In Iran, an Iron Cleric, Now Blinking

New York Times ^ | June 15, 2009 | NEIL MACFARQUHAR

[Man50D]

For two decades, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has remained a shadowy presence at the pinnacle of power in Iran, sparing in his public appearances and comments. Through his control of the military, the judiciary and all public broadcasts, the supreme leader controlled the levers he needed to maintain an iron if discreet grip on the Islamic republic.

But in a rare break from a long history of cautious moves, he rushed to bless President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for winning the election, calling on Iranians to line up behind the incumbent even before the standard three days required to certify the results had passed.

Then angry crowds swelled in cities around Iran, and he backpedaled, announcing Monday that the 12-member Council of Guardians, which vets elections and new laws, would investigate the vote.

“After congratulating the nation for having a sacred victory, to say now that there is a possibility that it was rigged is a big step backward for him,” said Abbas Milani, the director of Stanford University’s Iranian studies program.

[Nervous Tick]

>> to say now that there is a possibility that it was rigged is a big step backward for him

...and his enabler Bambi has stepped backwards into the barnyard scat as well.

[EternalVigilance]

The True and Living God, and the people once aroused, are both more powerful than any tyrant.

[EternalVigilance]

My post number three also applies to Obama.

[yldstrk]

nasty old creep dying by the sword he wielded

[Man50D]

My post number three also applies to Obama.

That's one reason BO is largely silent on the issue.

[sionnsar]

Iran ping

[Nervous Tick]

It’s amazing, and sobering, just how many fair statements about the thugocracy in Iran also apply DIRECTLY to Bambi.

[EternalVigilance]

Tyrants are tyrants.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for posting this and posting the messages from the tweeting network.

[Honorary Serb]

BIG BUMP!!!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This tracks with an article I posted yesterday:

Iran: There Will Be Blood

*****************************EXCERPT INTRO*******************************

Iran is now a tinderbox. The right is tenaciously consolidating its control over the state and refuses to yield. There is a split among the mullahs and significant dismay with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. A gaping hole has been ripped open in Iranian society, exposing the contradictions of the regime and everyone now sees that the democracy that they believed that they had in Iranian form is a "charade."

But the scariest point he made to me that I had not heard anywhere else is that this "coup by the right wing" has created pressures that cannot be solved or patted down by the normal institutional arrangements Iran has constructed. The Guardian Council and other power nodes of government can't deal with the current crisis and can't deal with the fact that a civil war has now broken out among Iran's revolutionaries.

My contact predicted serious violence at the highest levels.

[G8 Diplomat]

There’s a thread in the Breaking News sidebar about some Revolutionary Guards defecting. They were Khomeini’s creation and supposed to be the staunch defenders and supporters of the Islamic Revolution. Now they’re defecting to join the people’s uprising. That is huge. Khamenei’s days in power are numbered.

[CitizenUSA]

“The right is tenaciously consolidating its control over the state and refuses to yield.”

The Iranian government isn’t far right. It’s a totalitarian government with socialist policies. The rioters are coming from the right (small government, individual freedom).

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Lets drop a link to that article here:

Revolutionary Guards Arrested in Iran

[Flying Circus]

ping

[SuziQ]

"If he lets the demonstrations swell, it could well change the system of clerical rule. If he uses violence to stamp them out, the myth of a popular mandate for the Islamic revolution will die."

There was never a popular mandate for the Islamic Revolution. The Communists were planning the uprising against the Shah, and the Islamic radicals got to the American Embassy before they did, and with their holding the Americans and Canadians hostage for 444 days, changed the course of history in Iran. They've only been able to hold power by virtue of their own version of the Secret Police, and folks have been tired of the pious hypocrites of Islam for a long time.

Khameni is learning that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. His rule was made possible by violent revolution, and it looks like he might lose it the same way.

[Marine_Uncle]

Hey. The mullahs can always arrange for a Air France Airbus A330 flight (they could invite Ahmadinajah to join them) on a flight say to Rio de Janeiro.