Ahmadinejad is in trouble

[Grant]

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Two Iranian papers tell president to steer clear of nuclear matters
- Nazila Fathi, Michael Slackman, New York Times
Friday, January 19, 2007


(01-19) 04:00 PST Tehran -- Iran's outspoken president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears to be under pressure from the highest authorities in Iran to end his involvement in its nuclear program, a sign that his political capital is declining as his country comes under increasing international pressure.

Just one month after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear program, two hard-line newspapers, including one owned by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the president to stay out of all matters nuclear.

In the hazy world of Iranian politics, such a public rebuke was seen as a sign that the supreme leader himself -- who has final say on all matters of state -- might no longer support the president as the public face of defiance to the West. It is the first sign that Ahmadinejad has lost any degree of Khamenei's confidence, a potentially damaging development for a president who has rallied his nation and defined his administration by declaring nuclear power Iran's "inalienable right."

It was unclear, however, whether this was merely an effort to improve Iran's public image by lowering Ahmadinejad's profile or signaled any change in policy.

The presidency is a relatively weak position with no official authority over foreign policy, the domain of the supreme leader. But Ahmadinejad has used the position as a bully pulpit to insert himself into the nuclear debate, and as long as he appeared to enjoy Khamenei's support, he could continue.

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Dec. 23 with sanctions intended to curb Iran's uranium-enrichment program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but the United States and some European nations contend is for the purpose of creating nuclear weapons. The measure bars the trade of goods or technology related to Iran's nuclear program. Enriched uranium can be used for making nuclear fuel but also for making nuclear weapons.

While Iran remains publicly defiant, insisting it will move ahead with its nuclear ambitions, it is under increasing strain as political and economic pressures grow. The message that Iran's most senior officials seem to be sending is that the president, with his harsh approach and caustic comments, is undermining Iran's cause and its standing.

The president dismissed the Security Council resolution as "a piece of torn paper."

But the daily newspaper Jomhouri-Eslami, which belongs to Khamenei, said, "The resolution is certainly harmful for the country," adding that it was "too much to call it 'a piece of torn paper.' "

The newspaper added that the nuclear program's situation required its own diplomacy, "sometimes toughness and sometimes flexibility."

In another sign of pressure on the president to distance himself from the nuclear issue, a second newspaper -- run by an aide to the country's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani -- also pressed Ahmadinejad to end his involvement in the nuclear program. Larijani also ran for president and was selected for his post by the supreme leader.

Ahmadinejad took office more than a year ago as an outsider, the mayor of Tehran, promising to challenge the status quo, to equally distribute Iran's oil wealth and to restore what he saw as the lost values of the Islamic revolution. His was a populist message, centered on a socialist economic model and Islamic values. And from the start, he found opposition from the right and left, in parliament and among those who viewed themselves as pragmatists.

That pressure has continued, and the criticism now seems to have gained more credibility in the face of the sanctions and Iran's troubled economic standing.

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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... NLCVN1.DTL


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©2007 San Francisco Chronicle

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sfgate.com/blogs/rossreport

[musika man]

grant, do you think somalis care about iranians or ahmednijad, they despise shias, but anyone who is against america even the devil, they will support. thanks to the brainwashing of saudi version of islam. start a topic about shias and see their reaction. many somalis in america hate america, why do they live here? they are mentally disturbed.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Musika
If Somalis want a peaceful Somalia, then they had better cozy up to America. Isn't that obvious. Annoy us anymore, and see what happens.