Part 20: A Decision

Regardless of what the actual vote totals were, the regime quickly declared Ahmadinejad the winner and the opposition was in a state of shock since they had sensed victory within their grasp. Yet shock soon turned to anger as the opposition would quickly see the irregularities shown above and many would soon view the election as completely fradulent. Given that this was the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic that an election had been widely viewed as illegitimate, no one knew what would happen next.

Spontaneous protests started the day after the election and would continue throughout the weekend in locations all over Iran. These protests were not organized direction, but simply represented an outpouring of anger about the results of the election and with the regime in general. People shouted in frustration the slogan “Where is my vote?” to express that their vote was stolen. The people who took to the streets were met by a paramilitary group within the IRGC that was supposed to keep internal order in the country known as the Basij. Scenes of clashes between protesters and Basij that emerged right after the election would continue to play out in months to come.

Two days after the election on June 14 at a rally organized to celebrate his victory, Ahmadinejad would dismiss the protesters as similar to a few disgruntled soccer fans. The opposition leaders faced a critical choice at this point given the intense feeling among their supporters and their own belief that the election was fraudulent. While all three losing candidates lodged formal complaints with the regime, it was almost certain that working within the confines of regime would get them nowhere. For the first time the liberal Islamists elite of the regime who had helped create and maintain the Islamic Republic would have to decide if they should challenge that regime on the streets.

In a meeting to figure out what to do after the election, Mousavi felt that he could not allow the results to stand, “the elections are people’s rights. I can’t give up people’s rights. I’m going to see this through and until this lie is cleared up”. At least for Mousavi, the conservatives had crossed the ultimate line and violated the basic principle enshrined in the constitution that the people’s vote would have a role in determining the government. Once this basic principle no longer applied, then he and the other reformists would have no incentive to work within the confines of the regime. Mousavi would call for a mass protest to be held on June 15, and there would be no turning back at this point.