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Iran Uprising?

We can only hope. 

Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police in the heart of Iran’s capital Saturday, pelting them with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran in a decade. They accused the hard-line president of using fraud to steal election victory from his reformist rival.

The brazen and angry confrontations — including stunning scenes of masked rioters tangling with black-clad police — pushed the self-styled reformist movement closer to a possible moment of truth: Whether to continue defying Iran’s powerful security forces or, as they often have before, retreat into quiet dismay and frustration over losing more ground to the Islamic establishment.

But for at least one day, the tone and tactics were more combative than at any time since authorities put down student-led protests in 1999. Young men hurled stones and bottles at anti-riot units and mocked Ahmadinejad as an illegitimate leader. The reformists’ new hero, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the true winner of Friday’s presidential race and urged backers to resist a government based on “lies and dictatorship.”

Posted by Owen at 2318 hrs
Foreign Affairs

1. Three potential Obama reactions

   1.  “We must recognize the results of the election.  We welcome an open dialogue with Mr Ahmadinejad who now has a strong mandate for governance”

   2.  Stands there with a “Who Farted?” look on his face, with absolutely no idea what to do.

   3.  “We will watch developments in Iran closely, and take the best practices of their hadling of this delicate situation into consideration for American elections”

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 15, 2009 at 0837 hrs
   
   
   

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