TEHRAN - During the past few weeks of the presidential campaign, the level of passion and enthusiasm shown by the voters reached an unprecedented level. Supporters of various camps gathered in the main squares and intersections of the capital and stayed way past midnight, honking their horns and chanting slogans supporting their candidates. The campaigning officially stops at eight o'clock this morning. Now, voters will have to make their final decision by Friday. The director of the Election Campaign Headquarters, Kamran Daneshjou, declared that there will be 45,713 voting centers open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. all over the country. Outside the country, 304 polling stations will be set up for voters. Thirty-two polling stations are being set up in the United States while the rest are being dispersed in 130 countries.
TEHRAN - During the past few weeks of the presidential campaign, the level of passion and enthusiasm shown by the voters reached an unprecedented level. Supporters of various camps gathered in the main squares and intersections of the capital and stayed way past midnight, honking their horns and chanting slogans supporting their candidates.
The campaigning officially stops at eight o'clock this morning. Now, voters will have to make their final decision by Friday. The director of the Election Campaign Headquarters, Kamran Daneshjou, declared that there will be 45,713 voting centers open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. all over the country. Outside the country, 304 polling stations will be set up for voters. Thirty-two polling stations are being set up in the United States while the rest are being dispersed in 130 countries.
There has been a huge turnout for Iran's closely-fought election as incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeks a second term in office."Voter turnout has been unprecedented," election commission chief Kamran Daneshjoo said, as long queues were reported at polling stations. Polling has been extended by three hours to 2100 local time (1630 GMT). Mr Ahmadinejad faces a strong challenge from former PM Mir Hossein Mousavi in a campaign dominated by the economy.
There has been a huge turnout for Iran's closely-fought election as incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeks a second term in office.
"Voter turnout has been unprecedented," election commission chief Kamran Daneshjoo said, as long queues were reported at polling stations.
Polling has been extended by three hours to 2100 local time (1630 GMT).
Mr Ahmadinejad faces a strong challenge from former PM Mir Hossein Mousavi in a campaign dominated by the economy.
The West has no right to expect the polls to bring in radical changeAll the world wants to know the results of today's presidential election in Iran, not least the Republican Guard supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But will it make a difference, either to the Iranians or to the rest of the world? Of course the West wants to be told that this dramatic poll will change Iran's desire for nuclear facilities. Whatever it is, this election is not about nuclear power. It may be about presidential arrogance and stupidity and fear, or about responsible government or unemployment or the economy. But the West should abandon hope of any real change in Iran's nuclear strategy. Mirhossein Mousavi may talk more sense to the Americans - if he wins - but the nuclear facilities will keep functioning. It is all a matter of pride in Iran - where pride is a special quality.And the thick, dark skin of clerical rule that covers Iran will remain, scratched occasionally perhaps, but unable to bleed or to re-imagine history or to reform a nation which so badly needs the change that only Mousavi, among the candidates, dreams of. Government for and by the dead - symbolised in the continued "supreme leader" ethos that old Ayatollah Khomeini constructed before his death, has effectively sealed off Iran from those human rights which obsess the West.
All the world wants to know the results of today's presidential election in Iran, not least the Republican Guard supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But will it make a difference, either to the Iranians or to the rest of the world?
Of course the West wants to be told that this dramatic poll will change Iran's desire for nuclear facilities. Whatever it is, this election is not about nuclear power. It may be about presidential arrogance and stupidity and fear, or about responsible government or unemployment or the economy. But the West should abandon hope of any real change in Iran's nuclear strategy. Mirhossein Mousavi may talk more sense to the Americans - if he wins - but the nuclear facilities will keep functioning. It is all a matter of pride in Iran - where pride is a special quality.
And the thick, dark skin of clerical rule that covers Iran will remain, scratched occasionally perhaps, but unable to bleed or to re-imagine history or to reform a nation which so badly needs the change that only Mousavi, among the candidates, dreams of. Government for and by the dead - symbolised in the continued "supreme leader" ethos that old Ayatollah Khomeini constructed before his death, has effectively sealed off Iran from those human rights which obsess the West.
