Ahmadinejad under pressure after election victory
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President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran is still in charge of Iran after the country's election last week, but his controversial victory is bringing him more serious problems. His main rival, Hossein Mousavi, claims that he was originally told he was the winner of the election, and that while he was preparing his victory speech, he was called by the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, to say that there had been a mistake.
Mr Mousavi says that Ahmedinejad cheated to win the election, and hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters immediately went to the streets to protest against the result. Many people in Iran thought that the election would not have a clear winner because opinion polls showed that both candidates had similar levels of support just before the election.
The protests continued for almost a week with hundreds of thousands of people taking part, although in the last few days the number of people on the streets has decreased. Some protesters have been killed by police who were trying to stop the demonstrations, although it is not known exactly how many. The government has restricted access to the internet and mobile phone lines, and the BBC has reported that it's radio programmes have been blocked. Western journalists have been banned from travelling around to see what is happening, so they have had to rely on amateur films taken on mobile phones and cameras.
Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei has accused Britain and America of trying to encourage the protesters to remove the current government. US President Barack Obama denied this and said" This is about the people of Iran, and the future that they, and only they, will choose."
Have you have finished reading the article? Now try and answer these questions:
1) When did Hossein Mousavi find out that he wasn't the winner of the election?
(a) Just before he started writing his speech
(b) After he wrote his speech
(c) At the same time as he was writing his speech
2) Why are less people demonstrating now than one week ago?
(a) Because foreign journalists can't report on what is happening.
(b) Because it is difficult to communicate with others and it is dangerous for protesters
(c) Because Barack Obama has told them not to protest.
Here are the answers:
1) c - "while he was preparing his victory speech"
2) b - "Some protesters have been killed by police...The government has restricted access to the internet and mobile phone lines"
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