The tone is largely one of despair on the pro-democracy Iran blogs today as the implications of Friday's presidential election in Iran continue to be picked over.
There is much anguish about how the hardline mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, came second and is now going to face the relatively moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjari in Friday's second round run-off.
Some attack those who boycotted the elections rather than back reform candidates and argue that Mr Rafsanjari is now the least worst option. There is also wide talk about the allegations of electoral fraud.
A big topic of debate is the open letter by Mehdi Karroubi, a moderate cleric who finished third, to the unelected supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which claimed that Mr Ahmadinejad had been illegally supported by the military in the poll.
Two pro-reform newspapers, Eqbal and Aftab-e Yazd, have been shut down for printing the letter.
Mr Behi, of the The Adventures of Mr Behi, writes that he believes the letter is the "first time that someone from within the system of power is complaining about the leader in such an open way".
Mr Behi says he hopes the closures will be short because they have been so well publicised. He worries that there are "horrible plans for every aspect of our lives" if Mr Ahmadinejad becomes president.
They are so strict socially and will clash a lot with the youth who are already having problem with existing moderate government for the limitations it applies on their way of clothing and social mingling with opposite sex.
Winsteed, writing on Iran Votes 2005, claims to have received reports from a number of towns that militia had been trying to "encourage people" to vote for Mr Ahmadinejad. But Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian who lives in Toronto but is currently in Tehran for the election, believes that Mr Ahmadinejad is going to prevail on Friday.
The pro-reform youth are so disappointed and depressed. Nobody knows what will happen next. But Khamenei is the biggest winner of this game. He now has both the big turn-out (plus a middle-finger to Bush), and a quasi-president who is only a cover for his excellency.
Derakhshan also wonders if there may be a coup and writes that "things are getting nasty". The only silver lining he can see is that an Ahmadinejad term could "be that it would end the apathy among the youth born after the Iran-Iraq war".
Meanwhile, Trita Parsi, writing on Iran Scan, says people should not be surprised at what has happened.
We knew — though we so often forget — that 15–25% of the Iranian population back the conservatives. Much like the conservative movement in the US, the Iranian conservatives are better organised since they have traditional Iranian institutions and networks at their disposal. And like their counterparts in the US, they vote in higher numbers and they are more disciplined voters.
Iran Scan links to an Associated Press piece carrying quotes from Iran's intelligence minister, Ali Yunesi, who sarcastically thanked George Bush for his criticisms of the election. Some analysts suggest Mr Bush's pro-reform comments helped the hardliners. "I say to Bush: 'Thank you,'" Mr Yunesi said. "He motivated people to vote in retaliation."
