A secret letter from a senior Iranian official to Ayatollah Khamenei declaring Mir Hossein Mousavi the frontrunner of the disputed presidential election is inspiring protesters—whether it be legitimate or not. Robert Fisk, reporting from the streets of Tehran, says that thousands of protesters are carrying the document and that the director of the film Persepolis was even "brandishing the same document" in Belfast. Yet the supposed classified communique gives President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a shockingly low amount of votes, and has a relatively unknown third candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, coming in second. Fisk, for his part, appears to believe the document is real. Fisk also reports witnessing reformist protests marred by a terrible lack of organization. "This was no way to overthrow a government," he writes. Nevertheless, the authorities once again did not assault Mousavi supporters, reflecting an apparent change in tactics.
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