The Sino-cated Rant

The Islamic Republic of Iran

I am just in total awe of what is happening in Iran right now. I’m going to try and collect some thoughts today for a full post on what we know for those who haven’t had a chance to read the excellent coverage at the New York Times website and Andrew Sullivan’s blog.

In short however, it certainly appears that not only was this election rigged, but they didn’t even bother to count most of the votes. It’s also becoming clear that this is turning into a serious flashpoint in a power struggle between Grand Ayatollah Khameini (the head of state) and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani is currently the head of a body called the Council of Experts, which may or may not have the ability to unseat Khameini. He was one of the stronger, if less vocal, backers of Moussavi. There are rumors that he is testing the waters to see if he can garner enough votes to unseat Khameini.

This situation is absolutely unreal, and I’m having trouble coming to grips with the entirety of it. More to come.