Death to the Dictator!: A Young Man Casts a Vote in Iran's 2009 Election and Pays a Devastating Price

Tehran, June 12, 2009. Mohsen Abbaspour, an ordinary young man in his twenties-not particularly political, or ambitious, or worldly-casts the first vote of his life in Iran's tenth presidential election. Fed up with rising unemployment and inflation, he backs the reformist party and its candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mohsen believes his vote will count.



It will not. Almost the instant the polls close, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will declare himself president by an overwhelming majority. And as the...