Ahmadinejad, Chief Rival Both Claim Victory

(AP) - Hard-line incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was heading for a surprise landslide with nearly 80% of votes counted in Iran's stormy presidential elections, the Interior Ministry has said. But his pro-reform rival countered that he was the clear victor and accused authorities of fraud. Ahmadinejad's main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is backed by a growing youth-oriented movement. A large turnout at the polls had boosted victory hopes for Mousavi supporters. More»

(NEWSER) - A violent and chaotic day in Iran left dozens of protesters injured, with reports ranging from 13 to 19 deaths, reports the New York Times. The government's feared militia, the Basij, cracked down with water cannons, electric rounds, and live bullets against thousands of protesters in Tehran. The developments came on a day when challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi declared he is "ready for martyrdom" and President Obama criticized the government action as "unjust and violent" and warned that the "whole world is watching." More»

(NEWSER) - Westerners may well be wondering what happened to the articulate young Iranians who endorsed presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi on TV recently. Didn't those freedom-loving voters represent today's Iran? "Actually, no," writes Christopher Dickey in Newsweek. "It appears that the working classes and the rural poor—the people who do not much look or act or talk like us," have chosen Iran's president. More»

(NEWSER) - This could be a mess for a while: Iran's official count today gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory in the presidential election, but his main challenger rejected the results as a "dangerous charade" and warned of "tyranny," reports the Guardian. The official numbers: Ahmadinejad gets 62.6% and Mir Hossein Mousavi 33.4% after a staggering turnout of 84%. The challenger appealed to the nation's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to intervene, and the AP notes that his supporters have clashed with police in Tehran. More»

Massive turnout expected in critical presidential ballot

(NEWSER) - The polls have opened in Iran's presidential election, and a near-record turnout is expected after an unusually intense campaign that saw nightly rallies and Western-style TV debates. Until just two weeks ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seemed a shoo-in for a second term, but the moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi has surged on the back of a youth-driven campaign making use of e-mails and text messages, reports the Times of London. More»