Acknowledging my fairly broad ignorance of the issue, the reports of voter coercion, the indefensibility of violence by the Baseej, and the potential offensiveness of the question itself, let me ask your insight-
Ahmadinejad enjoys widespread support as an incumbent. Again, speaking hesitantly from an awkward ignorance, it seems likely that Western backing fanned the flames of Mousavi's support. There have been allegations of corruption made against former President Rafsanjani.
Is it possible that the government apparatus tried to swing the election to Mousavi, and that Ahmedinejad's interference with the media was an attempt to thwart the rewriting of reality? I guess that seems unlikely given Khamenei's support for the incumbent, but I don't have a lot of knowledge of Iran's election mechanics.
I always thought my dad was a little paranoid until I read this article, Conspiracy Theories and the Persian Mind. The gist of it is this: many Iranians tend to believe conspiracy theories, and you would too if much of your political history involved actual successful conspiracies by Western colonial powers.
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Ahmadinejad enjoys widespread support as an incumbent. Again, speaking hesitantly from an awkward ignorance, it seems likely that Western backing fanned the flames of Mousavi's support. There have been allegations of corruption made against former President Rafsanjani.
Is it possible that the government apparatus tried to swing the election to Mousavi, and that Ahmedinejad's interference with the media was an attempt to thwart the rewriting of reality? I guess that seems unlikely given Khamenei's support for the incumbent, but I don't have a lot of knowledge of Iran's election mechanics.
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I always thought my dad was a little paranoid until I read this article, Conspiracy Theories and the Persian Mind. The gist of it is this: many Iranians tend to believe conspiracy theories, and you would too if much of your political history involved actual successful conspiracies by Western colonial powers.
But you do have to understand that literally half of Iran's population is under the age of 25: http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/?p=1437
That's where Mousavi's voter base is.
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