-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Some Iranian-Americans , watching the post-election unrest in Iran , say the tug-of-war between the people and their hardline government has come to a head after three decades . Crowds demonstrated in Los Angeles , California on Monday , June 15 over the Iran election results . `` I am absolutely convinced that what we are witnessing is a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic , '' said Dr. Hamid Dabashi , professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City . `` Even if the Islamic Republic survives this crisis , it will no longer be as it used to be , '' added Dabashi . The contentious election results between conservative incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformist challenger Mir Hossein Moussavi sent many Iranians protesting in the streets , while others celebrated Ahmadinejad 's apparent victory . Kaveh Afrasiabi , who has taught at Tehran University and Boston University and identifies himself as an independent , told CNN that Ahmadinejad 's widespread support in rural areas and small towns was the reason for his win . In results announced hours after the polls closed , Ahmadinejad received more than 62 percent of the vote , a figure hotly disputed by Moussavi 's supporters . With the credibility of Friday 's election under scrutiny , how the Islamic Republic of Iran overcomes it and reclaims its legitimacy in the eyes of some of its own citizens and the international community remains to be seen . `` There is good reason to believe that many if not most of the pro-Moussavi demonstrators are gladly taking an opportunity to safely protest something bigger : their enormous discontent with the entire system as it stands , '' said Shirin Sadeghi , a Middle East analyst for the Huffington Post . The unstable political , social and economic climate has some scholars questioning the future of the Islamic Republic . `` They are either going to crack down severely or they are going to cave in -- it could go either way , '' Dabashi said of the conservatives who now dominate Iran 's government . Many Iranian-Americans say they see this as their opportunity for change . `` This is the best chance Iranians have to evolve to a better situation , '' said Dr. Ali Nayeri , a professor at the University of California at Irvine . That chance has sparked an unprecedented wave of spontaneous demonstrations not only within Iran but also thousands of miles away from Tehran -- scenes unparalleled since the 1979 revolution . `` Thirty years ago we had the war with Iraq . Now we have an internal war with our president and the fundamentalists , '' said Reza Goharzad , a political analyst who worked with Moussavi when he was prime minister of Iran . Goharzad , of Southern California , was among thousands of voters to cast an absentee ballot . `` This was the first time I voted in 30 years , '' said Goharzad . The enthusiasm that drove record numbers of Iranian-Americans to the voting booths was overshadowed by disappointment when a shortage of ballots prevented hundreds from voting . In addition , the election results were announced before many of the voting booths in the U.S. had closed . Alex Vatanka , senior Middle East analyst at IHS Jane 's , a provider of defense and security information , said Iran 's supreme ruler , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , may have miscalculated the mood of the country when he endorsed Ahmadinejad 's victory before the country 's election authority made the final call . Khamenei has since asked the authority , the Guardian Council , to recount some of the votes . But Moussavi is asking for fresh elections . Goharzad , like many other voters , questions the legitimacy of the election . He wants to know where his vote went . A student activist in Dallas , Texas , echoed that sentiment . `` The election volunteer at my voting location said that they had 500 ballots , which was not enough for the thousand or so people that turned out to vote , '' said the activist , who wanted to remain anonymous because he plans to visit Iran soon . For the first time , Iranian-Americans say , the post-revolution generation has seen the power of their unity unfold in masses . They say this has given Iranians at home and abroad hope that reform could be within their reach , if the ruling mullahs are willing to allow it . `` We are seeing a rise of a new generation of Iranians who are not taking it anymore , '' said Dabashi . `` This is no longer just about this election , this is full-fledged civil disobedience , '' he added . The divide within the Islamic Republic has pitted the reformists against the conservatives . `` The big difference between these protests and the student riots of 1999 and 2001 is that we are seeing senior caliber officials like Mir Hossein Moussavi , Mehdi Karrubi and Mohammad Khatami and Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani supporting the demonstrations , '' said Vatanka . Karrubi is a former Parliament speaker . Khatami and Rafsanjani are former presidents . Some experts say where Iran is headed actually has a lot to do with its past . `` Rafsanjani made no secret of his disdain for Ahmadinejad ahead of the election , and even back in 2005 when he lost the second round runoff to Ahmadinejad , '' said Sadeghi . Rafsanjani is chairman of the Assembly of Experts and oversees the 86-member body , which is responsible for appointing the supreme leader and monitoring his performance . Behind closed doors , Iran 's political parties are caught in the middle of a power struggle between Supreme Leader Khamenei and Rafsanjani . Rafsanjani 's role as chairman of the assembly gives him the ability to influence that body 's attitudes toward Khamenei , Vatanka said . That could only add more fuel to the political fire and social unrest in the streets , analysts say . Politics aside , at the end of the day , Iranian expatriates such as Mitra Gholami , who participated in the historic 1979 protests , feel a sense of deja vu . Gholami , now an Atlanta resident , fled Iran with her three children 15 years ago . `` I want people to have a normal life , '' said Gholami . `` I want them to have freedom . ''