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The Green Revolution in Iran

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The Green Revolution in Iran
The Green Revolution in Iran On June 12, 2009, a series of protests broke out after the results of the presidential election in Iran. The riots started in the capital city of Tehran, and quickly spread throughout the Islamic Republic. Protestors gathered in other major cities around the world, including New York City (Mackey). Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Iranians were protesting against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection, which was allegedly the result of electoral fraud.
These allegations have been investigated by parties in and outside of Iran, including London’s Chatham House and the Institute of Iranian Studies, University of St. Andrews in Scotland, which co-published a report after the election. The report was written by Chatham House 's Daniel Berman and Thomas Rintoul, and edited by St. Andrews ' Professor Ali Ansari. The following is an excerpt from that report’s summary:
In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100% was recorded.
In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former centrist voters, and all new voters, but also up to 44% of former reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two groups. (2)
The people of Iran are demanding change and a freer government. Now is the time for the United States to recognize a potential new ally. America should support the Green Revolution—named after opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi 's campaign color—because a regime change in Iran would strongly promote world peace by removing the Abadgaran[1] regime and its nuclear ambitions; it would remove a regime with a history of violating the basic human rights of its citizens and foreigners; and it would open up the potential for a new ally and trading partner in the Middle East.
Iran’s nuclear policy has changed dramatically since the Ahmadinejad presidency took control of it in August



Cited: Bahá’í International Community. “To Kill a Bahá’í is a Good Deed”. The Bahá’í Question. 8 Feb. 2010. Web. Beehner, Lionel. “What Sanctions Mean for Iran’s Economy”. Council on Foreign Relations. 5 May 2006. 8 Feb. 2010. Web. Berman, Daniel, and Thomas Rintoul. Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election. Ed. Professor Ali Ansari. London: Chatham House and the Institute of Iranian Studies, University of St. Andrews, 2009. 6 Feb. 2010. Web. Chubin, Shahram. Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2006. Print. Dareini, Ali Akbar. “Iran 's Supreme Leader Warns Election Critics”. SFGate.com. 29 Oct. 2009. 21 Feb. 2010. Web. Fathi, Nazila. “In a Death Seen Around the World, a Symbol of Iranian Protests”. The New York Times. 22 June 2009. 8 Feb. 2010. Web. Fathi, Nazila, and Robert F. Worth. “Iran Tries Dozens of Reformists for Terrorism”. SFGate.com. 2 Aug. 2009. 21 Feb. 2010. Web. Freedman, Lawrence. A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East. New York: PublicAffairs, 2008. Print. Harrison, Frances. “Crackdown in Iran over dress codes”. BBC News, Tehran. 27 April 2007. 8 Feb. 2010. Web. Hays, Matthew. “Iran’s gay plan”. CBC News. 26 Aug. 2008. 8 Feb. 2010. Web. Mackey, Robert. “Landslide or Fraud? The Debate Online Over Iran’s Election Results”. The New York Times. 13 June 2009. 5 Feb. 2010. Web. “Shahab-3 / Zel-zal 3”. Federation of American Scientists. 26 Feb. 2008. 8 Feb. 2010. Web.

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