Ahmadinejad wins Iran election, Mousavi cries foul

Iran votes in tight election
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By Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Iran's election by a thumping margin, according to official results which his moderate challenger rejected on Saturday as a "dangerous charade" that could lead to tyranny.
The level of the incumbent's support, nearly twice as many votes as former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi with most ballots counted from Friday's poll, confounded widespread expectations that the race would at least go to a second round.
Mousavi protested against what he said were many obvious violations in Friday's presidential election.
"I'm warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade. The result of such performance by some officials will jeopardize the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny," he said in a statement made available to Reuters.
Iranian and Western analysts abroad greeted the results with disbelief. They said Ahmadinejad's re-election would disappoint Western powers aiming to convince Iran to halt work they suspect is aimed at making bombs, and could further complicate efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to reach out to Tehran.
"It doesn't augur well for an early and peaceful settlement of the nuclear dispute," said Mark Fitzpatrick at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.
A bitterly fought campaign generated strong interest around the world and intense excitement inside Iran. It revealed deep divisions among establishment figures between those backing Ahmadinejad and those pushing for social and political change.
Ahmadinejad accused his rivals of undermining the Islamic Republic by advocating detente with the West. Mousavi accused him of humiliating Iranians with an "extremist" foreign policy.
Listing several complaints before official results were announced, Mousavi said late Friday that many people had not been able to vote and that there was a lack of ballot papers.
He also accused authorities of blocking text messaging, with which his campaign tried to reach young, urban voters.
"I am the definite winner of this presidential election," Mousavi told a news conference.
But the state election commission said Ahmadinejad had won a second four-year term with about 63.4 percent of votes against 34.7 percent for Mousavi with almost all ballots counted. It put the turnout at around 80 percent of 46 million eligible voters.
Trita Parsi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, expressed disbelief at the wide margin in Ahmadinejad's favor. "It is difficult to feel comfortable that this occurred without any cheating," Parsi said.
"The potential for unrest is high," said Ali Ansari, who heads the Institute for Iranian Studies at St Andrews University in Scotland. "People will wake up today in Iran in shock."
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Source: Reuters