Word: ahmadinejad
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...There could not be more contrast between an Ahmadinejad campaign event - the stage occupied only by men, supporters dressed in black, the air filled with sentimental music and religious chants - and a recent rally for Mousavi, with supporters covered in shades of green bouncing to uplifting pop music and women standing onstage to represent him. At a recent Mousavi event attended by some 20,000 supporters - but not the man himself - banners carried phrases like "Government of Hope," "Justice" and "Freedom." A video showcased Iran's national icons, starting with heroes of the 1905 constitutional revolution...
...series of speakers came on to throw their support behind Mousavi, including artists who complained about restrictions on the arts under Ahmadinejad, and Moussavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard, a former university dean, expressing hope for independent universities. Then the star of the show, former President Mohammed Khatami - who dropped out of the race to endorse Mousavi - took the stage to deafening cheers of "Greetings to Khatami!" He spoke of an Islam based on rationality and on "Iran's powerful youth and the potential of its women...
...speeches, Mousavi has talked of prohibiting the government from interfering in people's private lives and allowing for people to participate in the public sphere. Ahmadinejad's government has clamped down on activity by nongovernmental organizations, wary of the $75 million former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice allotted for "democracy promotion" in Iran...
...which the country's lower classes feel the revolution's economic promises have been fulfilled. If they still are not satisfied, a theocratic democracy that gives one vote to every one of its 70 million citizens - Supreme Leader, manual worker and democracy activist - may see a populist government like Ahmadinejad's rewarded at the polling booths...
...photo essay "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Iranian Paradox...