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IRAN: In politics and poker, not everyone shows their cards

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The nine men who gathered at a restaurateur’s home in Calabasas for a weekly poker game fell into a variety of political camps in the Iranian American community.

Some said they had voted for Iran’s main presidential challenger, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. One said he had not voted in the June 12 poll but wished he had because it had turned into a ‘people’s movement.’ Still others said they wanted nothing to do with the election -- or the discussion.

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But one man was less vocal about his views. When asked by a reporter, the IT company owner leaned in a little closer. In a hushed tone, he said he had voted to reelect President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “because I didn’t want to rock the boat. Because Iran’s OK, Iran was doing OK.’

Pointing discreetly at another person sitting nearby, he said the man too had voted for Ahmadinejad but would not admit it if asked.

The throngs of demonstrators who have taken to Iran’s streets to protest the outcome of a vote they believe was rigged may have captured the media spotlight. But Ahmadinejad too has his supporters. Unlike reformist partisans, they do not send out a regular stream of tweets and e-mails to the rest of the world, and so are rarely heard.

None of the men -- professionals who came to the U.S. to study and decided to stay when the 1979 Islamic Revolution happened -- wanted their names published. Most were worried about endangering relatives back home, or themselves, if they choose to visit.

But the man who said he voted for Ahmadinejad was afraid of drawing the animosity of his fellow Iranians here in California. The majority of Iranian Americans sympathize with the demonstrators, regardless of whether they themselves voted.

“The minority here is the majority there,” said the Ahmadinejad supporter. But he would not discuss the matter further.

Before the hours-long game of Texas Hold ’Em began Saturday, the men sat in the living room watching CNN coverage of bloody clashes in Tehran on a large-screen TV. One man scrolled through Twitter messages on his iPhone. Another used his cellphone to show the now-famous video of Neda Agha-Soltan bleeding in the street after she was shot.

The host had to drag the group away from the TV to the downstairs game room, where the walls were decorated with sports memorabilia and family photos. Everyone started out with $4,000 in chips. As the game progressed, the men spoke about the elections in angry, frustrated tones, switching back and forth between English and Persian.

One man, an attorney, had been scheduled to leave that day for Iran, where he was due to be the best man in his friend’s wedding. He had watched the news all week and waited till the last minute to cancel because “every day I was hoping it would get better.” His friend downplayed the severity of the protests, telling him the hype and media coverage were exaggerated.

On Saturday, his friend called him again. This time, his tone had changed.

“Don’t come,” he told him.

-- Raja Abdulrahim in Calabasas

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