Inside Tehran: Practicing Democracy, Iran Style

On the eve of Iran's presidential election, the Islamic state shut off the text messaging services of all cell phones, and as I am writing this it is still impossible to text someone in Iran. Also, state-imposed "parasite" signals have been reported to be interfering with satellite TV channels particularly BBC Persian and VOA Farsi. The Iranian regime apparently has turned the country into a huge closed military zone. This odd situation is a good example of the Iranian style of democracy. Despite all the shortcomings though, today is a big day for democracy in Iran. The country is seeing record numbers of people stand in lines for hours to cast their vote for president. Here I report my personal account of this historical day:

Today I went to a mosque to cast my vote. The pile of shoes at the entrance indicated a large crowd inside (Muslims are not supposed to enter holy places with their shoes on). Amidst the rising heat, rotating ceiling fans wreaked havoc with the hems of the black chadors of the women standing in one line, alongside which men with visibly damp armpits formed a separate queue. Every now and then a surge of murmurs swept the interior of the mosque and then subsided.

"Would someone please open the window?"

A voice from the women's line piped up. A young man struggled with the handle of the rusty window and opened it. He was Amin, a friend. He noticed me in the crowd.

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"Cut the formalities! Who are you going to vote for?" I asked abruptly.

"Rezaii. He was the head of the Revolutionary Guards for so many years. He knows how to get us out of this mess."

Amin referred to the pragmatic-conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaii who is widely believed to have entered the race in order to cut back on Ahmadinejad's conservative votes. He owns the news website Tabnak. Its predecessor, Baztab, was closed down by Ahmadinejad's government for revealing 'undesirable' information.

"Do you think he can actually win?" I replied.

Here a man standing behind us interjected: "Of course not. But he's the best one among them all. All candidates proved filthy liars and corrupt in the debates."

The man seemed to have a very critical view of the debates. He probably had taken every candidate at his word and thus had come to this cynical conclusion. Of course he was not the only one who felt disillusioned with the Islamic system. For 30 years the Islamic Republic via its state-run TV has tried to instill the illusion of a perfect harmony among its loyal politicians. Khamenei, our Supreme Leader once said:

"We don't have good or bad choices in the Islamic state. These are for Western democracies. Here, all candidates have been approved. They all deserve being elected. The decision Iranians have to make is to choose the best among the good."

The televised vitriolic debates, however, gave a far different impression. In a short span of time the debaters crossed a slew of conventional redlines. Ahmadinejad accused powerful clerics - pillars of the Islamic Revolution, one could say - and their sons of being financially corrupt. Other candidates explicitly called Ahmadinejad a liar and a populist playing with figures and statistics.

Not surprisingly, many Iranians were shocked. My aunt, a teacher, turned red and almost cried in one of these debates. She could never imagine that there could be corrupt politicians in the Islamic Republic.

In the debates, Rezaii was the only candidate who tried not to get on Ahmadinejad's worst side. Faced with Ahmadinejad's financial graphs and histograms, he restrained himself from declaring Ahmadinejad an all-out liar. But even he was not spared from the incumbent president's attacks. Throughout the debate, Ahmadinejad addressed him condescendingly, forcing Rezaii to exclaim at the end that Ahmadinejad's main problem was that he assumed he was an expert in every field.

Ahmadinejad's unpleasant demeanor seems to have repelled many Iranians. My parents, while pro-Ahmadinejad, have said frequently that they would have voted for Rezaii in other circumstances. Many Iranians call Ahmadinejad a liar. An ad for Moussavi, Ahmadinejad's main challenger, reads: "On Friday, Pinocchio will be punished." It doesn't bode well for the Islamic state, which enforces strict moral laws on its subjects, that its head of government should be epitomized with mendacity.

The debates were but one of the unique aspects of this presidential election. There have never been so many text messages, blogs, and websites commenting on an election. Nor has there ever been such popular passion. At night, the honking of car horns in political solidarity has become a cacophony!