Today Iran has the first round of presidential election. If none of the four candidates reaches 50% of the votes another round with the top two candidates will be held on June 19. The Guardian headlines Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces defeat if election not rigged, say Iranian experts. That is, of course total nonsense. There are no reliable polls available. Despite the plural in the headline the Guardian only asked one expert, Saeed Lelyaz, who is an economist and certainly not political neutral. That "expert" saying something is just the usual shaping of expectations. Few if any "experts" predicted Ahmadinejad's huge win in the last election. The "west" is hoping for "change" in Iran. Not much change will come whoever gets elected.....All in all, nothing can be predicted for the 10th presidential election. However, we'll see how it turned out early Sunday morning.
Today Iran has the first round of presidential election. If none of the four candidates reaches 50% of the votes another round with the top two candidates will be held on June 19.
The Guardian headlines Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces defeat if election not rigged, say Iranian experts. That is, of course total nonsense.
There are no reliable polls available. Despite the plural in the headline the Guardian only asked one expert, Saeed Lelyaz, who is an economist and certainly not political neutral. That "expert" saying something is just the usual shaping of expectations. Few if any "experts" predicted Ahmadinejad's huge win in the last election.
The "west" is hoping for "change" in Iran. Not much change will come whoever gets elected.
....
All in all, nothing can be predicted for the 10th presidential election. However, we'll see how it turned out early Sunday morning.
Iranians go to the polls on Friday to choose between the hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his nearest rival Mir Hossein Mousavi. German commentators warn, however, that even if the more moderate candidate prevails the real power lies with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. It has been a hotly contested election campaign that electrified voters and looks set to lead to record turnout. Iranians head to the polls on Friday to elect their president and while there are four official candidates it has essentially become a two-horse race between the hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and the more moderate conservative Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Iranians go to the polls on Friday to choose between the hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his nearest rival Mir Hossein Mousavi. German commentators warn, however, that even if the more moderate candidate prevails the real power lies with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
It has been a hotly contested election campaign that electrified voters and looks set to lead to record turnout. Iranians head to the polls on Friday to elect their president and while there are four official candidates it has essentially become a two-horse race between the hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and the more moderate conservative Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist candidate in Iran's presidential election, speaks to Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview. He details his views on issues such as nuclear technology, Israel and the role of the religious police to Teymoor Nabili.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist candidate in Iran's presidential election, speaks to Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview.
He details his views on issues such as nuclear technology, Israel and the role of the religious police to Teymoor Nabili.
The news-situation is not yet clear and it is difficult for now to assert what the real results of the Iranian election are. All sides agree that the turnout was pretty high. The official results claim Amadinejad has 65% of the votes while, immediately after the voting closed, Mousavi's side claimed 54% for itself. Obviously that does not add up and "western" sources suggest fraud by Ahmadinejad. I am not so sure. The numerical difference seems too high for simple fraud. In the last election Ahmadinejad also won with some 60+% against the very rich and corrupt Rafsanshani but the turnout then was low and Mousavi is perceived to not be corrupt. But two days ago Rafsanshani wrote an open letter against Ahmadinejad and that may well have been bad for Mousavi. We should not forget that the elections in Iran are pretty much class based with the poor, rural and conservative on Ahmadinejad's side and the middle class, more liberal, affluent city folks - in population numbers still a minority - on the 'reformer' side. While the big demonstrations for Mousavi during the campaign were emphasized in the "western" media, the even bigger demonstrations for Ahmadinejad were less reported on. Some news excerpts:
The news-situation is not yet clear and it is difficult for now to assert what the real results of the Iranian election are. All sides agree that the turnout was pretty high.
The official results claim Amadinejad has 65% of the votes while, immediately after the voting closed, Mousavi's side claimed 54% for itself. Obviously that does not add up and "western" sources suggest fraud by Ahmadinejad. I am not so sure. The numerical difference seems too high for simple fraud.
