The fiery incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears to be losing ground to a more pragmatic and experienced rival, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. China’s Xinhua news agency reported May 27 that a recent poll showed Mousavi leading in 10 major Iranian cities, by a margin of 38 percent to 34 percent. Another poll, conducted by Iran’s IRIB state television network, showed Mousavi ahead among Tehran voters, 47 percent to 43 percent…

Maybe the real point is that Iran is having a contested election at all. This isn’t a nation of fanatics with suicide belts strapped to their waists. It’s a real country, with proud, well-educated people who take their democracy seriously, even with the constraints imposed by Iran’s theocracy. Like people throughout the Middle East, Iranians have been astonished by the rise of Barack Obama and the new opportunities he embodies.