................Instead the authorities acted as though they were stealing the vote - announcing a full count of 40 million ballots two hours after polls closed, with a suspicious uniformity in Mr Ahmadinejad's large majority across the country.................

.............But even if the situation leads to a change of president, the West should not expect any immediate transformation of Iran.
Mr Mousavi, an activist in the 1979 hostage-taking at the US embassy and later a prime minister as the regime liquidated its opposition, is part of the system and a declared supporter of nuclear capability.
A long rapprochement lies ahead, but the youth of Iran's population and its growing use of new forms of communication will steadily undermine the likes of Mr Ahmadinejad...........

..

Khamenei is not inviting them to prayers to demonstrate their piety; he's demanding a symbolic show of loyalty to the Islamic Republic itself, and its founding principle of giving ultimate political authority to its clerical Supreme Leader.

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.

The country's Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, insisted there had been no fraud in [last Friday’s] election result, describing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win as "definitive." He added that the "Islamic establishment would never manipulate votes and commit treason.

   

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/20/2603667.htm?section=justin

AYATOLLAH WARNS IRAN PROTESTERS OF CRACKDOWN
By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker and wires
Posted 5 hours 40 minutes ago
Updated 5 hours 20 minutes ago

Iran's supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has effectively banned all further protests against last week's presidential election results and has warned those who disobey will face serious consequences.
Addressing a crowd of tens of thousands of worshippers at a mosque at Tehran University, he warned opposition supporters not to mount any more protests, even peaceful ones.
He said if they did, they would be responsible for any bloodshed.
"I want to tell everyone these things must finish. These street actions are being done to put pressure on leaders but we will not bow in front of them," he said.
"Those politicians who somehow have influence on people should be very careful about their behaviour if they act in an extremist manner.
"This extremism will reach a sensitive level which they will not be able to contain. They will be responsible for the blood, violence and chaos."
He said terrorists who could assassinate the militia or the police might hide among the demonstrators.
The warning effectively gives free rein to Iran's security forces, including the widely feared Basij militia, to take whatever action necessary against those protesters who disobey.
In the wake of his speech, there were reports of truckloads of security forces heading onto Tehran's streets.
The supreme ruler has also denied any chance the election was rigged and upheld President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the rightful winner.
"The people have chosen whom they wanted," he said.
"I see some people more suitable for serving the country than others but the people made their choice," he said to cheers from tens of thousands of faithful, who included Mr Ahmadinejad.
Iran's Guardian Council will soon meet all failed presidential candidates, but there is now no chance they will succeed in overturning the election result.
After the sermon, US President Barack Obama warned Iran that the "world is watching" its actions.
"I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made that the government of Iran recognise that the world is watching," he said.
"And how they approach and deal with people who are - through peaceful means - trying to be heard, will send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not."
Supporters of runner-up Mir Hossein Mousavi have held six days of protests since Mr Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the Iranian election.
State media have reported seven or eight people killed in the protests. Scores of reformists have been arrested and authorities have cracked down on foreign and domestic media.
Hours after the Ayatollah's speech, another beaten candidate - pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi - called for the election result to be cancelled, as Mr Mousavi has done previously.
In another act of defiance after nightfall, Mr Mousavi's backers took to Tehran rooftops to shout Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), an echo of tactics in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
- ABC/Reuters/AFP