Majd - The ayatollahs democracy: an Iranian challenge

There are several peculiar features about writing any detailed account of the recent political events in Persia which make necessary some slight explanation. The first point is that Persian political affairs, fraught as they are with misfortune and misery for millions of innocent people, are conducted very much as a well-staged dramaI have heard some critics say, as an opra bouffe.

W ILLIAM M ORGAN S HUSTER , The Strangling of Persia , 1912

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , 53: The President

HIS CHALLENGERS :

Mir Hossein Mousavi , 68: Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 19811989. An architect by profession, an artist, and onetime president of the Academy of Arts.

Mehdi Karroubi , 72: Mid-level liberal cleric, two-term Speaker of Parliament, and two-time presidential candidate from the National Trust Party ( Hezbe Etemaade Melli ).

Mohsen Rezai , 55: Conservative politician and teacher, Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council. Commander of the Revolutionary Guards, 19811997. Also on the official Interpol wanted list, for allegations of involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires.

THE PRINCIPAL PLAYERS :

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei , 70: The valih-e-faqih since 1989, the highest authority in the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani , 75: Speaker of Parliament, 19801989. President of Iran, 19891997. Chairman of both the Expediency Discernment Council and the Assembly of Experts, and one of the principal architects of the Islamic Revolution and Republic.

Hojjatoleslam Seyed Mohammad Khatami , 66: Two-term President of Iran, 19972005. Father of the reform movement and founder of the Foundation for Dialogue among Civilisations.

Ali Larijani , 51: Speaker of Parliament, Supreme Leaders representative to the Supreme National Security Council. Son and son-in-law of two Ayatollahs, and brother of Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani. Holds a PhD in Western Philosophy, Tehran University.

ACT ONE:
Everything Is True

5:00 p.m., June 12, 2009 : Mousavi Campaign Headquarters, Tehran. Mir Hossein Mousavi, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads chief rival in the presidential election, has just hung up the phone. Ali Larijani, the powerful speaker of Parliament and close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, was on the line, calling to congratulate him on his victory. The polls havent closed yet, but the mood is jubilant, and Larijanis call is a confirmation of what Mousavis aides already believe: the next president of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be their man. This despite the fact that all day they have been calling Speaker Larijani, Interior Ministry employees, and various other officials to report irregularities in the election processeverything from a shortage of ballots to their campaign workers being denied access to polling places, from a shutdown of the nations SMS text-messaging network (which the campaign was going to use to report in from the field, since there is no widespread mobile data service in Iran) to pro-government websites announcing a win for Ahmadinejad before any official results have been announced. There are still long lines at many polling stations and voting hours have been extended, but everyone knows there has been an unprecedented voter turnout. Mousavi cannot lose.

But how does Larijani know at this early hour? Results are trickling in to the Ministry of Informationmaybe better than trickling, given that there are tens of thousands of polling stations across the country and each is responsible for only a few thousand votes, which can be counted quite easily and entered into computers on the spot, to be transmitted to Tehran electronically, or called in by phone. Larijani knows because he has access to firsthand and classified information and news. Really ? According to a hard-line website, he most definitely had such access. And according to that same website, in its clumsy attempt to implicate Larijani in the unrest that followed, the phone call from him began the process by which Mousavi and the other losing candidates questioned the results of the election. The website, Rajanews.com, is run by one of Ahmadinejads strongest supporters, Fatemeh Rajabi, the wife of former archconservative government spokesperson Gholam Hossein Elham and a journalist who has personally attacked any official who has even hinted at a disagreement with the conservative administration in power. Her previously printed attacks have been full of speculation and downright falsehoods, so maybe Larijani never made the call. But curiously, Ms. Rajabi, known sometimes as Fati-arreh ( Fati , the Saw) for her merciless cutting down of public figures, must not have been aware that her accusation was actually an accusation against her beloved president, for if, as she claims, Dr. Larijani made the call and had access to firsthand and classified information, presumably from the Ministry of Information (which would have of course provided polling figures to him had he asked), then she was confirming that Mousavi was indeed on his way to a win, a win so big that by 5:00 p.m. there was no longer any doubt about the results, even as polls remained opened. How then did President Ahmadinejad emerge the winner? The Saw, normally one who cuts to the chase, never quite answered that question.

12:00 noon, June 12, 2009 : A Polling Station, Midtown Tehran. A long line of voters snakes around the corner. Some of those already in the room are casting their ballots, but the last of the blank ballots have just been handed out. We need more ballots! screams the young woman into the phone. We never had enough, and now were already out, she continues, speaking to an official at the Interior Ministry. Fifty-eight million ballots were printed for an election where some fifty-two million Iranians were eligible to vote, and yet at this station, and others across the country, ballots are inexplicably running out. They said theyre on their way, the woman tells her colleagues and those waiting to cast their vote. Well have to be patient. Some leave the room, others leave the line outside, but others replace them, waiting patiently for their chance to exercise their right to vote. If the majority doesnt vote, the minority rules read one poster all over Tehran in the weeks leading up to the elections, and the message must have sunk in.

4:00 p.m., June 12, 2009 : The blank ballots finally arrive. How many do we have? asks a poll worker, as she begins handing them out. Fifteen hundred, replies a colleague. Thats it ? You better call now and get some more, were definitely going to need them.