IRAN - AT 7:30 A.M. ET:  From Fox:

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader said Friday that there was "definitive victory" and no rigging in disputed presidential elections, offering no concession to protesters demanding the vote be canceled and held again.

In his first public address since demonstrators flooded the streets, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said protests should cease and the opposition must pursue its complaints within the confines of the cleric-led ruling system.

He blamed Great Britain and Iran's external enemies for trying to foment unrest but said Iran would not see a second revolution like those that transformed the countries of the former Soviet Union.

COMMENT:  So much for transparency, democracy, and fair process.  Once the top man speaks, that's it.  Now the question is whether the people of Iran will follow the leader.  If they do, out of fear, the demonstrations will end, the "election" results will stand, and the "realists" in Washington, led by the president, will go back to business as usual, pursuing the grand illusion that they can negotiate with these thugs. 

Don't you like the way American "prestige" has been restored?

June 19, 2009