IRAN: The apprehension is beginning to show. As news of the landslide victory of Iran's new president, ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani broke, Iran's fledgling stock market saw its shares plummet.
It is not just investors and rich high society who are feeling nervous. The major players in world politics are also distinctly uneasy.
US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Mr Ahmadinejad is "no friend of democracy . . . no friend of freedom". The EU has expressed concerns, as has Tony Blair and Israeli deputy prime minister, Shimon Peres.
Who can blame them? His revolutionary credentials are glowing. He trained Basij Islamic militia, was a member of the prestigious Special Forces unit of the Revolutionary Guard, where he was rumoured to have carried out covert operations in Iraq during the war, and he was part of the US embassy siege in 1979.
Mr Ahmadinejad is part of a young ideological right-wing whose revolutionary fervour has not been dampened by eight years of a reformist government.
In his close coterie of supporters are firebrand hard-liners who are against ties with the West and want Iran to continue its nuclear ambitions.
Aware of his reputation as an anti-Western fundamentalist, he has tried to assuage Europe's fears by saying negotiations over Iran's controversial nuclear programme will continue. But he has battered any hopes of rapprochement with arch-rival America by saying Iran has no need for ties with the US.
So what does his win mean for Iran? Most importantly, it means that all organs of power are under conservative rule and the real winner of Iran's elections is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Mr Ahmadinejad is a loyal servant of Mr Khamenei and analysts fear that with such concentrated power at the top, Iran is a step closer to a dictatorship.
As well as marking a renaissance of the conservatives, his win also sounds the death knell of the reformists - at least for now.
"In the short term, it means the reformists are absolutely finished," said a Tehran-based analyst.
His win is a sign that political and social reforms are less important to the ordinary Iranian than economic reform, and suggests that President Khatami's 1997 victory of 22 million votes was more to do with his promises of economic growth - the very issue on which Mr Ahmadinejad based his election campaign.
"Most of those who voted for Ahmadinejad represent a people who are socially, economically, cultural and even politically impoverished. A vote for Ahmadinejad was a reactionary vote rather than a vote for him as a candidate," said the analyst.
Many of his supporters say he is the only candidate who tackled the problems facing most Iranians - unemployment, housing, poverty and corruption.
In a country where the unemployment rate is unofficially as high as 30 per cent, his promises to redistribute oil wealth, offer handouts and subsidies, had voters streaming to the polls.
"If he can give us jobs, frankly I don't care if it means I have to wear black and not wear make- up," said Golnaz, a 30-year-old secretary.
His critics however fear a roll back of reforms with social and political crackdowns not seen since the regime's dark days, when men would be beaten up for wearing jeans and having long hair - a sign of corrupt western imperialist values.
His win has also given the Basij Islamic militia more confidence and renewed power to stop and search, intimidate and use violence on the streets against revolutionary detractors.
Certainly, his reputation does not bode well for civil liberties. As Tehran mayor, Mr Ahmadinejad was famous for shutting down cultural centres and fast-food restaurants, banning concerts and making municipal workers grow beards and wear long sleeves.
He takes up office in August, but some uptown Iranians have said they are already noticing change.
Yalda has been visiting the same government building for the last two years, finalising her divorce. The female security guards know her and are always warm and welcoming. But yesterday it was a different story.
"This woman who has always been so sweet suddenly pulled me over as I tried to get in the building," she said. The security officer told her headscarf and overcoat was unIslamic.
"She said to me, 'just you wait, when Ahmadinejad is president people like you won't be allowed to walk the streets.' I was shocked."
Students are also worried. Text messages have been buzzing on the mobile phones of students and young Iranians.
One said: "Start growing a beard and wear long sleeves, the Taliban are coming!"