Ex-Iranian President Criticizes Ayatollah

The Washington Post ^ | June 10, 2009 | Thomas Erdbrink

[forkinsocket]

TEHRAN, June 9 -- Three days before Iranians go to the polls to elect a president, one of the country's most powerful clerics, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, issued an open letter on Tuesday complaining that the country's supreme leader has remained silent in the face of "insults, lies and false allegations" by incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The unusual letter reflects the intensity of the Iranian election campaign, laying bare the deep political rifts and sore feelings within the country's leadership. It is rare for senior Iranian clerics to publicly criticize the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Rafsanjani's letter came a week after a bare-knuckled, televised debate between Ahmadinejad and his main challenger, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. During the debate, Ahmadinejad charged that Mousavi's campaign was backed by "corrupt" politicians such as Rafsanjani, whom he called "the main puppet master." Ahmadinejad also accused Rafsanjani, who served as Iran's president from 1989 to 1997, of turning himself and his family members into "billionaires" since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Rafsanjani complained in the letter that Khamenei had "deemed it best to remain silent" instead of censuring Ahmadinejad for the personal attacks. Rafsanjani said he wrote the letter only after demanding an apology from Ahmadinejad and requesting airtime on state television to rebut the allegations. Both requests were denied, according to the letter.

[forkinsocket]

.

[SolidWood]

Rafsanjani is himself a Mullah and the richest kleptocrat in Iran. He can allow himself to do anything.

[Islander7]

Does it really matter who wins this election?

It’s mullahs who pull the strings and set the policy.

The ‘new’ president will only be a fresh face with nothing changing behind the scenes.

[Blue State Insurgent]

It's seems different this time. I think the gangster mullah regime is in serious trouble this time as they couldn't control the massive demonstration with their illiterate hillbilly goon squads.

The genie is out of the bottle now and the Iranian “Green Revolution” reminds me of the “Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Could this be the hidden hand of George W. Bush's Texan P.R. firms?

Let's give democracy a chance.