Word: wording
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...shrug off President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bluster and bullying, knowing the diminutive President must still answer to a far more powerful figure: Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei. Since 1989, the shadowy cleric - a former president himself - has sat at the apex of Iran's complex hierarchy as the final word in all political and religious matters. The massive protests roiling Tehran in the aftermath of the June 12 elections have underlined both the vast sweep of Khamenei's powers and, perhaps, its limitations. After hailing Ahmadinejad's "divine victory," Khamenei backpedaled by ordering the country's Guardian Council to investigate...
...Khamenei would always come and say, 'Shut up; what I say goes.' Everyone would say, 'O.K., it is the word of the leader.' Now the myth that there is a leader up there whose power is unquestionable is broken." -Azar Nafisi, the author of two memoirs about life in Iran, on how Khamenei's decree that the election results be reviewed - which he issued shortly after praising Ahmadinejad's "divine victory" - has undermined his claim to absolute authority. (New York Times, June...
Reports out of Tehran describe security forces shooting at protesters. No word yet on how widespread this shooting is or on casualties. (To see a photo from one of the incidents, click here. Be warned that the photo contains graphic content.) Trita Parsi, a U.S.-based Iran expert and head of the National Iranian-American Council, tells TIME that the hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters on the streets today have been emboldened by Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei's backing down from his initial certification of the election result. "He came out first and said the results were certified...
...Hussain also says the fighting could lead to a further 1.5 million people being displaced, in addition to the nearly 3 million who already have been. But other observers put the number lower, at around half a million, given that many residents of Waziristan have already fled as word of a looming military operation spread in recent weeks...
...Until you return my vote, I won't be going home tonight" was one of the chants at the demonstration, which was organized on the Internet and by word of mouth. While the police and special security forces have dealt harshly with demonstrators over the past few days, today's rally was held peacefully with an almost total absence of any crowd-control forces, at least until dark. After sunset, there were reports of government militia firing on demonstrators, purportedly killing at least one. (Read a story about how Khamenei is the power behind Ahmadinejad...