Mahmoud and the atomic mullahs

摘要

Voters can be full of surprises, even in a theocrati-cally managed semi-democracy like Iran's. The victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former member of the hardline Revolutionary Guard, in last week's presidential election has deep- ened the gloom of reform-minded Iranians. Dirty tricks, a candidate list drawn up by Iran's self-appointed Guardians Council of conservative clerics, the exclusion of all women as candidates and then a run-off against a widely distrusted former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, all contributed to Mr Ahmadinejad's surprising, if dispiriting, win.