In regards to the events that are transpiring surrounding Iran’s elections, it is safe to say that there is complete and total unrest, and for due reason. Here’s the story:…

On June 12th, 2009, it was announced that Mahmoud Ahmdinejad was re-elected to serve as Iran’s President, receiving 63% of the votes cast, with Mir-Hossein Mousavi receiving 33% of votes cast (Aljazerra.net, 2008). Indicating that a majority of voters, who in the previous presidential election four years ago voted for a reformist candidate, now voted for a pro-renewal candidate. Many Iranians, as well as The European Union, United Kingdom, United States, and several other western countries, greeted the results with deep skepticism due to concerns of alleged irregularities within the voting – thus, doubting the validity of the results.

To make matters worse, it was also documented that the polling sites were run by the Interior Ministry and supervised by the Guardian Council themselves; these two immense forms of power unmistakably expressed their loyalty to the supreme leader and “presidential elect” Mahmoud Ahmdinejad.

As a result of these events, protesters and supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi have taken to the streets to vent their frustration – some peacefully, some violently. In response, they’ve been greeted with force and arrests by Iranian security forces and volunteer militia services members. After much reproof, the Guardian Council announced that it would recount the votes. However as of June 29th, Iran’s electoral board completed the recount confirming Mahmoud Ahmdinejad as the official president-elect (Wikipedia, 2009).

See…this is why I hate politics and tend to stay away from it. First of all, call me ignorant but I didn’t know how deeply troubled this whole situation was in Iran. I had heard about the conflicts they were having surrounding their election, but I didn’t know that it was to this extent. Now that I’ve become a little more educated on the topic, I’m left with feelings of frustration and can’t help but feel morally responsible to ask myself the question:

Can this be ignored?

I’m no political mastermind, but I believe it to be of crucial concern when citizens (who are practicing their legal right to vote on THEIR new leader) feel like they have been cheated and blatantly robbed of their freedom to vote.

What do you think? Should the U.S. engage in situations as this? “Technically” it doesn’t concern us right? I mean…we live so far away.  It’s not OUR election. However, how would you feel if you were an Iranian citizen who’s vote/voice (I see them as equal) was cast aside?

What would you do if faced with this situation?

Honestly, I don’t know what my initial reaction would be. Our country rests on the core belief of democracy and “people’s choice.” If I believed that my right was unashamedly taken away from me and then covered up by my own government, that would not only leave a sour taste in my mouth for authority, but would possibly cause me to revolt and take matters into my own hands out of frustration. Which is what many of the protestors did. I’m not saying that all of their actions were excusable. Engagement in violent acts is never the answer. What I am saying, though, is that questionable acts such as these lead to violence. If the government had acknowledged the discrepancies early on instead of ignoring the situation, I doubt that the protests in Tehran would have become as violent as they had. It was reported that 19 “rioters” were killed post the election, with 100 injured in clashes with the police (CBSNews, 2009). Not to mention 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan, the innocent bystander who was killed when a bullet hit her during one of the protests in Tehran.

We have to remember that such events as this, in some way or another, affect all of us, leaving a ripple of distrust, disrespect, and disloyalty on an already fragile human belief in government and what it stands for.

Related Articles

Ahmadinejad 'set for Iran victory', Al Jazeera

Amid Crackdown, Iran Admits Voting Errors, The New York Times

Iranian presidential election, 2009, Wikipedia

Uneasy calm in Tehran as death toll in post-election unrest mounts, CBC News