Iran poll results spark angry protests in Tehran

Iranian presidential election results, which showed a landslide victory for current president, Ahmadinejad, sparked widespread anti-government protests in Tehran on 13 June. Thousands of supporters of presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, flooded the streets of this usually placid city denouncing the result and chanting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans. Clashes between riot police and protesters and between pro- and anti-Ahmadinejad supporters were also reported. Although it is true that Iran has faced serious unrest over economic and social issues in the past the current unrest has the potential to seriously escalate and is the most widespread since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Mousavi for his part has not accepted the result and his continued agitation is likely to further motivate demonstrators. Such unrest would, during the 1980s and early 1990s, have been counted as counter-revolutionary and swiftly crushed; however, with the eyes of the world squarely on Iran, any ontoward acts by the government against the protesters would severely tarnish its international image, at a time when it is trying to align itself as a leader, not only of the Shiite world but also the Arab world. Watch this space.