powers and factions who have a grasp on our oil, I stake my life on this ... People must see their share of oil money in their daily lives." "The increase in petrol prices has led to an increase in all other prices. The solution is to use public transport." Internet Is it a concern? "No ... we cannot shut the doors to the country." "My own phone bill is so high because my children use the Internet so much." World Trade Organization "Iran needs at least more than three years before joining the WTO. We need time and need to defend our industry." CNN Correspondent Matthew Chance contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/06/25/iran.election.winner/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted June 25, 2005 Author Share Posted June 25, 2005 West: Iran election gave no choice JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Governments of Muslim countries offered muted congratulations in response to Iran's presidential election, while the United States and Britain said the vote failed to give Iranians a true choice for their future. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the conservative mayor of Tehran, beat his relatively moderate rival Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and was declared Iran's next president early Saturday. His triumph extends the conservatives' control in Iran and could lead to a return to social restrictions that were commonplace after the 1979 Islamic revolution. In Indonesia, a foreign ministry spokesman focused on the election itself rather than the winner, and a spokesman in Afghanistan refused comment on the choice of Ahmadinejad, saying the vote was an internal decision. "The people of Iran are to be congratulated for the tremendous support and enthusiasm they have shown for the democratic electoral process," said the Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman, Marty Natalegawa . The Afghan foreign ministry spokesman, Naveed Moez, said he was hopeful that Afghanistan's relationship with Iran, with which it shares a long border, would continue to be strong "based on mutual respect and noninterference in the internal affairs of each other." The leader of a hard-line Islamic group, however, praised the outcome. "I'm glad and happy to know Iran's result," said Irfan Awwas, a leader of Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia, a hard-line Islamic group. Its founder, Abu Bakar Bashir, is in jail for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. He said Iranians apparently think Rafsanjani is "more fit to manage international relations, especially with Western countries, but not to lead the country." Clerics led by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have true power in Iran, able to overrule elected officials. But reformers, who lost parliament in elections last year, had been hoping to retain some hand in government. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore indicated the result would not change the U.S. view of Iran, and what it considered to be a fundamentally flawed election that refused to accept scores of candidates, particularly women. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also criticized the election. "For the Iranian people to have a fully free choice about their country's future, they should be able to vote for candidates who hold the full range of political views, not just candidates selected for them," Straw said. Pakistani Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat attributed the hard-liner's victory to anger over U.S. foreign policy. "America has put Islam in a corner," Hidayat said. "America attacked Iraq based on false reasoning just as it did in Afghanistan. This has given conservatives the chance to gain power in some Islamic countries." Ahmadinejad, the 49-year-old mayor of the capital, campaigned as a champion of the poor, portraying himself as a simple working man while casting the 70-year-old Rafsanjani as a wealthy member of the country's ruling elite. But Ahmadinejad also vowed to return Iran to the principles of the Islamic Revolution more than a quarter-century ago. He could be a tough negotiating partner in Iran's talks with Europe over its nuclear program, which the United States contends aims to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran says the program aims only for producing energy. The Japanese foreign ministry spokesman, Hatsuhisa Takashima, urged the newly elected president to consider the country's "ties with international society in handling nuclear issues and various other policies." Russian President Vladimir Putin offered congratulations to Ahmadinejad, and offered to continue nuclear cooperation after Russia completes construction of a reactor in Iran's southern port city of Bushehr. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/06/25/iran.reax.ap/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpillian Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Oh boy! Yaaaaay mullahs! :point2sky :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 The guy isn't a mullah which is one of the reasons he won, but he is still a dumb ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Originally posted by Liberty The guy isn't a mullah which is one of the reasons he won, but he is still a dumb ass. He's a puppet for the Mullahs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted June 25, 2005 Author Share Posted June 25, 2005 Hmmm, this is also Interesting but sadly, not surprising. Iran official alleges poll fraud TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- An official with Iran's Interior Ministry has accused Iran's Guardian Council of election fraud in the presidential runoff vote and said he was placed under arrest when he objected to voting irregularities, Iran's official news agency said. "I was personally witness to interference of Guardians Council monitors' serious interference in voting stations where I was commissioned to survey the sound process of election," Ali Mirbaqeri, the managing director of the Interior Ministry's Majlis Affairs, told IRNA. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, mayor of Tehran, was declared the winner in the presidential runoff Saturday with more than 61 percent of the vote over Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani's 36 percent. Mirbaqeri spoke to reporters at the Interior Ministry's election headquarters shortly after he was released from custody. "The monitors of the Guardians Council were not only filling out the tariffs and controlling the voters' IDs, but also constantly issuing orders for every one," he said. "The presence of representatives of the governor and the Interior Ministry were thus practically quite useless at the voting stations. "I voiced my objection to such broad violation of the Election Laws, and was as a result arrested at a voting station," Mirbaqeri said. He said he was freed after two-and-a-half hours in the Khani-Abad-e-Nou police station jail "thanks to the interference of the Interior Ministry." "The monitors of the Guardians Council had in all voting stations before the one in which I was arrested, too, been violating the Election Laws, and kept me that they (the GC monitors) were the ones to decide the fate of the elections, and that I had no right to intervene," he said. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/06/25/iran.claim/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 I think the Mullahs want to stiffle any opposition and show a unified front against pressure from the US and Europe over it's nuke weapons program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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