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Iran on the Edge

After a hotly contested presidential election that resulted in street riots and a disputed claim to a renewed mandate by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran stands at a crossroads: between reformist and conservative leadership, between its revolutionary past and its post-revolutionary future.

Ahmadinejad's claimed landslide was met with angry disbelief by the country's reform movement; it also gave renewed urgency to the many unresolved issues that face Iran at home and abroad. How will Iran manage its approach to the Arab World? How will it deal with its rapid demographic growth? How will it manage its image through media outreach-to the Arab World, Turkey, the West, China, Russia and Africa? How will it manage a population, especially among the young, for whom the Islamic Revolution has turned stale? Iason Athanasiadis reports from Iran as these social, regional and evolutionary political developments loom large.

June 13, 2009 | GlobalPost

As Night Falls, Tehran Still Ablaze

The Iranian capital was still in the grip of rioting as darkness fell Saturday night. Vali Asr Avenue, the city's most historic thoroughfare which traverses the city, has not seen anything like it since the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Authorities discontinued cellphone communications, blocked several websites and moved swiftly to squash pockets of resistance.

Rioters continued battling riot police on motorcycles and bassiji militias, as residents watching the violence from balconies and rooftops shouted "death to the dictator."

June 13, 2009 | GlobalPost

'New' Dawn Breaks Over Iran

It's 4.30 a.m. in North Tehran's Tajrish Square and the sky is turning gray as dawn approaches.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supporters are out in force, celebrating. Fifty cars have gathered in the middle of the square honking horns and shouting slogans. As young men set off fireworks, the president's supporters dance alongside them. Immediately, police cars with sirens flashing, and plain-clothes policemen in unmarked Kia cars holding walkie-talkies, converge on the scene to ensure the jubilation does not get out of hand.

June 13, 2009 | The Washington Times

Iran Declares Ahmadinejad Victory

Iranian authorities announced Saturday that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won re-election by a commanding majority of nearly two-thirds of votes cast, but young Iranians protested in the streets of the capital and the president's chief rival charged fraud.

An official tally presented on television by Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, an Ahmadinejad appointee, said the president got 24 million votes to about 13 million for Mr-Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister who advocated economic and social reforms and better relations with the West.

June 12, 2009 | The Washington Times

Both Iran Presidential Candidates Claim Victory

Iran's cliffhanger presidential election ended Friday with both major candidates claiming victory, raising the prospect of deepening divisions in an already polarized society.

Despite record turnout that many analysts said would favor the challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won re-election.