During a press conference (his first since the government announced that he was re-elected to a second term in a landslide victory) Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the press that his re-election “was a real and free one.” He went on to say, "The margin between my votes and the others is too much and no one can question it."
But, it seems, a serious protest (if not a possible civil war) to his declared victory has erupted in the streets of the capitol and throughout Iran.
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If these violent protest continue, the question arises, how far will Admadinejad and the Guardian Council go to try and quell the demonstrations and dissent.
The Obama administration's reaction thus far to the Iranian election has been restrained – signaling support for no candidate.
Given the history of Iran and the United States, any overt support for any candidate would only have helped to serve the interests of their opponents. In short, interjecting the U.S. into their election process in any way whatsoever would not have helped at all and would have most certainly harmed greatly those Iranians seeking more freedom.
The U.S. should continue their restraint and allow Iran's indigenous human rights movement to evolve and advance on its own, without any obvious involvement from the United States – no matter how well intentioned.
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