As I left the mosque after voting and searched for my sandals amidst the pile of shoes, I tried to send a text-message to a friend. It went nowhere. I had forgotten that the Islamic state had disabled the text-messaging services. I had forgotten that Iran has a far way to go before becoming a true democracy.

Comments

[jones]

Iranians shouldn't give up hope. Look what US went thru for the last 8 years. good post. Thank you.

[S1m0n]

Mousavi needs a reason for why he thinks he won better than "Everyone I talked to says they voted for me!"

[BeeOplentee]

Oh well. So much for "green" HOPE!
It was a nice pipedream, for awhile...

[BeachBubbaTex]

Don't be so impatient. As with Obama, things don't change because of a single event but with sustained pressure. Whether MA wins or not, I think the Iranian electorate gained a new self-awareness of its power (and its potential to threaten the established order).

Many refer to the Iranian leadership by their generational battles (Shah, Hussein, Bush). I think we're seeing the birth of a new political generation (as there may also be in this country).

[Mollabaji]

Congratulattions to the Iranian nation. They proved their country's independence and increased the national integrity of their country inspite of the millions U.S. congress spent to undermine Iranian exercise of their rights and anti-Ahmadi propaganda. Hopefully U.S. learned and bullying, sabotage, hiring paid local agents will not work.
Now, Obama, start acting on what you have been talking. The sooner the better.

[19iowa62]

Let's see the proof that supports your claims.

[BeachBubbaTex]

While I don't cheer the MA "victory," I do think the US needs to be more tolerant of other country's paths to self-governance. They won't all look like ours (and this is good).

That said, Obama should ALWAYS pursue US self-interest... that's his job. This shouldn't include covert efforts to destabilize a sovereign country, but if vocally opposing repressive policies and willful ignorance, as he did in his Cairo speech, is "bullying" then more power to him.

[jasjohn128]

Salam Professor, of course we are all glad the people of Iran were able to vote. And neither the people nor the government of the United States have (or would have) spent millions to undermine Iranians' wish to exercise their rights. Iran votes and the world watches and comments, just the same way America votes and the world comments.

But didn't the victory celebration seem a little sudden to you? So many paper ballots, such a large country ... and so many overseas votes to be counted too! How was it all done so quickly?

[wereeverywhere]

Wrong again. The IRI has disgraced Iran yet again as their clumsy attempt to steal this election has blown up in their faces. For a generation the electorate will know that the system is a scam from beginning to end. That's minimum. The other end result is the beginning of the end for the mullahs.

[Khirad]

Thank you for your essay, Telmah. I loved the atmosphere we miss from only digesting AP wires.

[Doomestic]

If the lebanese elections were the "Obama effect", as silly as that was, you can call the Iranian elections the "Netenyahu/ Lieberman" effect.

[BeachBubbaTex]

Not to be pollyanna, but this glass is still half-full. I think the silliness is to always look OUTSIDE Iran when explaining these results. Is it possible that there is change within the country not linked to our own bad selves? Re-read the essay... this is change you can believe in (or at least see a silver lining).

[persianadvocate]

Before we all jump to conclusions, let's consider some factors:
(1) It was the mainstream media that favored Moussavi. They never showed the 1000s upon 1000s that rallied for Ahmadinejad.
(2) The Iranian Constitution makes clear that the President of Iran is no more than the equivalent of the US Whitehouse Spokesman. Iranians are not voting for official Iranian policies, but just an icon of the Mullahs' policies, which won't change based on this election.
(3) Because of factor #2, the Mullahs really have no motive to actually rig the elections. The Iranian President is an impotent position, without the power or authority to even force a strike against Israel if he wanted to.

[monty7]

Get with the program persian, Ahmadinejad is the figurehead that Americans need to be taught to hate. How can they be taught to hate some Muslim religious figures hiding behind the scenes. Ahmadinejad simply has to be responsible for causing America to need to go to war with Iran.

