Update on Iran

From the theledes.blog .....

Update | 3:52 p.m. Iran’s Press TV reports that the country’s Supreme Leader has blamed enemies of the state for the violence on Monday, and claimed that it was unrelated to the announced results of last Friday’s presidential election:

“Some people are against the unity of the Iranian nation and the solidarity of the Islamic system,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with representatives from the four candidates in Iran’s presidential election and officials from the Guardian Council and the Interior Ministry.

“Such acts and vandalism and some crimes that were committed are not related to the candidates’ supporters but to disturbers of peace and all should stand against them,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei said all candidates are backing the principles of the Islamic Republic and support peace in the country and the election should not cause divisions.

The Leader called on all political figures to take a clear position against the post-election violence and urged the Iranian nation to withstand those committing crimes in the streets.

“If the election result had been other than this, such incidents would have occurred nonetheless,” he said.


It looks as though Khamenei is trying to convince Iranians that the confrontations had nothing to do with the elections. He's trying to keep the opposition from gaining confidence. It also looks as though he is completely out of touch with reality; the more people realize this, the more emboldened they will become. This is shaping up to be a momentous, if not revolutionary, event.