Photographs of Iran's Election Protests 2009

On June 12, 2009, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced off against three challengers in Iran's presidential election. Despite huge turnout, Ahmadinejad was quickly declared the winner by a landslide over strong reformist candidate and former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi's supporters, wearing the campaign color green, poured out into the streets to protest what was widely perceived as a fraudulent election. The demonstrations were met with a crackdown that included Iranian police and military, plus the Basij militia loyal to Iran's supreme leader. The bloody crackdown ignited protest around the globe, and prompted Iran to issue harsh rebukes to any country that it deemed to be meddling in its private affairs.