Protesters Defy Khamenei-Sanctioned Crackdown

The streets of Tehran have become a veritable war zone, as angry voters take to the streets to protest the Jun. 12 election that re-instated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. Was Iran?s election stolen? IPS is reporting from the ground.

IRAN: The Day of Confrontation and Clarity
By Yasaman Baji*
TEHRAN (IPS) – The political crisis that broke out over the Jun. 12 elections entered a new stage here Saturday afternoon as the government?s security forces moved aggressively – and sometimes with lethal force – against demonstrators throughout Iran?s capital city.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47307

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IRAN: “The Streets Were Overtaken by Tear Gas”
By Sara Farhang
TEHRAN (IPS) – The streets of Tehran were a veritable war zone Saturday night, as angry voters took to the streets for the sixth day of protests this week against the Jun. 12 elections that re-instated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47309

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IRAN: Protesters Defy Khamenei-Sanctioned Crackdown
Analysis by Yasaman Baji*
TEHRAN (IPS) – With tens of thousands of police deployed Saturday to suppress the massive crowds that have been demanding new elections, it appears that the political crisis touched off by the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has entered a new phase.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47305

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US-IRAN: Electoral Chaos Energises Neoconservative Hawks
By Daniel Luban
WASHINGTON (IPS) – As U.S. President Barack Obama attempts to navigate the treacherous currents of the ongoing political crisis in Iran, he faces a heated attack on his right flank from neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks, who are urging him both to offer unequivocal support to the protesters supporting moderate presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi and to scuttle his planned diplomatic engagement with Tehran.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47281

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POLITICS: Will “Changed” Iran Complicate U.S. Engagement?
By Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON (IPS) – As uncertainty persists about the results of the Iranian election last Friday, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama remains quiet on just exactly what the next tack will be on engaging the Islamic Republic, which experts say is entering a new and unknown period in its history.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47272

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POLITICS: Shock and Awe in Iran
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*
HONOLULU, Hawaii (IPS) – Four days after Iran’s Jun. 12 election, the country remains in a state of shock and turmoil, attempting to come to grips with what happened.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47236

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IRAN: Washington Maintains Cautious Response to Election Crisis
By Jim Lobe* and Daniel Luban
WASHINGTON (IPS) – As protests over Friday’s disputed election continue to rage in Iran, the U.S. has thus far reacted cautiously, reflecting the high degree of uncertainty in Washington both about how much support to give the demonstrators and about the implications of the escalating crisis for President Barack Obama’s hopes of engaging Tehran in serious negotiations.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47231

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IRAN: Ahmadinejad Victory Sparks Protests and Claims of Fraud
By Omid Memarian
SAN FRANCISCO (IPS) – Just a few months after a right-wing government gained power in Israel, Iran’s hardliner president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was declared the winner in Friday’s election, although his main rival has not accepted defeat and reformist supporters were skirmishing with security forces in the capital Tehran Saturday.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47212

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POLITICS: Iranian Elections Could Shape U.S. Engagement
By Daniel Luban and Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON (IPS) – Washington is waiting anxiously on the outcome of Friday?s Iranian presidential elections, as incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attempts to fend off challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi in a contest with significant implications for the diplomatic atmosphere between Iran and the U.S.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47168

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IRAN: Reformist Candidates Complain of Too Many Ballots
By Omid Memarian
SAN FRANCISCO (IPS) – Fears that the state apparatus controlled by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is laying the groundwork for possible fraud in Friday’s presidential election appear to be growing among his two reformist challengers and their supporters.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47153

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IPS IN-DEPTH – Iran: The Parthian Shot
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/

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