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The region’s relative insularity and lack of access to the outside world has led to a public silence that suggests that antagonism to the government is mainly limited to the large urban centers. But a recent four-day trip to the region turned up signs that growing segments of these rural populations, particularly the young and the educated, have lost faith in the current government.

“I voted for Moussavi because I want change,” said a 24-year-old recent university graduate who was visiting his hometown, a mud-brick village southwest of Qum that is accessible only by an old tractor trail. “All the young people like myself moved away because we do not believe in this lifestyle anymore,” he said, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals.

The ruling conservative faction still draws most of its support from such remote and religious strongholds; a 55-year-old farmer said a government official told him villagers overwhelmingly voted for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the disputed June 12 presidential election. Colorful murals extolling the virtues of the Islamic republic and its founder, Ayatollah >>>