Surprise, Confusion, Anger and Joy in Tehran

The Iranian elections are not over yet. Votes are still being counted. Soon after the polls closed, government owned press and organizations announced wide ranging results within hours. At midnight, Tehran time (15:30 EST), government officials responsible for the elections said that 20% of votes were counted and Ahmadinejad was leading by approximately 70%, while Mousavi had 30%. Within half an hour the government run English language station Press TV reported that more than 40% of the votes were counted, with Ahmadinejad leading the pack.

This created confusion, and anger. Reformists want to know how can results change so much. According to BBC Persian, Mousavi has written a letter to the Supreme Leader Khamenei. However, as time goes an Ahmadinejad victory seems more and more certain.

According to the Tehran based Asr Iran news, by 21:00 EST, 36 million votes were counted and Ahmadinejad has won more than 24 million, giving him more than 66% of the total. Unless a miracle happens, Mousavi and the opposition have lost.

Tonight, Ahmadinejad supporters have reason to celebrate. However, the question which will linger in the minds of the opposition at home and abroad is: did Ahmadinejad win fairly, or did “invisible hands” help him? We will have a good idea about the answer, in the not too distant future. The answer though, will not change anything.