In Iran, Conspiracy Theories Flourish As Regime Tries to Regain Legitimacy

The Islamic Republic has been busy in three main ways since the presidential elections of June 12. Rejecting charges that the result — a 63% vote for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — was the result of fraud, the regime organized a partial recount, which on June 29 reconfirmed Ahmadinejad's victory, a finding the opposition continues to reject. Simultaneously, the regime worked to put down the widespread street demonstrations that followed the disputed poll, sending in police and pro-government militiamen to beat up and disperse demonstrators. Now, with the street protests dying down, the regime has attempted to rescue its legitimacy by casting the unrest as the work of "foreign instigators."

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