In the last election Ahmadinejad also won with some 60+% against the very rich and corrupt Rafsanshani but the turnout then was low and Mousavi is perceived to not be corrupt. But two days ago Rafsanshani wrote an open letter against Ahmadinejad and that may well have been bad for Mousavi.
We should not forget that the elections in Iran are pretty much class based with the poor, rural and conservative on Ahmadinejad's side and the middle class, more liberal, affluent city folks - in population numbers still a minority - on the 'reformer' side. While the big demonstrations for Mousavi during the campaign were emphasized in the "western" media, the even bigger demonstrations for Ahmadinejad were less reported on. Some news excerpts:
U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, in a new book he co-authored, raises the possibility of the use of military force against Iran should negotiations fail to head off Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Ross, who is leading the U.S. diplomatic effort to engage Iran on a series of issues, wrote "Myths, Illusions, and Peace - Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East" with David Makovsky, a former journalist who is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The book, released on Thursday, is significant in that Ross, who led President Bill Clinton's Middle East diplomacy in the 1990s, has said little in public on Iran since he was named in February as a special adviser to handle the issue. Advertisement The authors included a nuanced, 30-page chapter that lays out options for dealing with Iran, which has so far not responded to President Barack Obama's overtures for better relations, with elections there coming up on Friday.
And the thick, dark skin of clerical rule...
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
He may have a lot of assumptions but if he's being racist I'd expect him to be more subtle than that. keep to the Fen Causeway
With girls' schools being closed and attacks on their troops on the rise in Afghanistan, many Germans wonder whether the deployment of their armed forces in the Hinda Kush makes sense anymore. Still, the Taliban cannot be allowed to prevail in the region. According to Colonel Georg Klein, the kind of yellow plastic containers you can buy at the store currently pose the greatest threat to German soldiers in Afghanistan. The canisters, with a capacity of about 10 liters (2.6 gallons), may have once contained motor oil or pesticide. But then someone filled them with nails and added explosive material and a fuse. The repurposed yellow canisters are now hidden by the roadside, waiting for Germans. German Bundeswehr army snipers in Kunduz: The Germans would also share some of the blame for the disasters that would unfold in the wake of a German withdrawal from Afghanistan. The colonel even has a film to illustrate his point. He is sitting with a group of visitors in the darkened conference room at the German field base in Kunduz, Afghanistan. His most important guest is Peter Struck, the head of the center-left Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, and Germany's defense minister from July 2002 until November 2005. Struck has always been in favor of the deployment of German troops to Afghanistan, and he is the man who famously said: "Germany is also being defended at the Hindu Kush (mountains, in Afghanistan)." It's 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 4, and Struck is now in Afghanistan himself. The colonel's film depicts one of the Bundeswehr's Fox armored personnel carriers, with a red cross on a white background painted onto its rear. The Fox, driving along Afghan road, is coincidentally being filmed by someone in a vehicle traveling behind it. Suddenly a yellow fireball appears to the left of the Fox, the image shifts and the picture goes black.
With girls' schools being closed and attacks on their troops on the rise in Afghanistan, many Germans wonder whether the deployment of their armed forces in the Hinda Kush makes sense anymore. Still, the Taliban cannot be allowed to prevail in the region.
According to Colonel Georg Klein, the kind of yellow plastic containers you can buy at the store currently pose the greatest threat to German soldiers in Afghanistan. The canisters, with a capacity of about 10 liters (2.6 gallons), may have once contained motor oil or pesticide. But then someone filled them with nails and added explosive material and a fuse. The repurposed yellow canisters are now hidden by the roadside, waiting for Germans.
German Bundeswehr army snipers in Kunduz: The Germans would also share some of the blame for the disasters that would unfold in the wake of a German withdrawal from Afghanistan. The colonel even has a film to illustrate his point. He is sitting with a group of visitors in the darkened conference room at the German field base in Kunduz, Afghanistan. His most important guest is Peter Struck, the head of the center-left Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, and Germany's defense minister from July 2002 until November 2005. Struck has always been in favor of the deployment of German troops to Afghanistan, and he is the man who famously said: "Germany is also being defended at the Hindu Kush (mountains, in Afghanistan)." It's 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 4, and Struck is now in Afghanistan himself.
