Election, again

This part of news in Guardian News Blog, if true, is the turning point:

11.20am:
A key Iranian figure, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has remained invisible since the election, has called an emergency meeting of the Assembly of Experts, according to the US-based Iran expert Reza Aslan.

“If true, this is a bombshell,” says Nico Pitney on his excellent live blog of the crisis on the Huffington Post.

Election in Iran

Iran’s presidential election was amazing, for the turnover (85%,) widespread campaigns,  and more importantly for a high possiblity of fraud. Read the stories in NYTimes (+, +, +),  Washington Post (+, +), polls (+, +), Juan Cole (+, +)

Yes, We Can in Iran’s Election

ROGER COHEN writes about the election in Iran in NYTimes. The impact of US presidential election on Iran’s young generation is undeniable. This young generation now thinks “yes we can”.

I liked this part in Cohen’s note:

“Why the sudden turbulence? Here we come to the third critical characteristic of this campaign. Radicalism in the Bush White House bred radicalism in Iran, making life easy for Ahmadinejad. President Obama’s outreach, by contrast, has unsettled the regime.”

Friedman on Lebonan

Thomas Fiedman writes about the recent election in Lebonan in NYTimes. This statement was something to think about:

“People never turned out like this before,” Sebouh Akharjelian, 29, a businessman in the voting line said to me. “The stakes are very high. It is either surrender to Ahmadinejad or be in the pro-Western camp.”

I hope in the next election, Friday June 12, Iranians solve the problem.