A year after Iran's disputed presidential vote, hardliners are firmly back in charge of a country where economic challenges and the nuclear dispute with the West now loom larger than a once-vibrant reform movement, according to Reuters. The reformist current propelled tens of thousands of Iranian protesters onto the streets after the June 12 vote that secured President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election last year. That surge of political dissent is not dead, but it has taken some hard knocks from a powerful establishment. "I'm still alive. I still support the reform movement," said Mahsa, a 26-year-old art student who was briefly detained after the election, which the opposition says was rigged. The authorities deny the charge. Iranians like Mahsa, who backed defeated moderate candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, had hoped his platform of political change would end a climate of fear they believe has pervaded the Islamic Republic since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005. But like many other opposition supporters, she now believes the dream of a pluralistic society may be on hold for decades. "I am disappointed and sad like many of my friends," said Mahsa, who declined to give her last name. Iran's hardline leaders are determined to prevent any new street protests to mark Saturday's anniversary of the election, which might focus wider social and economic discontent. Moderate political parties have called for peaceful commemorations. Mousavi and another defeated moderate candidate, Mehdi Karoubi, have urged the authorities to permit a rally. NO TOLERANCE FOR PROTESTS Permission is very unlikely to be granted. The last major opposition protest in December led to clashes with security forces in which eight demonstrators were killed. Mousavi supporters may also think twice before taking part in any "illegal" rally. Ahmadinejad has already warned that the government will not tolerate renewed protests. "My friends who took part in previous rallies are in jail or are banned from pursuing their studies," said Reza Alesadegh, 24, a physics student in the central city of Shiraz. "I cannot endanger my future by taking part in any anti-government rally." Last year's post-election turmoil in the world's fifth largest oil exporter exposed deep divisions in the Iranian political and clerical elite, with ruling hardliners scrambling to curb demands for a more democratic system. Ahmadinejad, backed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused foreign powers of orchestrating the protests. Khamenei denounced what he called attempts to topple the clerical establishment, which will have to endure a fourth round of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme. The unrest, Iran's worst since its 1979 Islamic revolution, was quelled by the elite Revolutionary Guards amid violent crackdowns, mass detentions and even executions. Two people were hanged and scores of detainees remain in jail. Opposition leaders now find it hard to communicate with the public. Dozens of moderate publications have been banned since the vote and the reform movement has lost its voice. The opposition says 30 women reformists are among those in jail. Although Mousavi insists he has not abandoned the fight for free expression and people's rights, his campaign has faded from the streets and his popularity seems to be waning. MOUSAVI DISCREDITED? "Since the election, many lost their lives. Many were jailed ... but what has changed? Mousavi does not deserve to be our leader. He is part of the regime," said a former detainee arrested after the election. Released on bail in May, he refused to be identified because a court has yet to decide his case. Political scientist Amir Tafreshi said that Mousavi, a former prime minister who has often advocated a return to the values of the revolution, appeared to lack the political courage to confront the establishment from which he sprang. "The vote and its aftermath showed that most of the levers of state power lie with the hardline clerical establishment. The system managed to silence the opposition," he added. Nevertheless, Tafreshi did not rule out fresh protests "despite all the warnings, disappointments and disillusions". Ordinary Iranians appear to be more outraged by mounting economic woes rather than the imprisonment of pro-reform intellectuals and political figures. Discontent centres on low salaries, high inflation and increasing unemployment. "Moderates or hardliners. It makes no difference. They all think of their own interests," said Mohammad Bagheri, 46. "I don't care about freedom of expression when I cannot afford to buy school books for my children," said the father of three, who lost his job six months ago after the textile factory where he worked in the northern city of Rasht was shut down. Reformists and some conservative lawmakers and clerics have criticised Ahmadinejad's performance, saying his platform of "economic justice" is a luxury the country can ill afford. The president has often wooed his lower-income constituents with cash handouts, cheap loans and local development projects.
