It has become an extraordinary day, at the end of what has been an extraordinary election campaign.
As soon as polls opened in Iran, it became clear that the enthusiasm of the last few days has been translated into what is likely to be a huge turnout.
There were queues snaking round the block from many polling stations.
The crowds gathered outside, in segregated lines of men and women. Even as they waited to vote, they continued the spontaneous debate that has been sweeping Iran in the last week.
At one polling station I visited, some voters came up to me, nervous that the government might be trying to rig the election.
They were worried that a bus being used as a mobile polling station was not as well monitored as the main polling centre.
Other voters say the system under which a reference number has to be written by the candidates' name on the ballot paper is confusing.
Good humour
Much of the mobile phone text message system seems not to be working, a system the opposition had been hoping to use to send back reports from their monitors at polling stations and election counts.
The opposition has complained to the government.
Rumours are sweeping Tehran that some satellite TV stations may have been blocked.
But for the most part election day has continued the good humour of recent days.
One supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a woman in the long black religious chador, made a point of shaking hands with another woman wearing the green colours of the opposition contender, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Many of the polling stations are in mosques or other religious buildings.
At the Hosseiniyat Ershad in north Tehran, the number of women, particularly young women, queuing to vote is most striking.
The young voters who have been turning out in force for Mr Mousavi say they want more personal freedom, more opportunities and better relations with the West.
Extended voting
Supporters of Mr Ahmadinejad have praised him for pushing forward the nuclear programme, and say he has earned more respect for Iran internationally.
By mid-morning, the interior ministry announced that already five million people had voted. Voting was extended by two hours, and may be extended longer.
Such a high turnout will make Iranians more confident of the outcome.
They will remember the election in 1997, in which President Khatami defeated a candidate heavily favoured by the establishment.
His victory was so overwhelming it soon became clear that it could not be overturned, even if there had been those trying to do so.
Results are expected to begin coming in during the night. Almost every Iranian you meet is eager for any idea about what is going to happen.
And as for the onewho fears standing in front of His Lord and restrainsthe soul from impure evil desires and lusts, verily, Paradise will be his abode [79:40-41]
Come on people we all hate the sickening events that are happening not just here but around the globe to all types of people, let as least be united in speaking out together. I am sure that we feel the same things and seek our refuge from it in God. Not trying to be cheesy but we are all init together I think, so first lets wish peace for each other who are actually on the same side
"O ye who belive! Endure, outdo all others in endurance, be ready, and observe your duty to Allah, in order that you may succeed"
You live in Iran right??They didn't start the violence and how do you know that they're the minority??
im not in Iran but have familly in Tehran. how do i know their in the minority, well, because they lostttttttttttttttttt the vote!!!!
also let us look at the protests, 95% of the protests are taking place in Tehran, and as we know Iran is a big country with many other large cities etc, so where are all the equally large and chaotic protests taking place there? as one CIA analyst said, the protests in Tehran are but a drop in an ocean. Even at most, the protests in Tehran reached half a million, so even when we look at the ground effects, the protests etc, we fail to see this large huge number of angry ppl going for a revolution.
ppl are saying if Ahmed won the vote then where are all his supporters, its actually the other way round, if Ahmed stole the election then where the heck are all the angry ppl? all i see is half a million (reported by biased western media, so even that may be a lie, but ill go with it) protesters in Tehran, a city of more than 8 million people.
^They're not protesting in other places most likely because they're afraid.They don't have any guns but the riot police do.
why did they do it in Tehran then? they are so big as we are supposed to believe, so whats the problem, if 500,000 go out the police cant do much.
heck i am sure 50 years from now, or even less, we will find out that the CIA and other western covert groups played a very big role in the protests taking place in Tehran, just like operation Ajax.
I'm not really into politics so i'm not really on anybody's side here.
Because Tehran is a big city and therefor it's harder to keep them under control.
The Prince is right, if the Iranian people (if there were no voting irregularities of course) want a government inept of handling their economy, interested more (like the west, I know) in other nation's affairs, eg: Hezbullah, than that is their choice.
the fight is about hypocrites acting all sad for the iranian protesters, and for freedom, yet say nothing about Israel when they do 20 times worst.
"Twenty times worse."
The death of every innocent is an infinite loss, 20X or 1/20th of an infinite loss is still an infinite loss so comparing numbers isn't really the point.
You do have a point that some people will mourn the death of a person who they see as protesting rights in Tehran, or a few years ago in Tienamen Square, and ignore that some of their allies do the same thing in quelling other distrubances. Both are equally tragice.
However, to say as you have that nothing has been said over these events in Israel is simply not true. As evidence, I submit this from an article I found in a quick search of CNN articles:
The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza conflict climbed to more than 1,000 today after nearly three weeks of intensive Israeli bombing and fighting on the ground.
Red Cross describes situation in Gaza as 'shocking'
Brussels - The European Union's top foreign-policy official on Saturday condemned as "unacceptable" the death of Palestinian civilians in Israeli air-strikes and called for an end to violence.
"The current Israeli strikes are inflicting an unacceptable toll on Palestinian civilians and will only worsen the humanitarian crisis as well as complicate the search for a peaceful solution," EU High Representative Javier Solana said in a statement.
