So it’s over. At least that is what the Iranian regime has decreed. The legal path to reviewing the June 12 presidential election result, which goes through the hardline Guardian Council, has been firmly shut.

As had been expected – or rather decided by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader – the council’s verdict, delivered late on Monday, confirmed the “epic” election of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad as president for another four-year term.