Iranian Activism Abroad Mirrors Low-Key Election Campaign
Iranians in the US and Europe try to mobilize support for free and fair elections to highlight restrictions in Iran's June 14 presidential vote.
The weather was ideal for a demonstration: sunny and not too warm for Washington, D.C. Yet only about 30 people turned up on Saturday [June 8] to call on Iranian authorities to permit a free and fair election for president this week.
The small crowd in downtown Washington’s Freedom Plaza, only a few blocks from the White House, was a fraction of the size of rallies held in 2009, when Iranians abroad were energized by an unexpectedly lively campaign between incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and two reformers and then continued to demonstrate in large numbers to protest allegations of election fraud.
