Understanding Iran's Turmoil

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hotly contested victory in Iran's 12 June 2009 Presidential Election has led to protests of a size and nature not seen since the 1979 Islamic revolution. His main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, charged the election was a fraud and insists he is the true winner. Abbas Milani, an expert on Iran, agrees with it by saying that “Ayatollah Khamenei, his son, and the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) planned and orchestrated the stolen election”. So, was there a Gerrymandering ?

An Election for Rationality

Whether there was gerrymandering or not, it is a debatable question. Keeping it aside, however,the election seems to be a "struggle for rationality".Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the former Prime Minister and the leading opposition candidate’s campaign slogan was to “return to stability, return to rationality.” “Return to rationality” has been an attack on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust. It resembles how the Hindutva forces during the NDA Government led by the BJP tried to re-write the Indian history.

In this movement, Neda Agha-Soltani has become a symbol whereas the face of Iranian revolutionaries 30 years ago were bearded middle aged men. The image of the present movement is Neda-young, educated, female-who symbolizes the face of the new Iran which aspires to be.

“In the aftermath of the elections the opposition has grown bolder, seeking to fundamentally change the system of government by abolishing or seriously weakening unelected leadership positions, including that of the Supreme Leader, whose authority has never been challenged before” observes Karim Sajdadpour, an expert on Iran.

Thus, the present turmoil in Iran is nothing but a struggle for rationality.