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Iran’s interior minister announced Saturday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won 63.29% of the votes in the nation, closely watched presidential election poll. The announcement, greeted with widespread skepticism of the Iranian supporters of the opposition and by foreign analysts, has thousands of people on the street, where they are on a strong police presence and the threat of violence. (See photos of Time’s election in Iran)
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Rumors of vote rigging was flying for hours before the official announcement. In about 11 clock Friday, less than an hour after polls closed, reformist challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi a press conference and declared that he - based on the observations of his campaign officials at polling booths - that he had won a majority of the vote. But rigging was already in progress, said Mousavi, which warned that he and the people would stage mass protests if their voices have not been met. (The TIME Photos: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s paradox)