Something big is going down - has there been a coup?

The Iranian people went to the polls last Friday, and there was a very big turnout - an increase of about 30% over 2005. In the last few weeks of the Presidential election race there was a huge swing of support to Mir Hossein Mousavi. The evidence indicates that Mousavi had strong support, especially within the university population. Initially, it has been rumoured that someone from the Ministry of the Interior informed Mousavi that he was the winner but he was told to wait before saying anything. A few hours later Ahmadinejad was declared as the victor with a massive landslide. To be honest, that news was very surprising, especially after learning about the massive turnout of voters. These are the people who had been boycotting the elections, and it is really doubtful that they would have given their vote to a madman like Ahmadinejad.

There are some indicators that this result was in fact a coup by Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei:

• First of all, even before the polls had closed SMS and other means of communication were being blocked. The Basiji were being mobilized, and it has been rumoured that members of Hamas and Hezbollah from Syria, Gaza and Lebanon were brought in to deal with any "uprising" or protest. There was talk of crushing any "velvet revolution". In other words Amadinejad was preparing to lose the Presidential race by staging a coup that would see him announced as the winner.
  

• Second, the size of the landslide could easily be disputed based upon figures from 2005.
  

• Third, the reaction of the people when they heard the announcement was to go into the streets and start demanding: WHERE'S MY VOTE? This is what is so important to the protestors. They voted against Ahmadinejad.

• Fourth, the manner in which Khamenei was so quick to announce the winner when it is not normal procedure.

• Fifth, the manner in which the vote count or lack thereof was handled. As one commentator has remarked, it is as if the numbers were plucked out of the air.
  

• Sixth, a less important indicator, but certainly one that sustains the fact that Amadinejad has staged a coup is the suspicious car accident that killed a member of the Ministry of the Interior - this person allegedly was the one that leaked the correct figures relating to the poll result.
  

I am dedicating what I write on this blog to the brave Iranians who have taken to the streets to protest the injustice that has been dealt to them. They are so right to feel that they have been robbed. There is a lot of material available on the Internet, and I hope to be able to link to many good blog posts, and analysis of what is happening inside Iran.