Khamenei told tens of thousands of people at a Friday prayer service at Tehran University that the balloting had not been rigged, and he sided with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, offering no concessions to the opposition. He effectively ruled out any chance for a new vote, lauding the June 12 election as an expression of the people's will.
Khamenei, responding to a week of protests of the disputed election on June 12, said opposition leaders "will be held accountable for all the violence, bloodshed and rioting" if they do not halt the rallies.
"Some of our enemies in different parts of the world intended to depict this absolute victory, this definitive victory, as a doubtful victory," Khamenei said in his sermon. "It is your victory. They cannot manipulate it."
Did anybody really expect the guy who rigged the entire political process to overturn the result of that manipulated process?
The Iranian protesters don't seem too shocked:
In reaction to Khamenei's address hours later, cries of "Death to the dictator!" and "Allahu akbar!" — "God is great!" — resounded from rooftops throughout Tehran after dark — similar to other nights this week following rallies supporting reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Just remember, our own Revolution started in 1775 as an effort to assert our rights as Englishmen. It was only after a number of battles with the British that we formally declared our independence more than a year later.
Revolutions evolve from outrage--if they aren't snuffed out, of course.
