Iranians Still Split Over Election

Posted on Jul 20, 2009

AP / Office of the Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—under a picture of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini—is shown at a July 6 ceremony in Tehran commemorating a Shiite saint. The photo of Khamenei was released by his official Web site.

Although Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aka Iran’s supreme leader, has called the recent protests over the contested election evidence of foreign powers meddling in his country’s affairs, his words didn’t seem to sway Iranian opponents, who on Monday proposed a referendum to sort out the issue.

Los Angeles Times:

The call for a referendum is the latest in a series of direct challenges against the authority of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose demand weeks ago that Iranians accept Ahmadinejad as president for a second term has gone unheeded.

In pointed comments aimed at the reformist camp, Khamenei warned the country’s political class that “any words they utter, any action they take, any analysis they express” could help the nation’s international rivals.

“It is examination day,” he said. “But anyone who flunks the exam cannot retake it the next year. Failing in this exam is not flunking, it is collapse.”

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