The actual announcement was a couple of hours after polls closed. Which is still suspicious, but not impossible if, as I believe, Ahmadinejad was getting a very solid result in most places. And in western countries, we are still attaching too much weight to Mousavi's candidacy. The interesting thing, I feel, is how disconnected Ayatollah Khamenei has become. Other than allowing a complete crackdown on telecommunications of all types, he has had nothing to say to a large minority of the people he is supposed to be guiding and guarding. He has not emerged to address the country in general. He has never enjoyed high prestige, but after this, he cannot recover his former status. I think the Mousavi voters and Reformists generally realise they cannot change the result of the election. But they have gained fresh confidence from their defiance this week. Skepth