Iran Interview: What Happened on Election Day in 2009? (Mehrabi)

At the commission, the news went around by word of mouth. One news was that Mir Hossein Mousavi was planning to come to the commission. But no real news came into the headquarters.

Even prior to the voting, the Ministry [of Interior] appeared to be poised to win the election. We sensed that they seemed confident that they (the Ahmadinejad campaign) would win in any way. When we told the other reformist kids, who called us from the outside, of the atmosphere inside the building, they brushed us off as being influenced by the events inside.

We had no idea that they planned to rig the elections at this scale. When we spoke with reporters from the other side (i.e., supporting the administration), they told us that Ahmadinejad would win with 24 million votes.

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Iran Feature: The President's Best Man and His Fake University Degree

For many weeks, we have been following the battle within the Iranian establishment. One of the key fronts in that conflict, which may or may not be to the political death, is over Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, President Ahmadinejad's good friend, close advisor, and Chief of Staff.

In this week's updates alone, we have noted criticism of Rahim-Mashai by clerics, politicians, and newspapers, the announcement by a Parliamentary commission of a "special case" investigation into his activities, and even the claim that he gave away $150 vouchers to local VIPs so they would attend his speech. This, however, may be the most intriguing manoeuvre....

The "hard-line" Mashregh News alleged that Rahim-Mashai is lying when he claims to hold a degree from Chabahar University. It said he paid no fees and asked how he could have completed the studies when he holds 20 official jobs.

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