Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!): Tehran Mayor Wins Upset Victory in Iran

[Jack Rabbit]

From Democracy Now!
Broadcast Monday June 27

Conservative Tehran Mayor Wins Upset Victory in Iran Run-Off Presidential Election
By Amy Goodman

Tehran's conservative mayor won an upset victory in Iran's run-off presidential election on Friday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad garnered 62 percent of 28 million votes, beating reformist former-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani . . . .

Reformists are calling the victory a coup for the elite theocracy, though no one is entirely sure how Ahmadinejad will come down on civil liberties and women's rights.

He has long worked with some of Iran's country's most conservative institutions, from the Basij to the Revolutionary Guards. His victory gives conservatives control of Iran's two highest elected offices - the presidency and parliament. When he takes office in August, Ahmedinejad will be Iran's first non-cleric president for 24 years.

• Ervand Abrahamian, Professor of Middle Eastern and Iranian history at Baruch College, City University of New York. He is the author of several books on Iran including "Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic" and "The Iranian Mojahedin."
• Norman Solomon, of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He was in Tehran, Iran for the first round of presidential elections. His latest book is "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."

Read more and listen to the segment.