Categories: Need to know

Crackdown in Iran continues

Iranian authorities accusing the U.S. of “meddling”

by macleans.ca on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 3:54pm - 1 Comment

Authorities in Iran lashed out at the U.S. on Wednesday, accusing it of engaging in “intolerable” meddling in the country’s domestic affairs. U.S. President Barack Obama has said he has “deep concerns about the election” but suggested U.S. officials would be cautious not to be seen as interfering because it was “not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations.” Meanwhile, law enforcement officials in Iran continued to crack down on protesters, arresting several opposition figures and at least 500 activists. The country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard also threatened legal action against web sites and bloggers whose online materials “create tension.”

Associated Press

The Guardian

hosertohoosier

1. It isn't clear to me that there is specific evidence that the election was rigged.
2. Given the unreliability of Iranian pre-election polls (some showed an Ahmadinejad landslide, some a Mousavi win, while none had a representative sample) it isn't clear that this result is unexpected.

Our complaints, at any rate, miss the bigger picture about democracy. Canada is well-governed because it is a liberal democracy with a strong civil society. Actual democracy requires freedom of the press, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and property rights (among other rights) so that citizens can actively debate and weigh alternatives. It requires a civic culture too, where voters are engaged in the process. Until Iran has these things, I don't think process debates matter. The vote might or might not be rigged, but the whole process would be just as shady if it were not. Without individual liberty, every election is rigged in favour of the powerful few, and against the individual.