You see what you want to see, but what you fail to see is that the very things that you condemn "westerners" for not doing, they actually are doing. You ask us to quit being hyprocrits and to see not just the story in Iran, but to open our eyes to see the same story being played out in other places like in the Israeli response to Palestinians. Now maybe you will see that at least some have. So, please quit calling us all hyprocrits and open your eyes to the full story, not just that which is fits with your sterotypical view of the west.
because they are sore losers, and need to accept the reality that they lost the vote, that they are not the majority, and their not as special as they think they are. they are the real dictatorship, trying to get their way through violence and intimidation, trying to run the country according to their way, against the majority who voted for ahmedinijad, thats the real dictatorship as khameini said.
Do you speak out just as strongly against those in Hamas who fire rockets into Israel in an attempt to get their way through violence and intimidation, or those who strap bombs to themselves and then get on busses or walk into crowded markets and blow themselves up as an act designed to get their way through violenenc and intimidation? Or are you just as much of a hyprocrit as you accuse others of being?
Do you speak out just as strongly against those in Hamas who fire rockets into Israel in an attempt to get their way through violence and intimidation, or those who strap bombs to themselves and then get on busses or walk into crowded markets and blow themselves up as an act designed to get their way through violenenc and intimidation? Or are you just as much of a hyprocrit as you accuse others of being?
there is a difference between hamas and the protesters. the protesters lost a vote, didnt get power, so now they want to bully everyone else to get their way.
hamas meanwhile, and the entire palestinian people are under OPEN OCCUPATION, there is no debate about it. they are ppl under occupation for 60 years, getting their land stolen, having no identity, no passports, no open freedom to even move around their own land etc etc. hence they have a legitimate right to resistence, they are fighting to be able to have a country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so you trying to compare the two is like comparing mushrooms with peanuts. try harder.
Do you speak out just as strongly against those in Hamas who fire rockets into Israel in an attempt to get their way through violence and intimidation, or those who strap bombs to themselves and then get on busses or walk into crowded markets and blow themselves up as an act designed to get their way through violenenc and intimidation? Or are you just as much of a hyprocrit as you accuse others of being?
I hope Allah would give me the strength to fight for Hamas if I lived in Gaza
"O ye who belive! Endure, outdo all others in endurance, be ready, and observe your duty to Allah, in order that you may succeed"
Come on people we all hate the sickening events that are happening not just here but around the globe to all types of people, let as least be united in speaking out together. I am sure that we feel the same things and seek our refuge from it in God. Not trying to be cheesy but we are all init together I think, so first lets wish peace for each other who are actually on the same side
AMEN. Either you are for peace anbd those in power have a responsibility to those they serve or you believe that might makes right and we all go back to a sad time in world history.
I believe that people ought to have the right to peaceful assembly and protest, even against one's own government. I also believe that the government is fully within its rights to ignore that protest if it so chooses and accept the consequences at the next election and also to make sure that the protests remain peaceful by arresting those that incite violence in the midst of those protests. Those who deny these basic rights, not guaranteed by political will but by our creator are neither advocates of genuine peace. For shalom or salaam is not just about the cessation of violence but about living in a rightly ordered moral universe in which justice gives voice to the disenfranchised and the week are protected (rather than taken advantage of) by the strong and those in power. It makes no difference whether talking about Iran, China, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, northern Ireland, Darfur, the US-Mexican border, or your own neighborhood we all have a responsibility for one another.
people who are in the majority, living under occupation, with NO COUNTRY, and rise up to fight their occupiers for freedom is not bullying or intimidating to simply get their way, its them fighting for their freedom and right to live in their homes. but graceseeker u just exposed yourself, because from your latest comment it shows how you downgrade the Palestinian suffering and what their really going through with your shallow comparison, therein again highlighting the western hypocrisy.
there is a difference between hamas and the protesters. the protesters lost a vote, didnt get power, so now they want to bully everyone else to get their way.
hamas meanwhile, and the entire palestinian people are under OPEN OCCUPATION, there is no debate about it. they are ppl under occupation for 60 years, getting their land stolen, having no identity, no passports, no open freedom to even move around their own land etc etc. hence they have a legitimate right to resistence, they are fighting to be able to have a country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so you trying to compare the two is like comparing mushrooms with peanuts. try harder.
OK, delete Hamas. How about the Shi'a who walks into the Sunni market and blows him/herself up? Show me where you have cried over that.
I'm very sad to Muslims acting in such a manor. The underlined problem in Iran is Greed. One man refuses to let go of his power. This is not Islam. As a convert, my Muslim brothers and sisters are setting such a bad example. They’re more worried about power money other then what needs to be addressed, the religion. When are we going to learn??? Its disheartening to see the last perfected religion Allah has given us, the human race has tainted it too. I'm spiritually confused.
AMEN. Either you are for peace anbd those in power have a responsibility to those they serve or you believe that might makes right and we all go back to a sad time in world history.
I believe that people ought to have the right to peaceful assembly and protest, even against one's own government. I also believe that the government is fully within its rights to ignore that protest if it so chooses and accept the consequences at the next election and also to make sure that the protests remain peaceful by arresting those that incite violence in the midst of those protests. Those who deny these basic rights, not guaranteed by political will but by our creator are neither advocates of genuine peace. For shalom or salaam is not just about the cessation of violence but about living in a rightly ordered moral universe in which justice gives voice to the disenfranchised and the week are protected (rather than taken advantage of) by the strong and those in power. It makes no difference whether talking about Iran, China, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, northern Ireland, Darfur, the US-Mexican border, or your own neighborhood we all have a responsibility for one another.
those in power have the responsibility to restore order and law from a group of thugs who are calling for an overthrow of the democratically elected president, especially when covert western outsiders are playing a role in these plots for the overthrowing of the governemtn as a whole to be replaced by a puppet subserviant system as was done with the shah.
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