Kamangir (Archer)

End of Ahmadinejadism?

Kamangir | February 20, 2006 | Category Iran

Eight candidates ran in the last presidential election in Iran. Except for Moein who was Khatami’s minister of science (see) and Karrobi who was the speaker of parliament (see), the rest were close to the right. It was a surprise that the right was unable to agree on a single candidate. Hence, Larijani, Ghalibaf and Ahmadinejad became the three more important right figures in the election. On the other side was Rafsanjai. Having the reputation of two times presidency and a couple of years of being the parliament speaker, Rafsanji has always been in power after the revolution. Many assume him as a Mafia in today Iran’s politics.

It was a total unbelievable result when Rafsanjasi lost people vote. It is mainly assumed to be because of popular gestures of Ahmadinejad, Rafsanjani’s and his family’s bad reputation of corruption, and the intentional tampering of the votes by the Islamic militia (Basij). When Ahmadinejad became the president, Ghalibaf was selected to be Tehran’s mayor, Ahmadinejad’s previous job. While Rafsanjani returned to his old job, head of the the console which intervenes when there are serious contradictions between the government and the parliament, Larijani became a member of the national security council. An organization that help the rule of negotiator in the nuclear affair.

When Khatami was president, foreigners were seeing Islamic Republic’s policies decided by two very different sources of power. While the right groups represented the clergy system, the left parties were fighting for freedom and welfare. After Khatami, many assumed the regime to become single-sounded. But, that was just a mirage; the right tribe started to tear apart.

Khameneii, as the supreme leader of the right wing, has the job of making equilibrium between hostile powers. He does not do this for the sake of calming down the tensions; he is more worried about himself. For example, Ahmadinejad has Mesbah in his support and it is known that if Ahmadinejad gains the total control, Khameneii should go to a long vacation. Having Mesbah as the supreme leader is among the first ambitions of an Ahmadinejad in total control.

Knowing different power tribes inside the Islamic Republic regime and their contradictions is a mandatory step before analyzing the affairs inside Iran. For example, when Ahmadinejad, out of nowhere, picks a title like “wipe Israel off the map” for his speech, he is trying to say “hey! guys! I am important, too”. Being a president of a country you have an Ace card, you can make everything the worst possible. Hence, when Ahmadinejad gave that speech, others realized that they can’t ignore him.

Ahmadinejad successfully converted Iran’s nuclear debate into a serious hostile situations. Now, Larijani, one of his opponents, answers to the question “don’t you think Ahmadinejad’s statement about Israel was nothing to hear from a president insisting that his country is pursuing a peacefully nuclear program?” asked by radio france (see see) in a live interview asked for by Larijani by saying “individual’s statements should not be assumed as the Islamic Republic’s official stand”. Does it mean Ahmadinejad is being removed from the nuclear crisis? I hope so.

Larijani continues by saying “we are ready for any supervision”.