On a platform overshadowed by the blue dome and twin minarets of a mosque, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is addressing yet another multitude of frenzied, flag-waving followers of the sort that has convulsed Tehran, day and night, for two weeks.
It is the last day of campaigning before tomorrow’s election. The Iranian President is fighting to survive amid a late surge of support for the opposition led by Mir Hossein Mousavi. Elsewhere on the streets of Tehran demonstrators chanted their disgust at the Ahmadinejad rule. But at the rally the President exuded defiance and scorn for his critics.
“Bush said ‘You don’t need nuclear power’,” he declared. “My opponents asked why we needed nuclear power. They were echoing the words of our enemies. They were siding against your little brother [himself]. But Iran has become a nuclear state despite them, and it is a great and honourable achievement.” The thousands of true believers erupt into deafening chants — “Ahmadi, we love you” and “Nuclear energy is our right”.
They are for the most part poor, pious and ill-educated and, rightly or wrongly, they adore this man who presents himself as the champion of the oppressed, the scourge of Iran’s corrupt elite with its loose morals, a leader who has stood up to the bullying West and restored their country’s pride. No matter that rampant inflation and chronic unemployment have made their lot much worse: he is their man, and they prove their love through sheer endurance.
By 8am yesterday a sizeable crowd had already gathered in front of the mosque, men on one side and women in heavy black chadors and tight black headscarves on the other. By 9am it had doubled in size. By 10am it stretched far into the distance.
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The sun beat down, the temperature rose and sweat-soaked bodies pressed together. A succession of speakers kept the faithful in a state of ferment. “Ahmadinejad for family values,” they chanted. “Ahmadinejad, you are the nation’s choice.”
Then they turned on Mr Mousavi, the President’s strongest challenger, and his links with Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former President, who is considered the embodiment of the corrupt elite. “Mousavi, go,” they roared. “We don’t want an American sympathiser” and “Shame on you, Hashemi. Leave Ahmadi alone.” The densely packed crowd surged back and forth like a human tide. The heat was suffocating. Sweat dripped from the men. It was well past 11 before Mr Ahmadinejad’s small figure appeared on the platform, and there was instant pandemonium. For five minutes Mr Ahmadinejad basked in the adoration, waving and raising his fingers in a victory sign.
Only snatches of his speech were audible above the din. “You see the lies, the accusations against me?” he asked, instantly painting himself as the underdog fighting a rotten Establishment. “Libel is a crime. They should be punished,” he shouted as the crowd cried: “Ahmadi, Ahmadi, we support you!”
“The foreign powers wanted to break us with sanctions . . . They said Iran’s economy was finished,” he went on. In fact production had soared and construction had doubled but his opponents had brainwashed the people with false facts. It was a “Hitlerite approach”, he declared. “Mousavi — liar,” the crowd chanted.
Mr Ahmadinejad pressed on. The Americans had threatened to imprison him if he went to the UN, he said. The Iranian Establishment urged him not to go, but he insisted. “Even if all the great powers and Zionists were ready with their guns I will take the message of the Iranian people to the world.” He accused his opponents of corruption, conspiracy and pillaging the nation’s wealth. “Ahmadinejad is brave. Every night he catches a thief,” the crowd roared back in unison. They wanted revenge for their defeat four years ago, Mr Ahmadinejad went on, “but the people will consign them to the bottom of history with another big no”. The crowd erupted in cheers.
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It was 90 minutes before Mr Ahmadinejad ended. “Oh Great and Compassionate God, sit the Iranian nation on the roof of the world,” he prayed. “Give it progress and achievements. Safeguard our youth. Destroy our enemies. Save nations which are oppressed. In these elections give us our best destiny . . . Send us the rain of your blessing over these good people and revolutionaries.” As one, the multitude responded: “Thank you, thank you, our President.”
As his followers drifted away, an old woman accosted The Times. “Tell the truth,” she demanded. “Tell the world what’s really happening in Iran. Tell them there’s democracy here.”