The Iranian Surprise

Published June 29, 2005

It doesn't make sense. In the previous two presidential elections, in 1997 and 2001, Iranians voted more than two-to-one for the reformist candidate, Mohammed Khatami. It did them little good, of course, because the Islamist clerics who have veto power over the elected parts of the Iranian government blocked his attempts to liberalize the system. But it seemed clear that younger Iranians in particular were fed up...