http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/opinion/19iht-edhooglund.html?_r=1

Is it possible that rural Iran, where less than 35 percent of the country’s population lives, provided Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the 63 percent of the vote he claims to have won? That would contradict my own research in Iran’s villages over the past 30 years.

Take Bagh-e Iman, a village of 850 households in the Zagros Mountains near the southwestern city of Shiraz. According to longtime friends who live there, the village is seething with outrage because at least two-thirds of all people over 18 years of age believe that the presidential election was stolen by Ahmadinejad.

When news spread on June 13 that Ahmadinejad had won more than 60 percent of the vote cast the day before, the residents were in shock. The week before had witnessed the most intense campaigning in the village’s history, and it became evident that support for Mir Hussein Moussavi was overwhelming.

The president is unpopular in Bagh-e Iman and most other villages around Shiraz primarily because of his failure to deliver on the reforms he promised in his 2005 presidential campaign.

Supporters of Ahmadinejad were booed and mocked when they attempted rallies and had to endure scolding lectures at family gatherings.

Carloads of villagers actually drove to Shiraz to participate in the massive pro-Moussavi rallies that were held on the three nights prior to the balloting. And election-day was like a party in Bagh-e Iman. Many people openly announced their intentions to vote for Moussavi as they cheerfully stood in line chatting with neighbors, and local election monitors estimated that at least 65 percent of them actually did so.

Village elders said Ahmadinejad was supported by members of the Basij militia and government workers and their families. But Jalal, an election monitor, said they were quiet, apparently timid about revealing a vote for Ahmadinejad. Jalal insisted that they did not count for more than 20 or 25 percent of the vote.

In previous elections, a committee comprised of representatives from each political faction had counted and certified the results right in the village. This time, Jalal said, “Interior Ministry officials came from Shiraz, sealed the ballot boxes and took then away even before the end of voting at 9 p.m.”

The unexpected change in procedures caught village monitors off guard, as it did elsewhere in the country. By Saturday evening, small groups of demonstrators were roaming the main streets of Shiraz, a city of 1.5 million, protesting the announced results.

Larger demonstrations took place over the next three evenings, swelled by carloads of supporters from Bagh-e Iman and other villages as far as 60 kilometers from Shiraz.

The most common slogan was “Allah-o-akbar,” the popular chant of the 1978-79 revolution. On Sunday, thousands of people in Shiraz climbed out onto their roofs to chant “Allah-o-akbar” for several hours.

Most villagers are supporters of the Islamic Republic, but like their countrymen from the cities, they want reforms that they say are essential for their children to have a secure future. They, too, saw hope in Moussavi.