'I Hope It Was Rigged'

Ben Curtis / AP Photo Writing from Iran, university student Telmah Parsa surveys the post-election mood—from a friend who hopes the vote was rigged (because if it wasn’t, Iran just re-elected Ahmadinejad) to his parents, who say the “irreligious hipsters” out protesting need to face up to their defeat.

Plus, read more insight on Iran's election from other Daily Beast writers.

The Iranian regime has shut down text messaging. And the Internet is almost down.

While riots are ravaging the major cities and sit-ins can be found almost everywhere, millions of Iranians are celebrating Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s supposed election victory. Iranians are deeply polarized: A line transcending all biological and geographical boundaries is dividing the people.

“I had to wait an hour in the sun to vote,” said my friend Cyrus yesterday at the dormitory. “And I wouldn’t have voted in the first place if it weren’t for that son of a bitch Ahmadinejad. It really bums me out to see all that was useless. Dudes, we’re being screwed.”

“What if Mousavi had won after all? Power’s in the supreme leader’s hands. The president is powerless.”

“I was so depressed I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Daniel, another friend. “So I started watching Friends. I watched 20 episodes last night.”

Qadir, another friend, said: “I really hope it was rigged. Then we could say our government is corrupt. But there’s another possibility, too, a bleaker one—that our nation is corrupt, full of simpletons; that 24 million Iranians did vote for Ahmadinejad.

“On Friday, my aunt called my mother asking who she voted for.

“When my mother said Mousavi, my aunt replied: ‘Instead of Ahmadinejad? I would have voted for Mousavi, too, if you’d told me sooner.’

“See? I don’t think many people here understand what democracy is all about. It’s not impossible for Ahmadinejad to get 24 million votes from these people. Be that as it may, I hope to God it was rigged.”

“But it is rigged!” Daniel replied. “Everyone I talked to voted for Mousavi. My distant relatives who had never participated in any election voted Friday for Mousavi to get rid of Ahmadinejad.”

“Iran is a little more diverse than your family, you know,” I said.

“Shut up, Telmah!” Daniel was still tense from his sleepless night. “The supreme leader himself said 10 million more people went to the ballots in this election. These were people who had refused to participate in previous elections. To say they were devout conservatives supporting Ahmadinejad is absurd. They had to be pro-reform. Now, according to the official figures, the reformist candidates’ total votes add up to 14 million. No way only 4 million ‘regular’ voters were pro-reform! Our votes were stolen.”

“I know. I was just messing with you!” I said.

“You know, if it were in my hands, I would have prepared a plan making at least a high-school education a requirement for all those who want to vote.” Qadir was apparently still following his “bleaker” theory. “Of course, it would be a long-term plan, taking effect in, say, 10 years.”