From The Spectator:
The record low turnout for parliamentary elections in Iran, which took place on Friday, is another blow to the regime’s attempts to pretend that all is well in the country. Early reports suggest a turnout of just under 41 per cent nationwide. Iranians in their millions have rejected the regime by choosing to stay at home rather than vote.
The elections were never really about the final results (victory is pretty much guaranteed for the motley crew of religious hardliners and social conservatives endorsed by the ruling clerics), but about how many people would actually bother to vote. Turnout matters to the mullahs because the election process exists to give the regime the veneer of democratic legitimacy. That’s why in recent weeks the authorities have been doing everything they can to boost voting numbers. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly urged people to vote, describing it as a national duty. ‘If the election is weak, all face harm’, he said. His pleas were ignored. The dire voting numbers tell their own story of widespread public anger and declining trust in the country’s rulers.
More than 15,000 candidates were vying for a seat in the 290-member parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Anyone who opposes the official line is weeded out. Iran’s Guardian Council – responsible for overseeing elections and legislation – disqualified in advance thousands of pro-reform candidates from running for seats. The Iranian parliament has nominal oversight of the executive branch and votes through laws and treaties but real power resides in Ayatollah Khamenei. The parliament, which has no say over critical issues such as nuclear or foreign policy, is there to rubber-stamp the wishes of the supreme leader.
The reason I bother to bring this up is that the Argentine government in 1982 tried to regain popularity via their invasion of the Falklands. Iran's not an identical case, sure, but will they consider lashing out (further) as the signs of discontent register? Where? Or, is that not their style?