And So The Adage Goes...

There is an American saying that goes something along the lines of: "If you keep telling yourself something, soon enough, you're going to believe it."

It appears as though the Iranian government has picked up on it.

Its latest scheme in attempting to legitimize itself has done anything but. In fact, to nearly every outside nation, it must seem almost as if the Iranian government is yelling out to the rest of the world that it is both illegitimate and very afraid.

In the week or so that followed the June 12 election, one could not necessarily discern as to whether President Ahmadinejad had been fairly elected or not. Sure, things looked a bit dodgy as waves of green flowed through the streets of Tehran emitting a voice that pleaded with the outside world to pay attention to what it called a fixed election. But still, there was no solid proof that any wrongdoing had been afoot.

But the protests grew larger, and the world upped the sound level of the opposition supporters to hear their deafening roar at full volume. That is, until the Iranian government hit the mute button and began to feed in its own voice to the world's ears.

Journalists were banned from the streets. Most foreigners were expelled from the country. The internet was shut down and mobile texting restricted. People were arrested if they were thought to have a whiff of rebellion about them or a grain of stone residue on their fingers. They were shot and beaten, and forbidden to assemble lest they risk the aforementioned…or worse.

A gag order to the utmost extent.

So with the voice of the opposition quelled, the government was free to speak. And at today's weekly prayer service, it did. The Guardian Council, the team of senior officials who presided over the so-called investigation into the presidential election, claimed "the reviews showed that the election was the healthiest since the revolution [of 1979]," and that "there were no major violations," something that has already reportedly been proven wrong.

Then, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami (at right) blamed foreign journalists for instigating the protests, and asked the government to "strongly and cruelly" punish the co-conspirators of the protests, the United States and Israel.

Not that Iran had any sort of prior opinion on the United States and Israel.

Even more, in an interview with CNN, Iran's Ambassador to Mexico claimed that the death of Neda, who has become the face of the Iran protests after her death was witnessed by millions across the globe, was perpetrated by the CIA or terrorists.

And to top things off, Khatami said during the same prayer service today that the protesters were "at war with God" ("moharem" in Persian), and that they should be punished cruelly and without mercy. And under Islamic law, the punishment for moharem?

Death.

The usual reaction for one who has been pushed into a corner by fear is to fight to the last gasping breath; to spout off accusations against the enemy in a last-ditch effort to be heard - which appears to be exactly what Iran's government is doing. The international community is strengthening its stance against the government in wake of the human rights violations that have been both reported and witnessed in the past weeks.

Sure, there is a possibility that Ahmadinejad did win the elections. But even if that were true, the actions of the government towards its opposition, as well as the international community, has no one believing the stories for a moment.

So to the government of Iran: go ahead and keep telling yourself that whatever you say is true, because soon enough you'll believe it.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely anyone else will.