Ahmadinejad caught in jihadi version of a strip club

posted at 3:35 pm on December 5, 2006 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | regular view

He went to the opening ceremonies of the Asian Games, there was a woman there singing without a veil, he didn’t leave immediately.

Scandal.

Enough of one to give Khamenei a heart attack, if you believe the rumors.

Religious fundamentalists, usually Mr Ahmadinejad’s keenest supporters, are asking why he attended a ceremony that violated his own government’s strict interpretation of Shia Islam.

The Baztab website, considered close to Mohsen Rezaee, a former revolutionary guard commander with links to powerful sections of Iran’s political hierarchy, said Mr Ahmadinejad’s presence had offended Shias in Iran and elsewhere. “The failure of Ahmadinejad to object and his constant presence has damaged the image of Iran’s Islamic revolution and its commitment to Islamic rules in contrast with the Arab countries in the Gulf,” it said.

Is the outrage genuine? Or is it more like the “outrage” Nancy Pelosi feels when she complains about Republican ethical scandals? The latter, says Rick Moran:

The significance of the criticism is its source. Mohsen Rezaee is considered an ally of former President and Ahmadinejad rival Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He chairs the powerful Expediency Discernment Council which advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei as well as ironing out differences between parliament and Council of Guardians (although in practice, what the Council of Guardians say is pretty much the law of the land)…

What does this attack on Ahmadinejad’s behavior really mean? It may help undermine Ahmmadinejad’s support with the powerful Assembly of Experts who will hold their election on December 15th. Getting an anti-Ahmadinejad majority elected to that powerful body would limit Supreme Leader Khamenei’s ability to back the President when he tries to enact his more radical agenda. The Assembly judges the actions of the Supreme Leader to insure that they pass muster with the Koran as well as the Iranian constitution.

The fact that Rafsanjani is running for a seat on the Assembly may have been at the bottom of this attack.

Rafsanjani’s also going to have final say over the Iranian parliament’s proposal to cut Ahmadinejad’s term short. Slowly but surely, the stakes are getting higher. I wonder if Bush is playing along with Iran’s stalling tactics over the nuclear program right now because it’s giving the “moderates” time to undermine Ahmadinejad from within. It’s a fine line: if we get too confrontational, it risks driving people in his camp; if we get too chummy, it risks the impression that he’s brought us to heel. Maybe the plan for the time being is to wait and let the mullah mafia deal with him.

That’s one hell of a game of good cop/bad cop they’re playing, if so.

Blowback

You must be logged in to post a comment.