Iranian elections. Do Iranians who are not online matter to the Mousavi fans?

realistic point of view. what goes on between Iranian protesters is that some of them judge sentimentally rather than rationally. Ahmadinejad of course has many supporters in Iran (I believe more than other candidates) but what makes me doubt is that many had predicted he cannot win the election in first round, and almost all the analyzes had predicted if the race goes to second round he would lose. therefore he might want to manipulate the results to prevent second round. he probably has done something wrong to win but mostly sentiments are the base of judgments not the logic.

btw I blame him for raising such sentiments; his childish and unorganized policies and actions raise hatred.

No, I am the same. But I am not Persian. Also, I remember the early years after the Revolution. I remember seeing the yellow ribbons on the trees as a kid during the hostage crisis. I think that is where my fascination with the Middle East began. I have Been studying the Middle East for years. In Fact I lived there for some time, though not in iran. I have held the belief for years now that the Iranian theocracy is a direct backlash to the CIA's overthrowing of the democratically Mossadeq in 1953. My heart goes out to the persian people for what they have had to endure, as well as what they must endure in the future, to gain the kinds of liberties that all people deserve. It will get worse before it gets better.

Good point. This is why the US supports him. Not because he's a "reformer", but because he represents the rich and elite in Iranian society, whereas Ahmadinejad represents the poor. Moussavi is nothing more than the Shah v2.0. It just like in Venezuela with Chavez. The US can't stand him, not because they think he's an "evil dictator", but because he represents the poorest of the poor, those who normally have no voice whatsoever. He gives them a voice and that is a threat to the rich elitists, who will work hand in hand with the US and others to exploit the natural resources of a nation for profit, leaving the poor in the dirt to rot. It's always about money and profit with these people. The "reform" label is what they hide behind to trick the middle classes into supporting them.

I grow weary of uninformed boobs and obvious shills like katie_sh below me parroting the same tired hogwash. How do you know the election was rigged? Because the guy you wanted didn't win? What a bawl baby.

Hey! The Iranian masses get even less respect than the American masses... I tell ya, none of us get any respect... This reads like a joke, but it is the truth.

If you think you are receiving the shaft from your governments, you have no idea how lucky you are because you do not live in Iran.

Hey! I tell ya most of us do not get any respect... No matter where we live, it seems like the guy we didn't vote for gets elected... What do ya gotta do to get some respect around here?

Yes it does. How would you know what those who aren't online think? This election was so obviously stolen and rigged. We all know very well about Moussavi's performance as the prime minister, probably a lot better than you do, we lived it. But at this point people need a leader and he is our best shot. We're not talking about those online or on twitter, we're talking about the over 2 million who showed up in the rally yesterday in Tehran (in a condition where it is almost impossible to communicate, because the text-messaging services, cell phone services are down and all related sites are blocked and internet speed is very down), and we're talking about the millions in other cities includin smaller cities and cities as conservative as Mashhad. The fact is that we know our election was stolen and that our votes were betrayed and that we were manipulated into thinking that this once democracy would play a part in our lives. We're not asking for much, we're asking for some of the most basic rights of any citizen of the world. We want to be able to vote and want our votes to matter, we want freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Trust me everyone is fed up with this dictator government and it's not exclusive to a certain group of people.

Your judgement is not fair. At this point all we're asking is for you, the world, to stand up with us in our battle for freedom , to make this world a better place.

Good point. We do not really know very much about the internal politics of Iran or anything in depth about the candidates in the recent election.

Agree with your view. As long as Iran has a Supreme leader who answers to no one, the current protests are unlikely to change anything. I wish the media would explain that the vote was for an office with little actual power.

But, then again they might grow. I have no dog in this fight.

Unfortunately, they are invisible, not only because of their lack of internet access, but because of the news media's one-sided portrayal of the events in Iran.

If nothing else, it shakes things up--something the Iranian political establishment can use.

Maybe.