[wereeverywhere]

You're right of course about the statutory power of the president in your point (2). But it seems to me that given the huge turnout, the hasty vote counting, and the results so far something is indeed fishy. Perhaps the mullahs decided it wouldn't do to have the rising 'green' party prevail and so they opted to smash it by rigging the election. If so there's going to be a backlash (I hope) by the Iranians.

[Khirad]

Agreed wereeverywhere - especially in the hope of a backlash - if not now - then in the next decade as the Revolution becomes more of a memory. I get tired of hearing the president has no power. He's as much a representative to the Mullahs as a spokesman for them. Saying, I have the popular appeal, go against the people at your peril. Maybe it's MSM BS, but everything I've ever read said things were slightly better under Khatami. No paradise, and his hands were tied, but a few concessions were made. Somehow I think Hypernova would be able to rock out more freely and writers given a tad more grace under Mousavi.

[Mollabaji]

Evidence of "rigging"? Keep on dreaming on your hope for "backlash". Over 70% of Iranians voted and chose Ahamdi. Get over it.

[LostDemocracy]

In Iran, there is no democracy that is why the numbers show Ahmedinejad leading 70% to whatever.

[clifflyon]

Here's the original video (caution, its in Farsi)

http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/088948.php

[clifflyon]

Sitting here with an Iranian friend who just showed this to me. Its flying around the Web. I'm impressed (stunned really) by the bravery of the students.

This is early today (election day) at Sharrif University in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad is forced to climb over the top of his car to escape.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXxbmwoMxDo

The crowd is yelling Mousavi, Mousavi, Mousavi. Then at the end, they are yelling 'doorogh gou!' LIAR!

Ahmadinejad is the guy in white.

[persianadvocate]

That's not Ahmadinejad...look again.

[Khirad]

Really? Truth is, I couldn't tell for sure. If it was the same guy as in the beginning though, no, too young. the impetus? Was it at least someone from the party? Someone with the Ministry of Interior? I can see how something like this could fly around the web and not be true, but I wish it were.

[BeachBubbaTex]

Telmah -

GREAT essay! You all have our best wishes. I only hope the US can give Iran the space to do this their own way (and help when asked). Most of the posts here act as if we have the moral authority to pass judgment. As in this country last year, I'm really excited by how involved your people are in your election. Again, thanks for the perspective.

[Mardekan]

All elections under mullahs in Iran are just total BS. Mullahs won't let anyone even run for these elections unless they are part of the gang already. Mousavi is one them too, just the lesser of all these SUPER parasites who run Iran right now .There is no democracy there at all. The numbers that are being reported by the Iranian state media in favor of Amadi are bogus. It does not matter who votes what. The rulling mullahs control the everything and make up whatever results they wish. People here need to understand all this. I was in Iran. 9 out of 10 people are against this guy and the mullah system. Iraninan People must come out and kick these criminal, tyrants out of power. This is the only way.

[wereeverywhere]

"Mousavi is one them too..." I agree. But the Iranian people can transform this farce into an opportunity to rid themselves of these parasites. Hopefully the mullahs overplayed their hand and have terminally discredited their reactionary system by going against the tiny little change Mousavi offered.

[CherokeeGirl]

Telmah, I hope the Huff Post reporters don't take offense when I say this is some of the best writing I've seen online in a long time. Your story gave me chills, I like how you gave it a face and made it personal. My wishes for all things good that life has to offer go out to you and your nation! :)

[Durango]

So Ahmedinijad is really proving himself the Iranian George Bush.

By stealing the election.

Ought to retire both of those fools. To a hot dark place.

[wereeverywhere]

I'd settle for a nice cool well-lighted jail cell as a retirement home for him. Hopefully this can be a clarion for the Iranian people to take to the streets and rid themselves of mullah rule.

[tippydog11]

Ahmad. saying out of 15 million votes now in he got and the other guy only got 4 million I do not think so..the largest is in the cities...not the outskirts where Ahmad was more favored.....not on person voted for the other guy in the rual area and he would need a large chuck from the cities to 15 million..I do not believe it..