The mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 62% of the votes defeating ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
According to the BBC, Ahmadinejad's win means all the organs of the ian state are now in the hands of conservative hardliners.
Mr Ahmadinejad, 49, who campaigned on a conservative Islamic platform, had surprised observers by beating five other candidates in the first round to reach the run-off.
The election was not without controversy.
First, the U.S. and Britain criticized the election because many reformists, and all women candidates, were barred from running.
Second, there were fresh ballot-rigging allegations in Friday's runoff election. The chairman of Rafsanjani's campaign in Tehran province, accused the basij, a militant volunteer force, and the revolutionary guards of trying to skew the results in Mr Ahmadinejad's favor:
"We know they are ballot rigging," he told the Guardian.
"We are receiving reports that the basij and revolutionary guards are involved in ballot rigging and cheating. There's a probability that ballot boxes in at least two mosques in Tehran will be annulled.
"They have also been making propaganda for Ahmadinejad and that's forbidden. The law states that in the last 24 hours before polls open, you are not allowed to issue publicity for candidates. "
The Los Angeles Times reports that Ahmadinejad has never held an elected office. He has been the appointed mayor of Tehran for just two years. A former Revolutionary Guard and instructor for the pro-government Basiji militia, he talks tough toward 's enemies and promises to reverse what he views as the watering down of the militant politics of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founder.
Ahmadinejad's victory doesn't bode well for any improvement in relations between and the West. Ahmadinejad said that better ties with the United States would not be a priority. He doesn't support Western-style democracy and last week said:
We did not have a revolution in order to have democracy.
Bloggers: Help remind the international media to ask the hard questions!
We can talk about this until the cows come home.
On the otherhand if you actually want to do something in the Iranian peoples' struggle for freedom:
Dr. Zin of Regime Change Iran needs everyone's assistance!
Help Here!
Posted by: Ron Wright | Saturday, June 25, 2005 at 09:22 AM