'Coffins of freedom'

International | IRAN: Reformers may trip over ayatollah-rigged elections—but they can't rig turnout | Mindy Belz

The streets of Tehran may retain their fundamentalist pall, but technology is surreptitiously propelling the Islamic republic into the 21st century. In the week leading up to parliamentary elections, student revolutionaries circulated chain text messages via their cell phones declaring, "The ballot boxes of Friday are the coffins of freedom. We will not take part in the funeral of freedom."

The only suspense surrounding Feb. 20 elections—the country's seventh since the Islamic revolution in 1979—is how many will turn out, not who will be elected. Iran's unelected Guardians Council, a chamber of hardline clerics who effectively rule the country, already has seen to the results by disqualifying 2,300 candidates from standing for elections. The banned contenders are nearly all reformists who would like, at a minimum, to ease the hardline grip of the ayatollahs. Among them are leading moderate politicians and more than 80 currently serving members of the Majlis, or parliament.