Lots of purple in the streets of Tehran last night. News sources are reporting major celebrations in Iran in response to Hassan Rouhani’s decisive victory in the Presidential elections.
1. From a Reuter’s report: “This victory is a victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation, a victory of growth and awareness and a victory of commitment over extremism and ill-temper,” Rohani told state television. Crowds in Tehran chanted: “LONG LIVE REFORM!”
2. A brief BBC profile of Rouhani.
3. A BBC story titled “Rouhani Victory – Time for Change in Iran?”
(And no, the various news sources haven’t come to an agreement on transliterating his name, so I’ve tried to be consistent with each source.)
It’ll be interesting to see whether Rouhani’s election sparks real change. The election result sure makes it seem like a majority of the Iranian people would love to have some, but any that does happen will have to happen under the watchful eye of this gentleman, Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khameni, watching here from the wall of Esfahan’s Friday Mosque:
And he carefully guards this man’s legacy, who watches from another wall of the mosque:
As I listed in yesterday’s post, there are excellent Twitter feeds reporting on events in Iran: @Zealous_Iranian, @IranNewsNow, @khasayarsha, @thomaserdbrink, @persiankiwi, @tehranbureau
Much on my mind have been the wonderful Iranians with whom I traveled and climbed during the 2011 climbing exchange between the American Alpine Club and the Alpine Club of Iran which I wrote about in my eArticle Rope Diplomacy: On the Steeps in Iran, which includes more than 30 stunning photos by National Geographic photographer Stephen Alvarez.
I hope my friends are keeping safe and doing well.