The colonel's film depicts one of the Bundeswehr's Fox armored personnel carriers, with a red cross on a white background painted onto its rear. The Fox, driving along Afghan road, is coincidentally being filmed by someone in a vehicle traveling behind it. Suddenly a yellow fireball appears to the left of the Fox, the image shifts and the picture goes black.
Insurgent violence hit record levels in Afghanistan last week, reaching its highest level since 2001 as the commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan warned Thursday that he expects "tough months" ahead. Attacks soared 59 percent from January through May from the first five months of 2008, according to a report by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). All told, insurgent violence climbed 33 percent in 2008, they said. ISAF statistics show the number of insurgent attacks in May surpassing the 1,400-mark for only the second time since January 2007. Monthly attacks first topped 1,400 in August 2008, according to the report, which includes data of attacks on US and NATO forces as well as Afghan military, police, government and civilian targets. "The past week was the highest level of security incidents in Afghanistan's post-liberation history," General David Petraeus said in a speech in Kabul, referring to the Taliban's ouster from power in late 2001.
Attacks soared 59 percent from January through May from the first five months of 2008, according to a report by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
All told, insurgent violence climbed 33 percent in 2008, they said.
ISAF statistics show the number of insurgent attacks in May surpassing the 1,400-mark for only the second time since January 2007. Monthly attacks first topped 1,400 in August 2008, according to the report, which includes data of attacks on US and NATO forces as well as Afghan military, police, government and civilian targets.
"The past week was the highest level of security incidents in Afghanistan's post-liberation history," General David Petraeus said in a speech in Kabul, referring to the Taliban's ouster from power in late 2001.
Due to the increasing attacks on the supply lines to Afghanistan from the port of Karachi in Pakistan through Quetta to Kandahar and through Peshavar to Kabul, the U.S. looked for new supply lines. These were found in the north. Back in February Tajikistan and Uzbekistan allowed the U.S. and NATO to transport non-military goods (an oxymoron?) across their borders. The northern routes goes from Latvia at the Baltic sea via rail through Russia and Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and from there to Afghanistan. Predictably those new supply lines are now coming under attack.
Due to the increasing attacks on the supply lines to Afghanistan from the port of Karachi in Pakistan through Quetta to Kandahar and through Peshavar to Kabul, the U.S. looked for new supply lines. These were found in the north.
Back in February Tajikistan and Uzbekistan allowed the U.S. and NATO to transport non-military goods (an oxymoron?) across their borders. The northern routes goes from Latvia at the Baltic sea via rail through Russia and Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and from there to Afghanistan.
Predictably those new supply lines are now coming under attack.
India has agreed to pull its troops out of inhabited areas of Kashmir for the first time in almost 20 years in one of its boldest moves to resolve the issue at the core of its dispute with Pakistan. It has also agreed to review the hugely unpopular Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which has given the army and paramilitary troops freedom to arrest, kill, torture and destroy homes with impunity since 1990. P Chidambaram, the Home Minister, announced the moves today on a visit to Kashmir designed in part to ease tensions after the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women by security forces. The announcement also coincided with a visit to Delhi by William Burns, the US Under Secretary of State, to persuade India to pull troops back from Pakistan's border and restart peace talks over Kashmir.
India has agreed to pull its troops out of inhabited areas of Kashmir for the first time in almost 20 years in one of its boldest moves to resolve the issue at the core of its dispute with Pakistan.
It has also agreed to review the hugely unpopular Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which has given the army and paramilitary troops freedom to arrest, kill, torture and destroy homes with impunity since 1990.
P Chidambaram, the Home Minister, announced the moves today on a visit to Kashmir designed in part to ease tensions after the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women by security forces.
The announcement also coincided with a visit to Delhi by William Burns, the US Under Secretary of State, to persuade India to pull troops back from Pakistan's border and restart peace talks over Kashmir.
