06-13-2009, 09:05 PM
<b>SNAP ANALYSIS-Ahmadinejad heads for re-election in Iran</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>COULD MOUSAVI CHALLENGE OUTCOME?</b>
By declaring victory at a hastily organized news conference before the election commission announced its early counts, Mousavi signaled he would not accept defeat quietly.
But it is unclear exactly how he could challenge the official result or if any complaint could succeed.
If Mousavi pursues his accusations of irregularities, such as a shortage of ballot papers and many people being denied a chance to vote -- he may enjoy support from influential allies.
They include reformist former President Mohammad Khatami and powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who traded accusations with Ahmadinejad during the campaign.
But Ahmadinejad has basked in the support of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, throughout his presidency
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<b>On the eve of the election, a senior official of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards accused Mousavi's camp of seeking a "velvet revolution" in Iran</b>, referring to the tag given to the non-violent revolution in communist Czechoslovakia in 1989.
The official, Yadollah Janavi, made clear the Guards would not tolerate any such attempt. Ahmadinejad is a former Guardsman who took part in the 1980-88 war with Iraq. The force is seen as fiercely loyal to the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution
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By declaring victory at a hastily organized news conference before the election commission announced its early counts, Mousavi signaled he would not accept defeat quietly.
But it is unclear exactly how he could challenge the official result or if any complaint could succeed.
If Mousavi pursues his accusations of irregularities, such as a shortage of ballot papers and many people being denied a chance to vote -- he may enjoy support from influential allies.
They include reformist former President Mohammad Khatami and powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who traded accusations with Ahmadinejad during the campaign.
But Ahmadinejad has basked in the support of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, throughout his presidency
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<b>On the eve of the election, a senior official of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards accused Mousavi's camp of seeking a "velvet revolution" in Iran</b>, referring to the tag given to the non-violent revolution in communist Czechoslovakia in 1989.
The official, Yadollah Janavi, made clear the Guards would not tolerate any such attempt. Ahmadinejad is a former Guardsman who took part in the 1980-88 war with Iraq. The force is seen as fiercely loyal to the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution
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